Tech

Donald Trump takes on Big Tech in waning days of his presidency

He's threatening to veto a bill dealing with the military unless Congress repeals legal immunity granted to Facebook, Google, and other large platforms

by Charlie Smith on December 2nd, 2020 at 5:10 AM
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      Donald Trump is often the butt of jokes by those on the progressive side of the political spectrum.

      He's regularly mocked by late-night talk-show hosts like Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert. Every weekday evening, Trump is skewered by MSNBC hosts Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell and eviscerated by CNN's Don Lemon.

      But today, Trump is trying to do something that could conceivably ensure that these hosts' networks can survive for years to come.

      Trump is threatening to veto a defence policy bill unless Congress lifts a shield that protects huge tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

      It may appear like a desperate move by a lame-duck president, but he might find a welcome reception in some circles.

      Under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, providers of interactive services are ordinarily not legally liable for what people post on their platforms.

      It means that if someone posts a defamatory video on YouTube or writes something that libels another person on Facebook or Twitter, these companies are in the clear. They can't be sued.

      That's because U.S. courts have ruled that these tech giants are not publishers if they don't edit material, don't create or develop illegal content, and comply with promises to remove it.

      Trump wants Congress to repeal section 230, which was passed in 1996.

      If Congress were to do that, it could deliver a devastating blow to large tech firms. It would drown them in defamation suits in connection with users' posts.

      It's worth noting that publishers of newspapers and broadcasters are liable in Canada for what's posted on their websites or disseminated over their social media accounts.

      The same rule doesn't apply to U.S. tech giants that compete with these media outlets for advertising revenue.

      One of the biggest beneficiaries of any change in the Communications Decency Act might be Rupert Murdoch–controlled News Corp., which owns FOX News, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post.

      That's because his international media empire's outlets are liable for what's posted on their platforms, including in the comments sections, in most of the countries where they operate.

      News Corp. is not liable for comments on its U.S. websites if it doesn't edit them in any way.

      Other beneficiaries might include the CBS Corporation, the New York Times Company, and the Walt Disney Company, which owns the ABC network.

      That's because the large tech companies would face prohibitively higher costs policing their platforms, undermining their competitiveness.

      Earlier this year in Australia, a judge ruled that Google did not enjoy immunity from defamation suits after its search engine linked a Melbourne lawyer to organized criminals in the state of Victoria.

      This demonstrated that the Communications Decency Act's shield doesn't extend outside the United States.

      Meanwhile in Vancouver, a Canadian billionaire who formerly sat on the board of the Clinton Foundation, Frank Giustra, sued Twitter in connection with anonymous defamatory posts.

      Twitter wants the trial to take place in California where it can rely on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to assert that it's not a publisher.

      Twitter's head office is in San Francisco. Google and Facebook are each based within a 40-minute drive of San Francisco.

      That city also happens to be home of California's 12th Congressional District, which is represented by the Democratic speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi.

      Vice President–Elect Kamala Harris is from Oakland, which is across the bay from San Francisco.

      Nobody should be surprised if Pelosi and Harris defend the tech giants. And that could lead to a backlash against them from U.S. media outlets and some Democrats, who would be delighted to see Twitter, Facebook, and Google reined in.

      This latest move is one of Trump's final acts of mischief as president. And don't be surprised if it creates a substantial rift within the supposedly united front being presented by his Democratic Party opponents.

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