Tag Archives: Section 230

Trump says Big Tech is dividing the country

By Nandita Bose and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump blamed Big Tech companies on Tuesday for dividing the country days after Twitter and Facebook banned him on their platforms.

“I think that Big Tech is doing a horrible thing for our country and to our country, and I believe it’s going to be a catastrophic mistake for them. They’re dividing and divisive,” Trump told reporters at the start of a trip to Texas.

He said the companies had made a “terrible mistake” and that there is a “counter move” to the actions Big Tech platforms have taken without being specific about what that means.

Last week, Twitter, Facebook, Alphabet Inc-owned Google, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc took their strongest actions yet against Trump to limit his reach.

They cited the potential for continued violence stemming from the Republican president’s posts, after his supporters’ Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

Apple, Google and Amazon also suspended Parler – a pro-Trump app where users have threatened more violence – from their respective app stores and Web-hosting services.

The moves enraged Trump, who immediately vowed he would “not be SILENCED!” and promised a “big announcement soon.”

Trump has repeatedly clashed with large technology companies and railed against the protections they enjoy under a law called Section 230, which protects companies from liability over content posted by users. He has continued to demand that law be repealed, even though his calls have not found enough congressional support.

He even vetoed a $740 billion defense bill that allocates military funds each year because the bill did not include language to overturn Section 230. Congress overrode the veto.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Alistair Bell)

Senate panel plans to issue subpoenas to CEOs of Google, Facebook, Twitter

By Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee chaired by Republican Senator Roger Wicker will issue subpoenas to the chief executives of Twitter Inc., Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook Inc. if they do not agree to testify at a hearing on Oct. 1.

The hearing will discuss a legal immunity known as Section 230 that technology companies have when it comes to liability over content posted by users.

Republican President Donald Trump has made holding tech companies accountable for allegedly stifling conservative voices a theme of his administration. As a result calls for a reform of tech’s prized legal immunity have been intensifying ahead of the elections but has little chance to be approved by Congress this year

The committee will issue subpoenas if the technology companies do not agree to appear in front of the committee by Thursday night, a spokeswoman for Wicker confirmed to Reuters.

On Wednesday, Trump met with nine Republican state attorneys general to discuss the fate of Section 230 after the Justice Department unveiled a legislative proposal aimed at reforming the law.

“In recent years, a small group of powerful technology platforms have tightened their grip over commerce and communications in America,” Trump told reporters after the meeting.

“Every year countless Americans are banned, blacklisted and silenced through arbitrary or malicious enforcement of ever-shifting rules,” he added.

Any substantial changes to reform the law will have to wait until after the elections.

The chief executives of Google and Facebook along with Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. recently testified before the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; editing by Jonathan Oatis)