It’s old news that President Trump vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act (2020) because it didn’t strip certain protections from social media companies, but Heather Cox Richardson’s summary of it sparked an odd thought. First, the summary:
Trump vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act, which specifies how the defense budget will be spent, on Wednesday, December 23. The NDAA has passed with bipartisan majorities since the 1960s when it first began, and presidents have always signed it. But Trump has chosen to veto it, on the grounds that it calls for the renaming of U.S. military bases named for Confederate generals and that it does not strip social media companies of protection from liability when third parties post offensive material on them. [bold mine]
Protection from liability? So, let’s stipulate Congress gives in on the issue.
How do the social media empires respond?
Do they shut down – permanently – offending accounts?
President Trump is a leader in the lies and conspiracy theories category of social media posting. Is President Trump looking to have his own accounts deleted? After all, stripping social media companies of protections means they’ll have to protect themselves by minimizing their exposure.
And this applies to all social media platforms. Like, say, Parler, the reportedly new social media platform used by right-wing fringe types. A few lawsuits tossed at Parler and they’ll either collapse or begin to frantically clean up spewing accounts.
No, I don’t think President Trump has thought this demand through. Neither has Donald J. Trump, private citizen. Losing his braying megaphone of lies would be a deadly strike against his ego.
