Senate Republicans seek to strip protections shielding Big Tech companies from lawsuits unless the companies change their terms of service to agree to operate in good faith and to pay a $5,000 fine if they fail to live up to the agreement.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has long afforded Big Tech companies shelter from legal liability from material posted by users on their platform.
The Limiting Section 230 Immunity to Good Samaritans Immunity Act was introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, on Wednesday and had three GOP cosponsors: Sens. Mike Braun of Indiana, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, and Marco Rubio of Florida.
“For too long, Big Tech companies like Twitter, Google, and Facebook have used their power to silence political speech from conservatives without any recourse for users,” Mr. Hawley said in a statement. “Section 230 has been stretched and rewritten by courts to give these companies outlandish power over speech without accountability. Congress should act to ensure bad actors are not given a free pass to censor and silence their opponents.”
The proposal does not eliminate Section 230 protections completely, which some Big Tech allies have feared may still happen. Mr. Rubio said in a statement that he thinks Section 230 still serves an important purpose, but it should not be weaponized as a tool of political censorship and activism.
The Justice Department is also preparing to release a proposal of how it wants to limit Section 230. The department is looking to roll back civil immunity to tech companies across several different circumstances, including those that host third-party content involving online scammers and trafficking in illicit drugs, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The competing visions of Big Tech regulation have emerged in response to President Trump’s recent social media executive order. Mr. Trump’s order directed the Federal Communications Commission to draft regulation that could scrap legal liability protections for Big Tech companies if they censor or edit content online.
Mr. Trump’s order also took aim at Section 230, which the president said was necessary to restore fairness online.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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