Actor and filmmaker Joseph Gordon-Levitt says he has a “certain kind of love for the internet,” but his love does not extend to “amoral” social media companies that put profits over the well-being of their users.
Mr. Gordon-Levitt, known for his roles in movies such as 500 Days of Summer, Inception, and Snowden, spoke on Capitol Hill Wednesday in support of legislation to repeal an internet shield law known as Section 230 that was signed into law 30 years ago this month.
“Back then, message boards and other websites with user-generated content, they really were like telephone carriers. They were neutral platforms,” he said. “Today the internet is dominated by a small handful of these gigantic businesses that are not at all neutral, but instead algorithmically amplify whatever gets the most attention and maximizes ad revenue.”
Sens. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, introduced the legislation that would sunset Section 230 in two years.
“To the extent that this protection was ever needed, its usefulness has long since passed,” Mr. Durbin said.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was enacted as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Lawmakers at the time were trying to break up telecommunications monopolies and create a regulatory safe environment for the internet to grow.
Former Rep. Dick Gephardt, a Missouri Democrat who was House minority leader at the time the law was enacted, said he supported Section 230 at the time as tech companies warned that America would never have an internet economy if they were not protected from liability for content they hosted.
He said the early social media companies described themselves as “a dumb pipe that carried content produced by others,” but that modern platforms are much more sophisticated, scraping users’ data and relying on algorithms to promote content “that could brainwash users” to harmful outcomes such as depression and suicide.
“I do not believe the platforms intend to harm people,” Mr. Gephardt said. “But I do believe they intend to realize incredible monetary profits and the attention-addictive algorithms they employ in pursuit of that profit causes very serious harms to many, many people. And the worst part is the leaders of these platforms know what they are doing.”
Mr. Durbin said sunsetting Section 230 in two years, rather than repealing it immediately, could “force Big Tech to the table to negotiate real reform that requires real accountability.”
He acknowledged that the task will not be easy, citing bipartisan efforts like the Kids Online Safety Act that have yet to become law amid heavy lobbying from social media companies.
Mr. Gordon-Levitt, a father to three kids, ages 10, 8 and 3, said stories he heard Wednesday from parent advocates who lost their children to online harms “left me trying to keep myself together.”
“These amoral companies, they just keep allowing these awful things to happen on their platforms,” he said. “And they don’t do anything about it because they will always prioritize profits over the public good, even when it comes to kids.”
Social media algorithms have not only contributed to a mental-health crisis but also a rise in extremism and conspiracy, Mr. Gordon-Levitt said.
“They amplify the demonization of the other side so badly that we can’t even have a civil conversation,” he said.
Despite the negative discourse, the actor said most Americans agree that Big Tech businesses have too much influence and need to be held accountable.
Sunsetting Section 230 is “the right first step,” he said. “I want to see this thing pass 100-0. There should be nobody voting to give any more impunity to these tech companies.”
Mr. Gordon-Levitt said he is not worried that his career opportunities would be impacted by his speaking out on the issue, noting he is directing a movie for Netflix this year that he also co-wrote.
“Maybe if we’re going to go shill for Meta, but I’m not going to do that anyway,” he said.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.