Washington – The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law will examine a law at a hearing Wednesday afternoon that paved the way for the internet as we know it and the ability for various services to allow user-generated content. The law known as Section 230 has come under criticism in a recent Supreme Court case, where companies were criticized for not doing enough to remove dangerous content. Meanwhile, others claim internet services perform too much content moderation.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association advocated for Section 230 when Congress added it to the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The 50-year-old not-for-profit trade association also filed an amicus brief in the recently argued Gonzalez case, supporting websites’ right to moderate online content. CCIA also joined a letter signed by 38 diverse organizations that support Section 230 protections ahead of the hearing today.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President Matt Schruers:
“Congress got it right when enacting Section 230, empowering citizens to share and express themselves online, and enabling companies to respond to bad actors. This paved the way for the modern internet and the U.S. digital economy that is the envy of the world.
“Without the protections of Section 230 companies would respond in one of two ways. Those that could muster the vast resources would likely over-sanitize their services into kindergarten-quality environments. Those that could not would stick their heads in the sand for fear that a needle overlooked in the haystack could lead to staggering liability. We have seen that without the appropriate enforcement of community standards, an online community can become a chaotic cesspool, putting users at risk.”