The Computer & Communications Industry Association, NetChoice, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a joint amicus brief in Bogard v. Alphabet, asking an appeals court to affirm a lower court ruling. A federal judge previously ruled that online services’ editorial choices of what content to disseminate is protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and the First Amendment.
The brief points out that Congress wrote Section 230 because it saw content moderation by companies as a way to improve internet safety: the liability protections the law provides are what allow companies to search for and remove content that violates their user agreements. The brief points out that “Section 230 reflects Congress’s considered judgment about the proper path to a safer internet. To affirm the judgment below is to keep faith with that choice.”
CCIA advocated for Section 230 ahead of Congress passing it in 1996. The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Matt Schruers:
“Federal courts have repeatedly affirmed with rare unanimity that Section 230 is doing its job of encouraging both free speech and online companies to self-police for unlawful or problematic content. We would encourage the appeals court to uphold the lower court, which correctly ruled that the display of lawful content is protected by federal law.”
