administration has proposed changes to weaken Section 230, the Communications Decency Act.
The law protects websites and apps from liability for third-party content . The proposal would make it riskier for websites to remove offensive content, and would remove immunity for websites for hosting material related to terrorism , child abuse , or cyberstalking .
Trump's amendment would also remove some protections for websites that do not adequately explain their content moderation policies
The new rules are an implementation of ideas the Justice Department released months ago. They address two goals for reforming Section 230: pushing web platforms to be more aggressive in removing harmful or even illegalcontent, such as harassment and sexual abuse material, and discouraging them from removing content originating from conservative and far-right users, including misinformation and hate speech.
Essentially, the protections that allow websites and apps to remove content they deemed “objective” will be eroded. It will protect websites from lawsuits over their moderation decisions only if they can show an “objectively reasonable belief” that the content was obscene, excessively violent, promoted terrorism and violent extremism, self-harm, or was illegal.
Many of these decisions would still be covered by the First Amendment, but the Trump administration's proposed repeal of Section 230 protections could spark legal battles over claims of social media censorship.
Websites will also lose these protections if they do not state their moderation practices “clearly and in detail” online, and must offer “prompt notice” providing a specific explanation for the removal of content.
Conversely, if a lawsuit has been filed against websites for promoting illegal content online, they will not be protected if they did so intentionally or solicited illegal material. They will also not be protected if they ignore the criminal activity notice.
According to Attorney General William Barr, the Justice Department has been discussing Section 230 since early 2020, but it is also responding to the executive order signed by Donald Trump in May. There are already several proposals to change it, although few have progressed beyond a simple introduction in Congress. The Justice Department is reflecting elements of the EARN IT Act, the PACT Act, and a recent bill by three Republican senators.
Lawyer and activist Carrie Goldberg – who has taken online platforms like Grindr to court on charges of promoting harassment – praised the proposal to make it easier to sue platforms that intentionally enable harassment or refuse to act on complaints.
