Without Section 230, frivolous lawsuits would create an insurmountable cost of doing business, and companies like Yelp wouldn’t exist, Senior Vice President-Public Policy Luther Lowe said during an interview with C-SPAN's The Communicators, to have been televised over the weekend. If Google and Facebook didn’t exist, there wouldn’t be such scrutiny on Section 230 of Communications Decency Act, he said. He suggested lawmakers think of other public policy tools to address the abuse of dominance, saying Yelp opposes any “radical approach” to CDA 230: “It is an axiomatic, foundational necessity for the internet as we know it to exist.” Because of COVID-19, all Yelp employees are working remotely, he said, saying the biggest industry impact is on small businesses. Lowe wants more meaningful relief for small businesses in Congress’ relief packages, anticipating a multi-month, devastating impact.
Section 230
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling for Google and its YouTube subsidiary in Prager University's lawsuit (see 2002260046) leaves open the broader issue of how courts will treat online platforms as speakers, Wiley lawyers Megan Brown, Boyd Garriott and Jeremy Broggi blogged Wednesday for the Washington Legal Foundation. The Supreme Court's Manhattan Community Access v. Halleck decision left the door open to the court finding sufficient state action in future First Amendment cases, they said. With doctrine unsettled, some platforms are focusing on self-regulation, they said. They said the Communications Decency Act's Section 230 immunity could go away in the face of bipartisan criticism and DOJ saying it's looking at ways of paring it back.
If Congress won’t pass Section 230 legislation for combating child exploitation (see 2003090065), the alternative is a liability protection carve-out, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters Wednesday after a committee hearing. He introduced legislation with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that would alter the Communications Decency Act section. Companies would have to comply with best practices for filtering child abuse content or face lawsuits from victims. The legislation would establish a commission of government officials, industry representatives and experts to certify best business practices.
Section 230 of the Communications and Decency Act may need to be revisited, suggested Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen. A quarter century after enactment, 230 immunity "has not always been a force for good, particularly in light of some of the extraordinarily broad interpretation given to it by some courts," DAG Rosen told a Free State Foundation conference Tuesday. He listed some criteria to consider in such revamp efforts.
The Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee will explore site blocking as a form of internet piracy prevention, Chairman Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told us Tuesday after a hearing. Ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., said he’s “open to it,” and it needs to be weighed against the speech concerns.
The Internet Association will testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing on Section 230 legislation (see 2003050066) from Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. Witnesses are: IA Deputy General Counsel Elizabeth Banker, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Vice President-Exploited Children Division John Shehan, Match Group Chief Legal Officer and Secretary Jared Sine, Catholic University of America law professor Mary Leary and NCMEC Team Hope member "Nicole."
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced long-anticipated legislation Thursday (see 2002070052) that would alter Section 230, exposing online platforms to civil liability for violating child sexual abuse material-related laws. The Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act (Earn It Act) was introduced with Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. Additional sponsors are Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; Doug Jones, D-Ala.; Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; Bob Casey, D-Pa., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer should leave Section 230-like protections out of future trade deals, House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., said during a hearing Wednesday. She wrote a letter to Lighthizer last week, joining House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., with the same request (see 1908060064).
The Senate Judiciary Committee will soon hold a hearing on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and legislative proposals (see 2002210057), Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters Tuesday.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act remains a vital tool for allowing innovation and startups to grow, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told reporters Tuesday, the day after another legislator threatened the tech industry’s liability shield with a legislative proposal (see 2002240051). “It’s just as important now as it was then, and the big guys are always ... looking to have more tools to dominate the little guys,” said Wyden, an author of Section 230. “Our constituency was always for the disruptor, the innovator, the person who is willing to take on the powerful and entrenched interests.”