{"id":119543,"date":"2021-02-06T09:29:23","date_gmt":"2021-02-06T14:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=119543"},"modified":"2021-02-06T09:51:29","modified_gmt":"2021-02-06T14:51:29","slug":"democrats-seek-to-force-big-tech-to-police-content-more-tightly-in-section-230-reform-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-seek-to-force-big-tech-to-police-content-more-tightly-in-section-230-reform-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Seek to Force Big Tech to Police Content More Tightly in Section 230 Reform Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-seek-to-force-big-tech-to-police-content-more-tightly-in-section-230-reform-bill%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=119543&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Democrat lawmakers have introduced a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-bill\">bill<\/a> to reform Section 230 of the\u00a0Communications Decency Act, seeking to make big tech companies more accountable and force them to police their content more stringently.<\/p>\n<p>Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.warner.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm\/2021\/2\/warner-hirono-klobuchar-announce-the-safe-tech-act-to-reform-section-230#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20%E2%80%93%20Today%20U.S.%20Sens.%20Mark,accountable%20for%20enabling%20cyber%2Dstalking%2C\">Friday introduced<\/a> the Safeguarding Against Fraud, Exploitation, Threats, Extremism and Consumer Harms (SAFE TECH) Act to reform Section 230 and \u201callow social media companies to be held accountable for enabling cyber-stalking, targeted harassment, and discrimination on their platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Democrat proposal creates a series of carve-outs to Section 230 protections, including by making the liability shield inapplicable to ads or other paid content, to instances where content and services delivered via the platforms are discriminatory, \u201clikely to cause irreparable harm,\u201d \u201cmay have directly contributed to a loss of life,\u201d or where they \u201cdirectly enable harmful activity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Warner said in a statement that, \u201cSection 230 has provided a \u2018Get Out of Jail Free\u2019 card to the largest platform companies even as their sites are used by scam artists, harassers, and violent extremists to cause damage and injury.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Section 230, which was passed in 1996 to help online platforms develop without fear of litigation over user-generated content, shields them from liability for content posted by users while giving them the leeway to moderate it if they consider it harmful by, in turn, protecting them from lawsuits over moderation.<\/p>\n<p>The law has come under fire from both sides of the aisle, with Democrats generally calling for tighter policing of content, seeking to curb \u201chate speech,\u201d harassment, and calls for violence, while Republicans and conservatives more broadly have taken aim at the liability shields for enabling what they say is suppression of conservative voices and stifling free speech.<\/p>\n<p>At a recent hearing on domestic terrorism, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) warned tech companies to police content more tightly or face more stringent government intervention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s obvious that [Section] 230 we\u2019ll look at,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cIf the companies don\u2019t assume the interest in policing their own platforms, then you leave government no choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Twitter and Facebook\u2019s decision to ban former President Donald Trump from their platforms in the final days of his presidency following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot drew Republican criticism for discrimination and suppression of online speech.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3684140\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Trump-clapping-1200x675-1.jpg\" alt=\"Donald Trump greets the crowd\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Then-President Donald Trump greets the crowd at the \u201cStop The Steal\u201d rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Tasos Katopodis\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Days after Trump was banned from the platforms, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/graham-says-he-is-more-determined-to-roll-back-protections-for-big-tech-after-twitter-bans-trump_3648716.html\">said he was<\/a> \u201cmore determined\u201d to rollback liability protections for big tech companies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwitter may ban me for this but I willingly accept that fate: Your decision to permanently ban President Trump is a serious mistake,\u201d Graham said in a series of posts on Twitter. \u201cThe Ayatollah can tweet, but Trump can\u2019t. Says a lot about the people who run Twitter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m more determined than ever to strip Section 230 protections from Big Tech (Twitter) that let them be immune from lawsuits,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>In the days following, freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/rep-cawthorn-to-cosponsor-bill-to-amend-section-230_3654100.html\">announced that<\/a> he\u2019s co-sponsoring a bill to amend Section 230 to ensure social media platforms uphold U.S. consumers\u2019 right to free speech.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSocial media is our generation\u2019s public forum. It ought to be subject to the same protections provided to all public forums,\u201d Cawthorn stated <a href=\"https:\/\/madisoncawthorn.com\/fight_for_free_speech\">on his website<\/a>. \u201cI am calling for First Amendment protections to be applied to this New Town Square.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCensorship of elected officials by unelected elites is UNAMERICAN!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But while the Democrat co-sponsors of the\u00a0SAFE TECH Act insist their bill does not stifle free speech,\u00a0Fight for the Future Director Evan Greer <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2021\/02\/05\/safe-tech-act-section-230-warner\/?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANNDjNmY5VeUyNBJxNLqyvjCx3R-6EuOl8eQe0YYvpSBIvCtyj6PhrEmJa9aOWPijO7_rzA63-Q-BjmgHkK9Y3K1qPg38YsfWVVIvzwUYdgawofk7QcJMb63sqbMPCbOZxSvJ6OtG1ks2_uTSfbP3TZ7VjR3eyb8pTe9i5wXkj4l\">told Tech Crunch<\/a> that, \u201cunfortunately this bill, as written, would have enormous unintended consequences for human rights and freedom of expression.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt creates a huge carveout in Section 230 that impacts not only advertising but essentially all paid services, such as web hosting and [content delivery networks], as well as small services like Patreon, Bandcamp, and Etsy,\u201d Greer told the outlet.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who was one of Section 230\u2019s original authors, told Tech Crunch that while the new bill is well-intentioned, it would curb free speech.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, as written, it would devastate every part of the open internet, and cause massive collateral damage to online speech,\u201d Wyden told the outlet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrat lawmakers have introduced a bill to reform Section 230 of the\u00a0Communications Decency Act, seeking to make big tech companies more accountable and force them to police their content more &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1892779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[5589,3685,4649,3967,4165,4989],"class_list":["post-119543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-content","tag-democrats","tag-force","tag-police","tag-seek","tag-tech"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1892779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}