{"id":500354,"date":"2021-05-12T13:21:12","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T17:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=500354"},"modified":"2021-05-12T13:21:16","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T17:21:16","slug":"what-you-need-to-know-about-section-230-and-potential-social-media-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-you-need-to-know-about-section-230-and-potential-social-media-reforms\/","title":{"rendered":"What You Need To Know About Section 230 And Potential Social Media Reforms"},"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\">26<\/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%2Fwhat-you-need-to-know-about-section-230-and-potential-social-media-reforms%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=500354&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--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1232387557.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>Following Facebook\u2019s Oversight Board\u2019s decision to uphold former President Donald Trump\u2019s ban from Facebook and Instagram, Republicans reignited calls to revoke Section 230 protections for Big Tech corporations. The Board did, however, say that if a permanent ban is instituted, the company needs to clarify its standards surrounding bans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs Facebook suspended Mr. Trump\u2019s accounts \u2018indefinitely,\u2019 the company must reassess this penalty,\u201d the Board said, according to a report from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/mark-meadows-break-up-of-big-tech-is-on-the-horizon-in-congress-following-facebook-upholding-trump-ban\">The Daily Wire<\/a>. \u201cIt is not permissible for Facebook to keep a user off the platform for an undefined period, with no criteria for when or whether the account will be restored.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after the decision, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/mark-meadows-break-up-of-big-tech-is-on-the-horizon-in-congress-following-facebook-upholding-trump-ban\">said<\/a> that a \u201cbreakup of Big Tech\u201d is likely to take place. Although Congress could focus on regulation, it would make more sense to pass legislation to address the issue, Meadows explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you look at Google and Facebook, they have more power over what we read and what we see than any in the media,\u201d Meadows said. \u201cGoogle and Facebook and YouTube actually control much of what America sees, whether it\u2019s you and I talking right now and it gets reposted on any of those platforms, they have the ability to actually raise that profile or lower it. And so, it is time that we break up Big Tech, not just regulate it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other Republicans, such as Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepJimBanks\/status\/1389942124406198277?s=20\">Jim Banks<\/a> (R-IN) and Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepLisaMcClain\/status\/1389961977515155470?s=20\">Lisa McClain<\/a> (R-MI), are in agreement with Meadows that Section 230 protections need to be reformed.<\/p>\n<p>But what exactly is Section 230 and how does it protect social media platforms?<\/p>\n<p><strong>About the law<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Section 230 of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/47\/230\">Communications Decency Act of 1996<\/a> protects Internet service companies that \u201coffer users a great degree of control over the information that they receive, as well as the potential for even greater control in the future as technology develops.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The original goal was to protect small startup companies from being held liable for what content their users post, including any content deemed \u201cobscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo provider or user of an\u00a0interactive computer service\u00a0shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another\u00a0information content provider,\u201d the law states.<\/p>\n<p>This section of the law has allowed social media platforms to flourish, as the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eff.org\/issues\/cda230\"> Electronic Frontier Foundation<\/a> explains:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"17\">\n<p><em>This legal and policy framework has allowed for YouTube and Vimeo users to upload their own videos, Amazon and Yelp to offer countless user reviews, craigslist to host classified ads, and Facebook and Twitter to offer social networking to hundreds of millions of Internet users. Given the sheer size of user-generated websites (for example, Facebook alone has more than 1 billion users, and YouTube users upload 100 hours of video every minute), it would be infeasible for online intermediaries to prevent objectionable content from cropping up on their site. Rather than face potential liability for their users\u2019 actions, most would likely not host any user content at all or would need to protect themselves by being actively engaged in censoring what we say, what we see, and what we do online.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Why it\u2019s controversial<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to some conservatives, Big Tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google are no longer deemed \u201cinternet service providers\u201d when the companies regulate what speech is acceptable. In their opinion, deleting specific content or suspending certain users makes those platforms \u201cpublishers,\u201d and should therefore not be protected in the same way.<\/p>\n<p>Last fall, the Department of Justice \u2014 at President Donald Trump\u2019s direction \u2014 reviewed Section 230 and issued a number of potential reforms, with one such area being the issue of content moderation, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/file\/1286331\/download\">explained<\/a> under the title, \u201cPromoting Open Discourse and Greater Transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"30\">\n<p><em>A fourth category of potential reforms is intended to clarify the text and original purpose of the statute in order to promote free and open discourse online and encourage greater transparency between platforms and users.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>a. Replace Vague Terminology in (c)(2).<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0First, the Department supports replacing the vague catch-all \u201cotherwise objectionable\u201d language in Section 230(c)(2) with \u201cunlawful\u201d and \u201cpromotes terrorism.\u201d\u00a0 This reform would focus the broad blanket immunity for content moderation decisions on the core objective of Section 230\u2014to reduce online content harmful to children\u2014while limiting a platform\u2019s ability to remove content arbitrarily or in ways inconsistent with its terms or service simply by deeming it \u201cobjectionable.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>b. Provide Definition of Good Faith.<\/strong> \u00a0Second, the Department proposes adding a statutory definition of \u201cgood faith,\u201d which would limit immunity for content moderation decisions to those done in accordance with plain and particular terms of service and accompanied by a reasonable explanation, unless such notice would impede law enforcement or risk imminent harm to others. Clarifying the meaning of \u201cgood faith\u201d should encourage platforms to be more transparent and accountable to their users, rather than hide behind blanket Section 230 protections.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>c. Explicitly Overrule\u00a0Stratton Oakmont\u00a0to Avoid Moderator\u2019s Dilemma.<\/strong>\u00a0 Third, the Department proposes clarifying that a platform\u2019s removal of content pursuant to Section 230 (c)(2) or consistent with its terms of service does not, on its own, render the platform a publisher or speaker for all other content on its service.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Although the subject of reforming Section 230 is one both sides of the aisle can get behind, change, at least for now, remains unlikely, especially with President Trump as the focal point.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/facebook-board-upholds-trump-ban-demands-platform-clarify-standards\">Facebook Board Upholds Trump Ban, Demands Platform Clarify Standards<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>Beth Baumann is a Political Reporter and Editor at The Daily Wire. Follow her on Twitter\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/eb454\"><i>@eb454<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following Facebook\u2019s Oversight Board\u2019s decision to uphold former President Donald Trump\u2019s ban from Facebook and Instagram, Republicans reignited calls to revoke Section 230 protections for Big Tech corporations. The Board &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2277928,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1232387557.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"What You Need To Know About Section 230 And Potential Social Media Reforms","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-500354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1232387557.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"What You Need To Know About Section 230 And Potential Social Media Reforms","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500354","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=500354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2277928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}