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TECHNOLOGY Saturday 30 May 2020
All about Section 230, a rule that made the modern internet

counsel for the American
Civil Liberties Union.
Another possibility: Face-
book, Twitter and other
platforms could abandon
moderation altogether
and let the lower common
denominator prevail.
Such unmonitored ser-
vices could easily end up
dominated by trolls, like
8chan, which is infamous
for graphic and extremist
content, said Santa Clara
University law professor Eric
Goldman. Undoing Sec-
tion 230 would be an "an
existential threat to the in-
ternet," he said.q

This April 26, 2017, file photo shows the Twitter app icon on a mobile phone in Philadelphia.
Associated Press
By BARBARA ORTUTAY it was, the internet as we ing held liable for selling was born.
AP Technology Writer know it might cease to ex- books containing "obscen- QUESTION: What happens
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — ist. ity," which is not protected if Section 230 is limited or
Twenty-six words tucked QUESTION: Just what is Sec- by the First Amendment. goes away?
into a 1996 law overhaul- tion 230? One case eventually made ANSWER: "I don't think any
ing telecommunications ANSWER: If a news site it to the Supreme Court, of the social media com-
have allowed companies falsely calls you a swindler, which held that it created panies would exist in their
like Facebook, Twitter and you can sue the publisher a "chilling effect" to hold current forms without Sec-
Google to grow into the gi- for libel. But if someone someone liable for some- tion 230," Kosseff said. "They
ants they are today. posts that on Facebook, one else's content. have based their business
Those are the words Presi- you can't sue the compa- That meant plaintiffs had to models on being large
dent Donald Trump chal- ny — just the person who prove that bookstore own- platforms for user content."
lenged in an executive posted it. ers knew they were selling There are two possible out-
order Thursday, one that That's thanks to Section 230, obscene books, said Jeff comes. Platforms might get
would strip those protec- which states that "no pro- Kosseff, the author of "The more cautious, as Craigslist
tions if online platforms vider or user of an interac- Twenty-Six Words That Cre- did following the 2018 pas-
engaged in "editorial de- tive computer service shall ated the Internet," a book sage of a sex-trafficking
cisions" — including, in the be treated as the publisher about Section 230. law that carved out an
president's view, adding a or speaker of any informa- Fast-forward a few de- exception to Section 230
fact-check warning to one tion provided by another cades to when the com- for material that "promotes
of Trump's tweets. information content pro- mercial internet was taking or facilitates prostitution."
Under the U.S. law, inter- vider." That legal phrase off with services like Com- Craigslist quickly removed
net companies are gener- shields companies that can puServe and Prodigy. Both its "personals" section al-
ally exempt from liability host trillions of messages offered online forums, but together, which wasn't
for the material users post from being sued into obliv- CompuServe chose not to intended to facilitate sex
on their networks. Sec- ion by anyone who feels moderate its, while Prodigy, work. But the company
tion 230 of the 1996 Com- wronged by something seeking a family-friendly im- didn't want to take any
munications Decency Act someone else has posted age, did. chances.
— itself part of a broader — whether their complaint CompuServe was sued over This outcome could actu-
telecom law — provides a is legitimate or not. that, and the case was dis- ally hurt none other than
legal "safe harbor" for inter- Section 230 also allows so- missed. Prodigy, however, the president himself, who
net companies. But Trump cial platforms to moderate got in trouble. The judge in routinely attacks private
and other politicians argue their services by removing their case ruled that "they figures, entertains conspir-
that Twitter, Facebook and posts that, for instance, are exercised editorial con- acy theories and accuses
other social media plat- obscene or violate the ser- trol — so you're more like others of crimes.
forms have abused that vices' own standards, so a newspaper than a news- "If platforms were not im-
protection and should lose long as they are acting in stand," Kosseff said. mune under the law, then
their immunity — or at least "good faith." That didn't sit well with poli- they would not risk the
have to earn it by satisfy- QUESTION: Where did Sec- ticians, who worried that legal liability that could
ing requirements set by the tion 230 come from? outcome would discour- come with hosting Donald
government. The measure's history dates age newly forming internet Trump's lies, defamation,
Section 230 probably can't back to the 1950s, when companies from moderat- and threats," said Kate
be easily dismantled. But if bookstore owners were be- ing at all. And Section 230 Ruane, senior legislative