Tag Archives: communications decency act

The Senate’s section 230 hearing was partisan and predictable

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Vital debate on the future of the internet or pure political theatre? Today's Senate Commerce Committee hearing featured Twitter's Jack Dorsey, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, and addressed the very law that's foundational t...

Facebook and Twitter CEOs to attend hearing about Section 230 protections

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey have agreed to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee to discuss Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Their confirmation comes a day after the committee unanimously voted to sub...

Senate bill aims to boost accountability for Section 230 without gutting it

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A new Senate bill promises to bring the Communications Decency Act’s well-known Section 230 into the modern era, although it might not make the Justice Department or President very happy. Democrat Senator Brian Schatz and Republican Senator John Thun...

DoJ will reportedly limit social media companies’ speech protections

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The Justice Department plans to announce a proposed rollback of Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act as early as today, according to The Wall Street Journal. If adopted by Congress, the legislation would reportedly push internet compani...

Senators push FCC to take action on Trump’s social media order

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Some Republicans are eager to see the FCC follow through on President Trump’s executive order theoretically limiting protections for social networks. Senators Marco Rubio, Kelly Loeffler, Kevin Cramer and Josh Hawley have sent a letter to FCC chairma...

Lawsuit claims Trump’s social media order violates free speech rights

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True to expectations, President Trump’s attempt to limit protections for social media companies will face a legal challenge. The rights group Center for Democracy and Technology has sued (via the New York Times) Trump for allegedly violating the Firs...

Facebook slams executive order: ‘It will restrict more speech online’

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Facebook has responded to Trump’s executive order that aims to place new restrictions on social media companies. In a statement, the social network said that attempts to limit Section 230 — a more than 20-year-old statute widely regarded as the inter...

Draft bill could penalize companies for using end-to-end encryption

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Politicians may be looking for a roundabout way to thwart end-to-end encryption. Senator Lindsey Graham is drafting a bill, the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies (EARN IT) Act, that would modify the Communications D...

What happens if the internet’s most important law disappears?

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Buried deep in the 1996 Telecommunications Act is a tiny clause that underpins everything we do online. It's often described as the 26 words that created the internet -- and with very good reason. Every email you send, social media post you make and...

Joe Biden says Facebook spreads ‘falsehoods they know to be false’

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In an interview with the New York Times, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said the US should immediately repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). The 1996 law is considered one of the cornerstones of the modern internet....