President Biden has said he wants Section 230 to “be revoked immediately,” and he’s calling on Congress to remove the law.
While Democrats and Republicans generally have different reasons and visions for reforming Section 230, which is a liability shield for tech companies, there is bipartisan support for action. If there are changes to the 26-year-old law, communication strategists will need to adapt.
What is Section 230?
Section 230 is part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. It states that, "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."
Essentially, this means services that host content — such as social media platforms, website hosts, apps, and online chat boards — are protected against a range of laws that might otherwise be used to hold them legally responsible for what others say and do. These platforms are not considered publishers, unlike news publications or other content creators, so the platforms do not hold any responsibility for what appears on its sites.
For example, if someone using a platform like Facebook writes libelous statements, the person who posted the words can be sued but not Facebook. If Section 230 is removed, however, the publisher of the content, in this case Facebook, can also be held responsible.
Or take the planning of Jan. 6, much of which was organized on social media. Platforms that hosted content which planned for violence at the Capitol would have been open to litigation if Section 230 wasn’t in place.
If the liability protection is removed for tech companies, then they would be treated as publishers and could be sued and fined for what users post.
Removing the law
The Biden administration announced in September that it wants the removal of Section 230 liability protections. While the total axing of the law is unlikely, any change to Section 230 could have ramifications for communication strategists.
Social media and other online platforms would have to change the rules of their service. Many current PR strategies will no longer work or be compatible with the new functionality of the platforms. As an illustration, live-tweeting at events may become obsolete. Since content will have to go through a review process by platforms (either human or artificial intelligence), posting content in real-time wouldn’t be feasible.
In other words, there will be a host of unintended consequences that communication professionals will have to navigate and keep up with. From new rules about user-generated content to what can be allowed on apps, changes will ripple through all digital channels.
Preparing for the (possible) 230-less future
While this is all in the theoretical stage now, it’s an important enough issue to follow. Even if repealing Section 230 won’t ‘break the internet’ (as the memes like to claim), it certainly will change it forever.