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Did 26 words from an American law passed in 1996 create the internet?

says that interactive websites and applications cannot be held legally liable for the content posted on their sites by their users. Without the law, it's likely Facebook, Amazon, Reddit, Yelp, and X wouldn't exist -- at least not in their current form. But some say the law shields large tech companies from liability for enabling, or even amplifying, harmful content.

On today's show, we discuss Section 230, recent efforts to reform it, and new proposals for content moderation on the internet.

Marshall Van Alstyne is a professor of information systems at Boston University.

Robert Corn-Revere is FIRE's chief counsel.

Timestamps

0:00 Intro 3:52 The origins of Section 230? 6:40 Section 230's "forgotten provision" 13:29 User vs. platform control over moderation 23:24 Harms allegedly enabled by Section 230 40:17 Solutions 46:03 Private market for moderation 1:02:42 Case study: Hunter Biden laptop story 1:09:19 "Duty of care" standard 1:17:49 The future of Section 230 1:20:35 Outro

Show Notes

- Show Transcript

- (May 22. 2024)

- "" by Marshall Van Alstyne

- "" by Robert Corn-Revere

- "" by Mike Masnick

- "" By Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Frank Pallone Jr.

- "" By Christopher Cox and Ron Wyden

- "" (2021) by Marshall Van Alstyne

- "" (2023) by Marshall Van Alstyne

- "" by Michael D. Smith and Marshall Van Alstyne

"" by Mike Masnick