Democrats want a truce with Section 230 supporters:
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which says apps and websites aren't legally liable for third-party content, has inspired a lot of overheated rhetoric in Congress. Republicans like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) have successfully framed the rule as a "gift to Big Tech" that enables social media censorship. While Democrats have very different critiques, some have embraced a similar fire-and-brimstone tone with the bipartisan EARN IT Act. But a Senate subcommittee tried to reset that narrative today with a hearing for the Platform Accountability and Consumer Transparency (PACT) Act, a similarly bipartisan attempt at a more nuanced Section 230 amendment. While the hearing didn't address all of the PACT Act's very real flaws, it presented the bill as an option for Section 230 defenders who still want a say in potential reforms.
[...] Still, Section 230 has been at the forefront of US politics for years, and some kind of change looks increasingly likely. If that's true, then particularly after today's hearing, a revised version of the PACT Act looks like the clearest existing option to preserve important parts of the law without dismissing calls for reform. And hashing out those specifics may prove more important than focusing on the policy's most hyperbolic critics.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 31 2020, @03:59AM (2 children)
As the last three years have proven in spades. Thanks other AC!
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Phoenix666 on Friday July 31 2020, @06:26PM (1 child)
Quite. Look at what Bill de Blasio has done to New York City.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2020, @07:28AM
Well, while Billy Boy may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, he's a lot less of an authoritarian, undemocratic scumbag as the previous two.
I'll take that every day of the week, and twice on Sundays.