The Trump administration is ramping up the pressure on Big Tech companies.The US Department of Justice has announced major proposals aimed at rolling back legal protections for online platforms.
The new legislation would target Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, a set of laws that spare online platforms from being held liable for third-party content. The Section was originally designed to support the nascent online media industry by allowing for protections not typically given to conventional media outlets. But the department said that the Act had left online platforms “immune for a wide array of illicit activity on their services and free to moderate content with little transparency or accountability.”
The new proposals would force online platforms such as Facebook (US:FB), Twitter (US:TWTR) and Alphabet’s (US:GOOGL) Google to justify their decisions to delete user content to the government if they want to receive immunity.
The department has also suggested targeting “truly bad actors”, who purposefully facilitate illegal activities, and scrapping immunity for content that relates to child abuse, terrorism and cyberstalking. It also said that it sought to clarify that the bill would not protect against federal antitrust claims.
The proposals follow an Executive Order issued by President Trump last month, requiring a government review of Section 230. Mr Trump took action after Twitter put warnings and fact-check notices on some of his tweets.
Facebook, on the other hand, did not place warnings in front of the same posts by Mr Trump on its platform. But the group has come under pressure, including from some of its own employees, to control third-party content more tightly.
The department’s proposals would have to be pushed through by a divided Congress, which might prove to be complex in an election year that has already been disrupted by coronavirus.
