Section 230 Wording

Has been lauded as the most important law protecting internet speech and called perhaps the most influential law to protect the kind of innovation that has allowed the internet to thrive 2 2.

Section 230 wording. An obscure section of government regulation doesn t often become a hot button issue. Section 230 generally provides immunity for website publishers from third party content. Section 230 is a piece of internet legislation in the united states passed into law as part of the communications decency act cda of 1996 a common name for title v of the telecommunications act of 1996 formally codified as section 230 of the communications act of 1934 at 47 u s c. As alphabet google ceo sundar pichai put it the wording is the only reason we can intervene with certainty in cases like the dangerous tide pod.

104 104 designating 201 to 229 as part i and. The wording for section 230 came from established case law including a supreme court ruling in the middle part of the 20th century which held that bookstore owners cannot be held liable for. But that s exactly what happened to section 230 of the communications decency act as big tech behaviors have angered politicians on both sides of the aisle. The portion of section 230 currently being debated is the protection for good samaritan blocking and screening of offensive material.

It runs only 26 words long short and to the point. 230 a provision of the communication decency act tucked inside the communications decency act cda of 1996 is one of the most valuable tools for protecting freedom of expression and innovation on the internet. Section 230 of the communications decency act of 1996 1 1. Section 230 is a part of federal legislation passed more than 20 years ago.

Simply put section 230 c 2 provides immunity for isps to make decisions about removing or filtering content on their services. Section 230 a law which is under. Section 230 c 2 protects defendants from liability for making voluntary decisions in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the isp considers obscene unlawful or otherwise objectionable. That wording is deliberately designed to be flexible as section 230 was crafted not to force platforms to be neutral actors but to instead allow diversity of opinion on the internet.

This comes somewhat as a surprise since the original purpose of the legislation was to restrict free speech on the internet. The most important law protecting internet speech electronic frontier found https www eff. Section 509 of pub.