Tech bosses to defend key internet law in front of US Senate
The bosses of the world’s biggest tech giants will tomorrow launch an impassioned defence of a key law, arguing that it is crucial to maintaining freedom of expression online.
During an appearance in front of the Senate commerce committee, the chief executives of Facebook and Twitter will defend Section 230, a provision of the 1996 Communications Decency Act.
The law protects tech firms from liability for content published on their platforms and allows them to remove posts that are harmful, even if they do not break the law.
It has come under fierce scrutiny from all sides of the US political spectrum amid concerns about how big tech firms moderate content.
But Twitter boss Jack Dorsey will tomorrow say that undermining the law “could collapse how we communicate on the internet, leaving only a small number of giant and well-funded technology companies”, according to written testimonies seen by Reuters.
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg warned that social media platforms were likely to become more censorious to avoid legal risks if Section 230 is repealed.
“Without Section 230, platforms could potentially be held liable for everything people say,” he said.
It comes as tech giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Google face criticism over their failure to remove harmful content from their sites and their approach to misinformation.
This week a trade body representing major tech companies urged the EU to introduce legal safeguards to limit their liability when removing illegal content.
The European Digital Media Association (EDIMA) said a new framework was needed in the upcoming Digital Services Act.
But the lobby group stressed that any legal framework should balance limiting tech firms’ liability with protecting free speech.