Twitter CEO's Section 230 'expansion' ideas add to signs tech may be open to changes
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A proposal by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Wednesday for an "expansion" of the online industry's legal shield is the latest sign that some of Silicon Valley's biggest players are open to departing from the industry's once-solid opposition to revising a crucial 1996 statute.
Elaborating on his written remarks to the Senate Commerce Committee, Dorsey used his public testimony at Wednesday's hearing to propose “three solutions” to address concerns raised by lawmakers about how tech companies use the immunity granted to them by Section 230 when moderating user content. Dorsey said the changes could come in the form of “expansions to Section 230, new legislative frameworks or a commitment to industry-wide self-regulation best practices."
His suggestions: Require companies to publish information about how they make moderation decisions, make them offer a “straightforward” process for users to appeal those decisions, and let users select which algorithms dictate what content they view on online platforms.
Dorsey's proposals on Section 230 drew relatively limited discussion during the hearing's subsequent three-plus hours, as lawmakers focused more directly on issues including Silicon Valley's alleged censorship of conservatives, extremists' use of platforms like Facebook and threats to the November election.
In his pre-written testimony, Dorsey had called on lawmakers to show “restraint” in considering changes to Section 230. And he warned that “eroding” the law could benefit “a small number of giant and well-funded technology companies” that have more resources to comply with rules.
Facebook CEO Zuckerberg, whose company dwarfs Twitter in size, also expressed openness to changing Section 230, urging the committee to “update” the law's protections “to make sure it’s working as intended.” Zuckerberg said he broadly supports legislative concepts aimed at boosting transparency on companies' content decisions.
But Zuckerberg also said it's "extremely important" that any new regulations either are waived for or account for smaller companies that may just be "getting started."
All executives defended the 1996 law, which has come under fire from officials on both sides of the political aisle in Washington, as foundational part of the modern internet.
