Commissioner O'Rielly: People 'Missing the Debate' on Section 230

Outgoing-Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O’Rielly participated in his final FCC meeting Dec 10 before Nathan Simington is sworn in to take his seat as one of the agency’s Republican commissioners. Although there were many appreciative send-offs, the departing commissioner also touched on the hot-button tech issue that likely led to President Donald Trump killing his renomination this past summer: Section 230. Commissioner O’Rielly questioned whether recent attacks on social media liability protections are being made in good faith. “A lot of the things people are talking about today, that they want to see changed under 230, are protected by the First Amendment, and therefore I think that people are missing the debate, or intentionally missing the debate,” he told reporters after the meeting. “I’m skeptical of the commission’s authority and I’m worried. And I want to know the implications for decisions as they reflect on the First Amendment.” Fellow GOP Commissioner Brendan Carr told reporters that, ahead of Inauguration Day, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai should still move forward to “bring clarity” and “guidance” to questions around Section 230 as the Trump administration requested. He also said the FCC can do so in a way “that doesn’t require a lengthy process.” But the debate has been mired in “shadow boxing” and “straw men,” Commissioner Carr added, stressing that he has no interest in the agency becoming the government “speech police,” as his Democratic colleagues warned. (He says his focus is on when liability protections apply for taking down content.) He cited bipartisan attention to these issues in Congress and expressed hope that any FCC action could have a “bipartisan and enduring consensus.”