The House Gavel in Charge of Section 230 Reform

The House Commerce Committee now officially labels the hot-button issue of Section 230 under the jurisdiction of its communications and technology subcommittee, which is chaired by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA). During the previous Congress, Commerce did not explicitly include the online liability protections among the committee’s jurisdictional breakdowns, and the one big hearing on the topic in late 2019 was a joint session between Doyle’s panel and the consumer protection subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). Formally listing the issue under Doyle’s subcommittee means that over the next two years, he’s likely to play a major role in advancing any legislation dealing with the contentious policy topic — although Schakowsky’s subcommittee will have a stake as well. She has notably called for updating Section 230 and weighed legislation on the issue. Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) downplayed the significance of any jurisdictional tweaks as purely technical during an organizing session.