Social Media’s Liability Shield Is Under Assault

The law that enabled the rise of social media and other internet businesses is facing threats unlike anything in its 24-year history, with potentially significant consequences for websites that host user content. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was instrumental to the success of Silicon Valley tech giants such as Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google and YouTube by giving them broad immunity for the content they publish from users on their sites. There is a growing consensus in Washington and elsewhere that Section 230 needs an overhaul, even as liberals and conservatives disagree on the reasons why. Democrats say the immunity has allowed companies to ignore false and dangerous information spreading online, since the companies generally aren’t liable for harmful content. Republicans focus their ire on another aspect of Section 230, which says companies broadly aren’t liable for taking down content they deem objectionable. President Trump and others contend liberal-leaning tech companies have used that provision to block conservative views.