Internet Legislation: Section 230 - Pro and Against
One of these laws is called Section 230, and says "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider" (47 U.S.C. § 230 (http://www(dot)law(dot)cornell(dot)edu/uscode/text/47/230)). It's become a recent controversial topic, with major figures such as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifying before the US Senate about it.
For this assignment, you'll read two articles: one in favor of Section 230, and one against Section 230.
Using the link below, read the following article in favor of Section 230:
https://www(dot)eff(dot)org/issues/cda230
Question 1: Summarize the article; what does Section 230 do for major tech companies like YouTube and Facebook?
Question 2: Using the infographic in the article, list three of the issues of having Section 230 revoked.
Question 3: What does Section 230 do for bloggers?
Using the link below, read the following article against Section 230:
https://slate(dot)com/technology/2019/10/section-230-cda-moderation-update.html
Question 4: Summarize the article; how does Section 230 impact the average user?
Question 5: List three of the issues of keeping Section 230 as is.
Question 6: What is one of the proposals mentioned in the article to change Section 230?
After having read both articles, answer the following questions:
Question 7: Should websites and social media platforms be responsible for blocking content after they receive a complaint?
Question 8: Which do you think is better for society, allowing more free speech for users, even though some of that speech will be false and harmful; or blocking potentially harmful speech, even though some of that speech is actually truthful and deserves to be heard?
Question 9: After having read both articles, are you in favor or against Section 230? Explain your position.
Number the answers.
Write complete sentences with proper spelling, grammar and punctuation for all questions.
Internet Legislation
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Internet Legislation
First Article (in favor of Section 230)
Question 1
The article reflects Section 230, a provision within the Communications Decency Act, which was explicitly enacted to enhance freedom of speech on the internet. Overall, Section 230 protects a website publisher, an interactive computer service user, from the liabilities relating to the third party's content. Electronic Frontier Foundation (2020) explains that Section 230 provides immunity for tech companies like YouTube and Facebook, encouraging them to operate as they are forms of innovation.
Question 2
Initially, the Communications Decency Act targeted limiting free speech on the internet. However, the introduction of the provisions of Section struck such attempts. Therefore, its revocation would have various impacts. For instance, tech service providers, such as YouTube, would be legally liable for their users' posts. Additionally, bloggers would be held accountable for posts based on information received by them from other parties. Finally, innovation in tech companies would be slower.
Question 3
Bloggers typically host numerous comments on their posts, which could amount to lawsuits from parties who may feel that such contents are defamatory. However, Section 230 offers them a legal immunity, regardless of the source or their knowledge that some posts may be objection points.
Second Article (against Section 230)
Question 4
The article criticizes Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. It focuses on when Congress wanted the tech companies authorized to filter posts from their users as a control mechanism of the provision, which was a challenging task. While that attempt faced support and opposition from different groups, the article claims that Section 230 impacts the average user negatively. For instance, courts' extended legal shield has hin...