On May 28th, 2020, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that addressed an issue that has thus far been mostly ignored by the U.S government. Over the past several years, internet censorship has become the norm of many of those in the online scene. The main piece of policy that has governed web companies and how liable they are for what people do on their sites is known as Section 230.
The general rule of Section 230 is that platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are not legally liable for the content of its users, but publishers such as CNN and Fox would be liable, as they editorialize and curate their content. The executive order signed by the President laid out a roadmap for further regulation as well as a possible rework of Section 230.
“It is the policy of the United States that the scope of that immunity should be clarified: the immunity should not extend beyond its text and purpose to provide protection for those who purport to provide users a forum for free and open speech, but in reality use their power over a vital means of communication to engage in deceptive or pretextual actions stifling free and open debate by censoring certain viewpoints”.
The executive order goes on to reevaluate the actions of such social media sites and ask if such censorship, be it through suspension, account deletion, or shadow bans crosses the line of what a platform ought to be able to do without becoming publishers. If such regulation would be entertained it could essentially change the face of social media as we know it today.
Some, however, are not so optimistic about what these new regulations may mean for the culture of social media online. Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wire sent out this tweet voices his prediction of the effects of rewriting Section 230
“Here's the inevitable effect of destroying §230 of the CDA: all comments sections will be taken down. No website has the resources to actively edit all comments in order to shield themselves from liability, and no website is willing to leave comments entirely standards-free.”
While nobody can predict the future it is certainly the first step on the road to change for social media be it for good or for ill.
All opinions expressed within the contents of this article reflect the views and values of the author, not Politics NOW.
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