Section 230 (Day 137)

A couple days ago I saw Carrie Goldberg shared her emotional story on a Zoom webinar. Her voice trembled uncontrollably while trying to recount the events happened to her. (Read the full story here.)

Long story short, the center of the debate is whether the big techs should take responsibility to protect their users despite the immunity granted by the Section 230--claimed as "the most important law protecting internet speech" by the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation).

With this law--designed to protect the freedom of speech, and provides immunity to the platform operators, the big techs are de-incentivized to take actions against bad actors.

Here's a description of the "With Great Power Comes... No Responsibility?" webinar, hosted by Betahack.

Who bears responsibility for the real-world consequences of technology? This question has been unduly complicated for decades by the 1996 legislation that provides immunity from liability to platforms that host third-party content: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. In the wake of the recent congressional “Big Tech Hearing”, understanding how and if the government should regulate “big tech” is on the minds of many.

Join us for a conversation with Yaël Eisenstat, Peter Romer-Friedman and Carrie Goldberg. The group will discuss the current state of play in the debates around who should govern online speech, other questions around the governance of big tech and will be taking your questions.