Broadcasts.com - "Section 230 and the Freedom to Remove Objectionable Content" (Community Signal)

Business
RELATED

Section 230 and the Freedom to Remove Objectionable Content

Published: Oct. 12, 2020, 9:30 a.m.

Section 230 is a vitally important law for online community builders in the U.S. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve consistently talked about it on Community Signal, and the growing threat to its existence.

The volume of legislation being proposed, that would amend Section 230, is increasingly rapidly with 6 bills proposed in September and October alone. These bills will impact online communities small and large \u2013 not just Big Tech.

Whenever new Section 230 altering legislation is proposed, Jess Miers\xa0analyzes it. Jess works as a legal policy specialist at\xa0Google, while finishing up a law degree, and she joins the show to talk about what\u2019s on the horizon.

Jess and Patrick discuss:

Why are legislators so focused on Section 230 right now?
Trends from the bills that are on the table
Regulators efforts to stop communities from moderating things that aren\u2019t illegal

Our Podcast is Made Possible By\u2026

If you enjoy our show, please know that it\u2019s only possible with the generous support of our sponsors:\xa0Vanilla, a one-stop shop for online community and\xa0Localist, plan, promote, and measure events for your community.

Big Quotes

Why are there so many Section 230 bills right now? (4:15):\xa0\u201cIf I have to be really cynical about this, we\u2019re in an election cycle. Doing something about Section 230 looks good for regulators that are trying to get reelected. It seems like everybody has fallen out of love with the internet, both on the regulatory and user side. Section 230 is just one of those things that\u2019s easy to come up with a proposal for and generate a lot of excitement around.\u201d \u2013@jess_miers

More honesty from Big Tech could lead to more understanding from legislators (22:09):\xa0\u201cIf Big Tech was a little bit more forthcoming about [the moderation] challenges they face, maybe we wouldn\u2019t have such a blind spot in the regulatory process when they\u2019re coming up with content moderation restrictive bills.\u201d \u2013@jess_miers

Are you sure you can't increase your moderation, trust, and safety budget? (22:27):\xa0\u201cThere is an issue [when] a company has problems around content moderation and they talk about how they\u2019ve reached a certain limit or they couldn\u2019t hire anyone else and yet, they report record revenue. That\u2019s a problem because sometimes you\u2019re placing artificial restrictions on yourself with staffing because you made this much money and you decided you didn\u2019t want to spend it.\u201d \u2013@patrickokeefe

Should Section 230 be amended? (34:10):\xa0\u201cAmending Section 230 isn\u2019t going to fix any of the issues that we have with the internet. It\u2019s just going to make it harder for us to fix those issues in the long run.\u201d \u2013@jess_miers

About Jess Miers

Jess Miers\xa0is a third-year law student at Santa Clara University School of Law, where she studies internet law and policy. During law school, Jess was a legal intern for Twitter and TechFreedom, a technology policy think-tank based in Washington, D.C.

Currently, Jess is a research associate for the\xa0UCLA Institute for Technology, Law, and Policy, where she speaks and writes about intermediary liability law. Her scholarship primarily covers Section 230 and content moderation. As of recent, Jess is also a full-time policy specialist at\xa0Google.