Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act is responsible for the shape of the Internet as we know it today, by freeing website operators from needing to conduct a legal review of each and every user communication that crosses their systems.
And yet, the protection granted by Section 230 is both controversial and fragile. Judges are uncomfortable with the idea that websites can publish revenge porn, pay-to-remove mugshot galleries, and prostitution ads with impunity. State attorney generals have demanded that Congress amend Section 230 to give them broad new powers to bring criminal charges against social media sites, to use them as a choke point to cut off illegal content involving child trafficking. But what would limiting Section 230 mean for the future of peer-to-peer communication?
This panel will explore the controversy over Section 230, including the voices demanding its repeal or change and the consequences to online speech of yielding to such demands.
