#IdeaDrop Library House

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.

A typed journal from WWI passed on through generations fuels a young man's dreams of time travel and allows us to explore the power of personal stories and photos. Together with archival collections, these items take us through space and time, and the magical ability of cultural memory institutions to help individuals bring these incredibly compelling dreams to life. The World Wide Web provides the cultural, technological, and legal frameworks to open the doors to innovation and imagination, and also enables libraries, archives and museums the world over to play a critical role. We explore some of the diverse efforts to bring stories and memory to life in new ways, while also fostering open data and preservation, and the pros and cons at the intersection of public domain and private enterprise.