Otherwise Objectionable: Will Section 230 Survive?
from the 230-reasons-to-hope-section-230-survives dept
At a time when Section 230 has become one of the most politically divisive tech policy issues, our final episode of the Otherwise Objectionable podcast brings together an unusual panel for a “roundtable discussion” between myself, Jessica Melugin of CEI, Charles Cooke from the National Review, and Dave Willner (well-known trust & safety expert who has worked at Facebook, Airbnb, and OpenAI).
While these voices span the ideological spectrum and likely disagree on many policy issues, all of them think that Section 230 is an important and useful law. And in this discussion, we explain why we all believe Section 230 was (and remains) the right law for the internet.
Much of the discussion focused on whether or not there were any lessons from Section 230 for new technologies, like AI. There was also surprising optimism about 230’s chances for survival — though I remain more skeptical given the current political climate (and widespread ignorance about the law).
This episode wraps up this eight-part podcast series. It was really fun to work on, and I think is especially useful for folks who want to understand the history of why Section 230 exists and how well it’s worked.
Looking back across the episodes, what’s struck me most is how a law that was crafted in response to a specific bad early-internet court ruling has proven remarkably adaptable to challenges of an evolving internet. While the debates around Section 230 have become increasingly heated, the fundamental principles — that we want to encourage community, user empowerment, and innovation at the internet’s edges — remain as vital as ever.
If you missed it, here are all the episodes:
- Episode 1: The Most Misunderstood Law on the Internet
- Episode 2: The Dawn of the Internet
- Episode 3: Law and Disorder
- Episode 4: The Solution
- Episode 5: Blowback, and the Dust Settles
- Episode 6: The Rest of the World
- Episode 7: The Future of Speech Online
- Episode 8: Prescriptions to Save the Internet
This was a fascinating project to work on, and it was great to see it regularly ranked in the top tech podcasts on Apple’s podcast charts over the last few months. Thanks to everyone who listened! While this series is now done, you can continue to listen to the Techdirt podcast and Ctrl-Alt-Speech in your podcast apps of choice!
Filed Under: ai, charles cooke, content moderation, dave willner, free speech, jessica melugin, otherwise objectionable, section 230
Comments on “Otherwise Objectionable: Will Section 230 Survive?”
I don’t think it will go away completely. If someone wants to try and chip away at it with highly specific carve-outs well, then, maybe it could happen… but without discussing specific proposals there’s nothing to talk about, but in the general sense no. Deleting it outright is a nonstarter because the entire court system would be immediately inundated with court cases suing everyone for infinity dollars. What else can you expect? All an enterprising lawyer needs to do is get a chat bot to spam unlimited infringing comments and then sue the platform over every one of them.
So, to prevent THAT some kind of basic protection needs to remain in place.
I sure fucking hope it will, I like the internet!
I like being able to talk with my friends on it.
I don’t want me or anyone else to lose their online friends and safe places 🙁
There are currently active nontrivial efforts to delete it outright, right now. As one such example, look at Durbin’s/Graham’s bill.
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We’ve been aware of this for a while, in case you haven’t noticed.
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That was intended as a reply to noobdragon (not sure why it didn’t go below their comment, but can’t edit it now). Based on the text of their comment they did not seem to be aware of it, even if others on TD generally are aware.
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Let’s be honest, n00bdragon’s unaware of the bigotry that comes out of their own mouth, so I’m not surprised they’re not aware of other things going on around them.
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Worse they are acting like it’s not in fact a repeal bill…
Trying to Find the Folks that did This…
“We sat down with two people, one from from CEI and one from National Review, organizations that are in part responsible for creating and exacerbating this current political climate, to talk about the chances of Section 230 surviving in this political climate.”
i wish i listened to more of your podcasts, but i don’t. Not a great format for me. But every one i have caught has been excellent.
Personally, I think that’s unlikely as long as people are only saying, “Don’t vote for any member of Congress who doesn’t understand Section 230,” because that’s a rapidly increasing number with Ron Wyden the sole outlier (Christopher Cox, Wyden’s co-author, retired from governmental work in 2009). Instead, there should be a concerted education effort from everyone who does understand 230 if it is to survive, because then we have more Senators and Representatives who do understand it to choose from when we vote, and any continued lack of understanding of what it does then becomes clear as a deliberate action on the part of disingenuous individuals who cannot be trusted on anything else.
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It’s not like we haven’t been trying to educate them.
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Yes, talking among ourselves here is one hell of an effort to educate others.
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By saying “We won’t vote for you,” as AC above said, not by writing letters detailing exactly how Section 230 works as I have.
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Sadly most likely owing to propaganda efforts public understanding of Section 230 is deep in the red as you see plenty of idiots screaming out demands to be silenced because their pea-brains hate somebody or something else more. If only we could just get those idiots to sign up only for themselves. Then the word might get around about how their idiot cousin got themselves banned from uploading anything to the internet at their own request.
I have no hopes left for the survival of the internet.
Though I hope it will.
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Better just quit using it now to be safe.