Today, Energy & Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Ranking Member Frank Pallone authored the following Op-Ed in the WSJ, along with the attached draft legislation.
In short, the bipartisan duo is calling for a sunset of Section 230-the legal liability shield that covers the internet and most major tech platforms-in 18 months. The Op-Ed does not proffer what, if anything, should take the place of Section 230, but rather supports the sunset as a forcing mechanism to bring interested parties to the table around needed reforms.
While the committee’s attention is currently directed towards its national data privacy bill (subcommittee markup on 5/23), our sources inform us that the committee does intend to begin the process on moving this 230 sunset bill over the coming weeks.
OUTLOOK/ANALYSIS
The fact that major players on the right and left have now publicly unified around revoking Section 230 is noteworthy and reveals a continuation of congressional animosity towards “Big Tech.”
For the right, these platforms are guilty of alleged censorship and political bias. For the left, they are woefully inept at combating so-called misinformation. For both parties, more needs to be done to protect children and minors from harmful content.
While many hurdles remain-such as a debate about carveouts and treatment of small businesses-we will closely monitor this space. E&C’s recent swift passage and enactment of the TikTok divestment bill demonstrates how Washington can move quickly when momentum grows around a discrete and discernible policy solution with regards to technology platforms that have long skirted federal regulation in the eyes of Capitol Hill.
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