Any changes would affect tech companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter: the section protects them from being held liable for their users’ posts. It also allows them to moderate content in good faith, without repercussions. The original executive order by President Trump in May said the companies have gone beyond that “good faith” in their efforts to remove objectionable content, that they were starting to stifle free speech and showing “political bias.” At the time, the executive order came under fire from the FCC”s two Democratic commissioners, who said the action was “politically motivated and legally unsound,” CNBC reported. Pai says it now has that legal grounding.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) expressed its concerns about the FCC plans, saying the FCC did not have the legal authority to isse such a rulemaking. The sentiment was echoed by US operator group Incompas, Public Knowledge and the Internet Association. Incompas summarised the general position: “Congress, not the FCC, has authority over Section 230 and has been extremely active in that conversation. While we don’t doubt the intentions of Chairman Pai and others, there is simply not a sufficient record of support at the FCC that warrants Commission involvement at this time. Even the original authors of Section 230 said the FCC has no role to play in the law’s interpretation and have warned against the risks to small businesses and start-ups online.”
Separately, CNBC reported that Facebook and Twitter are likely to face questioning by US Senate Republicans after limiting distribution of an unverified New York Post story claiming to contain an email related to Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey have agreed to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on 28 October and are now set to be questioned about these moves after Republicans expressed concerns regarding alleged bias on the platforms.
Twitter cited its hacked material and private information policies as reasons for preventing users from posting or sharing, even in private direct messages, links to the original Post article about Biden. Facebook did not prevent users from sharing the link to the article but said it decided to reduce its distribution pending a fact-check review.
