A Note by Kyler Baier
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Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 was a tiny and overlooked fragment of a behemoth bill Congress passed to crack down on the pervasiveness of obscene and indecent communications online.[1] Yet, in the quarter-century since it was passed Section 230 has proven to be the only lasting piece of the Communications Decency Act and, indeed, the most important piece of legislation ever passed with respect to the internet.[2]
By emancipating interactive service providers (ISPs) from the whip hand of publisher’s liability, Section 230 became the liberating force that jolted the massive and sustained growth of the internet marketplace and the free and robust exchange of ideas online.[3] Since Section 230’s conception at law, critics of the legislation have been chipping away at its free market and free speech protections as slowly and surely as water … Read the rest