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Today is the 25th Anniversary of the signing of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
You might have heard of it lately.
So, because nobody asked, I made this
of takes & smart people to talk to whose names don't rhyme with Dead Fuse or Mosh Crawley
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You might have heard of it lately.
So, because nobody asked, I made this
of takes & smart people to talk to whose names don't rhyme with Dead Fuse or Mosh Crawley1/
First stop: Jeff Kosseff @jkosseff who wrote the authoritative book on the history of 230, "The Twenty Six Words That Created the Internet." It's chock-full of facts, deadly accurate, rigorous. We need more Jeffs doing descriptive legal work
2/ https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Six-Words-That-Created-Internet/dp/1501714414/ref=sr_1_3
2/ https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Six-Words-That-Created-Internet/dp/1501714414/ref=sr_1_3
Then there's Daphne Keller @daphnehk who I dubbed "The Oracle" for her ability to answer questions on 230 (& internet law generally) accurately, concisely, and wisely. Here's her on 230 https://medium.com/berkman-klein-center/the-breakdown-daphne-keller-explains-the-communications-decency-act-84c93775f3b0
but her "Who Do I Sue" is unmissable https://www.hoover.org/research/who-do-you-sue
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but her "Who Do I Sue" is unmissable https://www.hoover.org/research/who-do-you-sue
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In the 25 years of its existence, no one has so carefully covered its interpretation in the courts like @ericgoldman. In particular, his blog ( https://blog.ericgoldman.org/ ) is an outstanding chronicle of case law.
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Of course, there are also people who think 230 enables certain harms online by allowing companies to escape tort liability for content kept up on their site. Recently, those trying to stop sex trafficking online succeeded in a law to "clarify" 230's scope.
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Being anti-sex trafficking online sounds clear cut, but it's actually complicated. Such legal reform has in fact harmed sex workers and many of the people it's trying to help. @KendraSerra @MissLoreleiLee and lots of others have talked about this tons
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3663898
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https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3663898
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Reform to 230 can also come from the courts or from state statute. @benjaminwittes & @daniellecitron cover both possibilities in their essay "The Internet Will Not Break" that gives a modest set of proposals they argue will fix 230 https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol86/iss2/3/
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In the courts, @cagoldberglaw has also argued against the expansive application of 230, specifically urging courts to look at harms caused by online apps as issues of product liability like in the devastating case of Herrick v. Grindr https://www.lawfareblog.com/herrick-v-grindr-why-section-230-communications-decency-act-must-be-fixed
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Finally, this is an incomplete list, and not a perfect summary of everyone's work -- I just wanted to put a diverse list of resources out there for people on a historic day.
Please feel free to flag your own work or others in responses!
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Please feel free to flag your own work or others in responses!
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