The future of internet liability is uncertain as congress targets Section 230

Nearly 30 years after it was created, and after 15 years of political wrangling about it, it’s beginning to look a law that protects internet companies from legal action over third-party content is on its way out.

Created in 1996, Section 230 is an amendment to the Communications Act of 1934 and is part of the larger Telecommunications Act of 1996. In part, and crucially, it says that “no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”

This meant that a platform, like GeoCities of yesteryear, wasn’t legally liable for anything its users created, even if the content was illegal as long as there was a good-faith moderation effort. Essentially, it prevented “interactive computer services” from being defined as publishers.

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Source: AppleInsider News