Congress Should Not Sunset Section 230, Says OTI

In response to the legislative proposal to sunset Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the Open Technology Institute (OTI), a New America program fostering equitable access to digital technology and its benefits, issued the following statement from David Morar, a senior policy analyst at OTI.

The internet has been a transformative positive force in our society. But, this digital transformation has not come without its perils—we recognize the grave harms that have arisen from the internet and its use. As we’ve argued before, the best way to tackle these harms is to pass legislation that protects internet users, requires more accountability from platforms, and provides more resources for enforcement. Putting an expiration date on Section 230 is not the most effective way to address harms and keep large tech companies accountable.

Sunsetting Section 230 will likely have significant unintended consequences, including for small players who benefit from the law’s liability shield. These smaller players include public interest organizations like Wikimedia and the Internet Archive, which provide crucial services online for free. Additionally, in the absence of Section 230, platforms may either elect to over-censor or under-moderate content.

We appreciate Congress’s desire to act, and we share the goal of making the Internet a better place for all its users. In fact, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is doing important work on getting federal comprehensive privacy legislation closer to the finish line—an outcome for which OTI has long advocated. We hope that another hearing on Section 230 and another legislative proposal tied to its sunset will not divert focus from the Committee’s critical bipartisan work of refining the American Privacy Rights Act and ensuring that it establishes a strong federal standard of privacy protections.