Biden White House calls for online platform liability reform

During a “listening session” at the White House on tech platforms’ accountability, the Biden administration renewed calls for reforms to Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act, which shields tech platforms from liability from content posted by users.

During his campaign trail in January 2020, President Joe Biden called for the removal of Section 230.

The call was renewed during the listening session, which was attended by Biden’s high-level advisers, child safety and health experts, DC’s Attorney General Karl Racine, and the CEOs of smart speaker company Sonos, and Mozilla.

There were no representatives from Big Tech companies, with Meta and Google confirming they were not invited.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was not straightforward when asked why Big Tech companies were not invited.

Aside from the removal of Section 230, the Biden administration announced six other reforms to hold tech platforms “accountable,” including making algorithms transparent and to stop them from discriminating against marginalized groups, as well as better competition policies.

Politicians across the political spectrum want to reform Section 230.

However, Republicans and Democrats do not have the same motives for removing the liability protection. While Republicans want it removed under the belief it would mean online platforms can be held liable for censorship, Democrats want it removed so that platforms can be held liable for allowing harmful content like “hate speech,” “misinformation,” and extremist content.

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