Senator Behind Internet-Enabling Legal Loophole Says Loophole is in Jeopardy (YNOT)

Read the full article by Gene Zorkin at YNOT.com

WASHINGTON – In an opinion piece published on TechCrunch.com, Sen. Ron Wyden, one of the chief architects of the safe harbor provisions delineated under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, frets that corporate complacency about “indecent” materials posted on major social media platforms may threaten the continued viability of that safe harbor.

The sort of indecency Wyden is concerned about has nothing to do with pornography, however, as his article makes extremely clear.

“The goal (of Section 230) was to protect the unique ability of the internet to be the proverbial marketplace of ideas while ensuring that mainstream sites could reflect the ethics of society as a whole,” Wyden writes, and that in general, “this has been a success – with one glaring exception.”

“I never expected that internet CEOs would fail to understand one simple principle: that an individual endorsing (or denying) the extermination of millions of people, or attacking the victims of horrific crimes or the parents of murdered children, is far more indecent than an individual posting pornography,” Wyden adds.