Open AccessPERFORMATIVE MEDIA POLICY: SECTION 230’S EVOLUTION FROM FOOTNOTE TO LOYALTY OATH
Author(s) -
Aram Sinnreich,
Patricia Aufderheide,
Neil W. Perry
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
selected papers of internet research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2162-3317
DOI - 10.5210/spir.v2021i0.12242
Subject(s) - loyalty , liability , the internet , legislature , politics , oath , section (typography) , law and economics , law , political science , public relations , business , advertising , sociology , computer science , world wide web
This study examines the legislative evolution of Section 230 of theCommunications Act of 1934, a widely discussed and frequently misunderstood dimension ofAmerican telecommunications policy that provides a “safe harbor” provisionally shieldinginternet companies from liability for law-breaking content published by third parties whouse their platforms and networks. Though this provision originated in the mid-1990s as aneffort to minimize the legal and economic risks facing fledgling internet startups, we arguethat efforts to reform it during the Trump era reflected an unprecedented transformation ofan arcane policy point into a highly public subject for “messaging bills” intendedprincipally to signal political loyalty to the president.