*Originally published here
“September 21, 2020 by IPAT Clinic Staff
Congress passed Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in 1996 in order to provide an incentive for internet providers to take down objectionable content. It did so by creating a “safe harbor” instructing that the providers shall not be treated as the publisher or speaker of content posted on their sites. Recently, the President became vocally upset that Twitter had flagged some of the President’s tweets as violating its terms of use. Soon after, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration asked the Federal Communications Commission to begin a rulemaking interpreting key terms of Section 230. Many civil society organizations and other stakeholders commented, warning that not only does the FCC lack the authority to implement what the NTIA is requesting, but to do so would violate the United States Constitution’s right of free speech.
On Thursday, the UCI International Justice Clinic and IPAT jointly filed a comment asking the FCC to deny the petition and to examine the ways in which U.S. international obligations should be taken into account, and the likelihood that changes in domestic regulation would have significant impact on individuals and communities outside the United States. “Indeed,” we wrote, “the home of many of the largest social media platforms globally, changes to the United States’ regulation of internet companies and social media platforms may affect billions of people worldwide, beyond the jurisdiction of the United States. The changes proposed to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“Section 230”) by the NTIA would undoubtedly affect the right to freedom of opinion and expression guaranteed under international human rights law binding on the United States.” We urge the FCC to consider these obligations and deny the NTIA’s Petition for Rulemaking.
A team of brilliant UCI Law students comprising Chieh Ho Cheng, Sean Cho, and Amy Sanderson authored the comment together with IJC director David Kaye, IJC Digital Rights Fellow Sofia Jaramillo, and IPAT director Jack Lerner.
Go here to read the comment.”