The Internet Is Built on ‘Intermediaries’ – They Should Be Protected
This opinion piece was originally published in The Hill.
Now is not the time to be careless with laws that could harm the Internet we rely on more than ever in our day to day lives.
Policymakers owe it to the billions of users around world that rely on the Internet for work, education, and daily activities to do their homework before attempting to change laws so pivotal to the Internet’s success.
And yet, the uptick of lawmakers making hasty changes to the law known as “Section 230” is proof of uninformed decision making that has the future of a law that helped shape the Internet looking increasingly grim.
In the last two years, there have been at least 18 attempts – via bills, executive orders and other initiatives – to try blow up the rule that has kept Internet intermediaries from being liable from the actions of their users since 1996. Within each of those efforts, the definition of what will be impacted has varied widely from “platforms” to “interactive computer services” and “Internet intermediaries.”
Depending on these definitions, and the larger policies they are attached to, the associated impacts of these proposals could be annoying, or they could Continue reading
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