Mar 9, 2021

Hany Farid on New Proposals to Sec 230 for the NYT

From New York Times

Tech’s Legal Shield Appears Likely to Survive as Congress Focuses on Details

By David McCabe

Section 230 isn’t expected to be revoked, but even the more modest proposals for weakening it could have effects that ripple across the internet.

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald J. Trump called multiple times for repealing the law that shields tech companies from legal responsibility over what people post. President Biden, as a candidate, said the law should be “revoked.”

But the lawmakers aiming to weaken the law have started to agree on a different approach. They are increasingly focused on eliminating protections for specific kinds of content rather than making wholesale changes to the law or eliminating it entirely...

“I think we want to take as modest of a step as possible,” said Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who researches misinformation. “Give it a year or two, see how it unfolds and make adjustments.”

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Hany Farid is the Associate Dean and Head of School for the UC Berkeley School of Information.

Last updated: March 11, 2021