Our social media ecosystem lets us share our news and views with friends and family. This ecosystem relies on a delicate balance between free expression and online safety, a balance created by Section 230.
If you neglect online safety, the internet quickly becomes overrun with awful but lawful content that would make social media unusable for families, workplaces, and small businesses.
Today, NetChoice announced its opposition to Senator Rubio’s Disincentivizing Internet Service Censorship of Online Users and Restrictions on Speech and Expression (DISCOURSE) Act. The bill would wreak havoc on our online communities for decades to come if enacted.
“By gutting Section 230, the DISCOURSE Act would force websites to host awful-but-lawful content, including extremism, election interference, hate speech, and verbal abuse,” said Steve DelBianco, President and CEO of NetChoice.
“Social media users would face a stultifying experience where their preferred content and updates from friends and those they follow would be overwhelmed by less relevant and often offensive content,” continued DelBianco.