Overview
- At a Senate Commerce hearing, members in both parties criticized Section 230 yet showed little support for full repeal, with a sunset bill from Sens. Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin still without a markup.
- Lawmakers zeroed in on government “jawboning,” with Sen. Ted Cruz previewing a bill to curb agency pressure and Sen. Eric Schmitt citing his proposal to condition protections, while Sen. Tammy Baldwin and expert Daphne Keller noted pressure has spanned administrations.
- Chair Cruz opposed outright repeal and promoted targeted steps including his TERMS Act, a forthcoming JAWBONE Act, and the Take It Down Act as a model that addresses harms without amending Section 230.
- Witnesses urged clarity on how the law applies to AI, as Americans for Responsible Innovation’s Brad Carson argued chatbot outputs should not receive Section 230 protection.
- Concerns over platform design and youth safety featured prominently, with an ongoing Los Angeles case testing product-liability theories and advocate Matthew Bergman urging Congress to specify that design choices fall outside Section 230.