Washington — Weeks before the election, the Department of Justice is submitting a rare legislative proposal to Congress today to alter the law that allows social media sites to flag or remove misinformation and nefarious content. Attorney General William Barr is also expected to meet with Republican attorneys general today regarding unsubstantiated claims that social media manifests an anti-conservative bias. The DOJ proposal would impose new restrictions on companies’ content moderation policies.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association recently expressed concern that the Administration has directed part of the Commerce Department to seek FCC regulations on Section 230. CCIA filed comments earlier this month that criticized a possible FCC role as online ‘speech police,’ which noted the FCC lacked legal authority to pursue this rulemaking.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President Matt Schruers:
“Amid a pandemic and an election, undermining the tools social media companies use to respond to problematic content like disinformation is more dangerous than ever. The U.S. Government should be enabling efforts to address nefarious content and behavior, not hamstringing them in misguided pursuit of political gain.”
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