O’Rourke Floats Online Hate Speech Plan Amending CDA Section 230

Beto O’Rourke supports amending the tech industry’s content liability shield to combat online hate speech and related violence, the Democratic presidential candidate said in a plan released Friday. He envisions amending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to “remove legal immunity from lawsuits for large social media platforms that fail to change their terms of service” or implement systems designed to remove hateful content. Large platforms would be required to adopt terms of service banning content that incites or engages in “violence, intimidation, harassment, threats, or defamation targeting an individual or group based on their actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, immigration status, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability.” O’Rourke targets the right problems, said Free Press Action Senior Policy Counsel Carmen Scurato, but his vague proposal could weaken Section 230 and impair platforms’ ability to moderate. The campaign didn’t comment.