CTA and Pallone With Doyle Criticize FCC for Initiating CDA S. 230 Rulemaking

The FCC doesn’t have the authority to “rewrite” Communications Decency Act Section 230, Michael Petricone, CTA senior vice president-government and regulatory affairs, said Monday. He called the rulemaking announcement (see 2010150057) disappointing. The agency lacks authority to “impose new, heavy-handed disclosure requirements on online platforms -- a fact the FCC itself recognized in 2017,” he said. House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., called the proposed rulemaking a “blatant attempt” to help President Donald Trump: “The timing and hurried nature of this decision makes clear it’s being done to influence social media companies’ behavior leading up to an election, and it is shocking to watch this supposedly independent regulatory agency jump at the opportunity to become a political appendage of President Trump’s campaign.” The commission didn’t comment.