Thune, Schatz Reintroduce CDA S. 230 Bill; Reaction Mixed

Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, reintroduced legislation Wednesday that would amend Communications Decency Act Section 230 and require online platforms to remove illegal content within days, as expected (see 2102030060). Under the Platform Accountability and Consumer Transparency (Pact) Act, platforms would need a “defined complaint system that processes reports and notifies users of moderation decisions within twenty-one days, and allows consumers to appeal.” The bill would make platforms “more accountable for their content moderation policies and providing more tools to protect consumers,” said Schatz. Thune called it a “common-sense legislative approach to preserve user-generated content and free speech on the internet, while increasing consumer transparency and the accountability of big internet platforms.” Public Knowledge said it's “a serious, bipartisan effort to consider content-neutral requirements to provide greater transparency and accountability.” Access Now supports the requirements for platforms to have “content moderation policies, explain their moderation decisions, and have an appeal process.” BSA|The Software Alliance welcomed the effort and wants to “avoid unintended consequences and account for the broader universe of technology companies.” The serious proposal contains a “fatal flaw: by subjecting websites to federal civil liability, the bill is far more radical than it appears and would lead to legitimate speech being removed from the internet as websites take a better-safe-than-sorry approach,” said NetChoice Vice President Carl Szabo.