Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will support lawmakers’ changing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in testimony to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Wednesday, The Washington Times has learned.
Section 230 provides protection to companies such as Facebook from legal liability for content posted by users on their platforms. The legal protection has become a target for the executive and legislative branches of the federal government, which have made competing proposals that each attempt to rein in Big Tech’s power and limit their ability to restrict speech online.
Mr. Zuckerberg will call for a “more active role for governments and regulators” and say the ongoing debate about Section 230 shows Americans are unhappy with the status quo, according to prepared remarks of his testimony for Wednesday.
“I believe Congress should update the law to make sure it’s working as intended,” Mr. Zuckerberg will say. “We support the ideas around transparency and industry collaboration that are being discussed in some of the current bipartisan proposals, and I look forward to a meaningful dialogue about how we might update the law to deal with the problems we face today. At Facebook, we don’t think tech companies should be making so many decisions about these important issues alone.”
Mr. Zuckerberg will say that he is optimistic that both Democratic and Republican lawmakers will find agreement on fundamental components of modifying Section 230 and he knows his company will be judged by the public based upon what it does next.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will testify alongside Mr. Zuckerberg at Wednesday’s Senate hearing and will not share the Facebook CEO’s view, according to reports. Mr. Dorsey is expected to warn about how undermining Section 230 could result in the removal of more speech online instead of less.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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