US senators propose limiting liability shield for social media platforms

WASHINGTON: Three Democratic US senators introduced a bill that would limit Section 230, a law that shields online companies from liability over content posted by users, and make the companies more accountable when posts result in harm.
Called the SAFE TECH Act, the legislation would mark the latest effort to make US social media companies like Alphabet Inc’s Google, Twitter Inc and Facebook Inc more accountable for “enabling cyber-stalking, targeted harassment, and discrimination on their platforms,” Senators Mark Warner, Mazie Hirono and Amy Klobuchar said in a statement.
In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, many lawmakers have been studying ways to hold Big Tech more accountable for the role they played in the spread of disinformation before the riot and about policing content on their platforms.
Several Republican lawmakers have also been separately pushing to scrap the law entirely over decisions by tech platforms to moderate content. Republican former President Donald Trump repeatedly pushed for the legal protection to be stripped away over what he alleged was censorship against conservatives.

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