Pai: FCC Intends to Move Forward With CDA S. 230 Rulemaking
The FCC intends to move forward with a rulemaking to clarify the meaning of Communications Decency Act Section 230, Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday. He said the FCC’s general counsel told him the agency has the “legal authority to interpret Section 230.” Pai cited bipartisan concerns about “prevailing interpretation” of Section 230 immunity, a bipartisan desire to revise the law, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ statement asking the high court to review the statute.
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Pai noted Thomas’ comment that “courts have relied upon ‘policy and purpose arguments to grant sweeping protections to Internet platforms’ that appear to go far beyond the actual text of the provision.” Social media companies have “a First Amendment right to free speech,” Pai wrote: “But they do not have a First Amendment right to a special immunity denied to other media outlets, such as newspapers and broadcasters.”
In the minutes after the announcement, the FCC didn't provide further details. Social media and other technology companies and stakeholders didn't immediately comment.