this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2026
45 points (97.9% liked)

Technology

81118 readers
3298 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

“No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”

This is section 230, and for years it made it so that platforms aren’t directly responsible for what their users do. Repealing it would in a way mandate moderating each and every post for any potential risk for a lawsuit. The companies with the resources to do that will do that, those without will struggle.

There’s a push to repeal or weaken Section 230. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3546/text https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-graham-introduce-bill-to-sunset-section-230-immunity-for-tech-companies-protect-americans-online

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] hamsterkill@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The more likely result from removing 230 (depending on how it was removed) is actually that all moderation stops. Moderation is what makes the companies liable without 230, so they just wouldn't do it (and wouldn't allow users to do it either). Any open community site would quickly become a cesspool. Small private closed communities would become the norm.

[–] r0ertel@lemmy.world 1 points 12 minutes ago

You could be right, but I read an opinion piece a while back that suggested that removal of 230 would allow the government to indirectly censor speech online by selectively punishing the platforms that don't moderate in the way that the administration would like. This may not be a problem under the current administration, but what if a wanabe dictator were to somehow become president?