Users and Section 230 | Protect Online Voices

Section 230 Empowers Platforms To Share Your News and Views, While Responsibly Moderating According to Community Guidelines.

Today, we can share posts, photos, and updates with more than just our neighborhood. User-generated content has thrived online and we are in the driver’s seat picking what we want to post, share, and watch.

Since 1996, Section 230 has empowered online platforms to house user-generated content by clarifying when websites can be held liable for third-party content. The law has promoted robust content moderation guidelines that balance both free expression and online safety. Section 230 empowers platforms and app developers to moderate, filter, restrict, and/or remove user-created content without the fear of crushing legal liability.

Without Section 230, what do users stand to lose?

We’d have fewer places to share and connect online. When faced with costly litigation and burdensome regulations, websites are likely to simply opt out of user-generated content altogether or only provide platforms to a privileged few voices.

User-Generated Content Disappears.

Community forums and support groups thrive online thanks to user-generated content. LGBTQ+ individuals, first-generation Americans, people of color, domestic violence survivors, and other marginalized communities can find each other online. But without Section 230, these critical resources and infrastructure would disproportionately be removed or avoided altogether.

Vulnerable Communities Are Harmed.

User-generated content helps entertain our kids, but effective parental tools are critical to keeping kids safe. Section 230 empowers websites to monitor dangerous posts and delete them before our kids see them. Without Section 230, parent forums, restricted mode, and more could be thrown to the wayside in order to avoid costly litigation.

Kid-Safe Filters Vanish.

Recently, U.S. policymakers have considered changes to the law that would have on what content we see online. Learn more about how these policy proposals could harm your ability to share, laugh, and live online here.

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What The Internet Would Look Like Without User Content

How user-generated content, content moderation, and innovation is at risk under changes to Section 230