In the name of targetting prominent critics of vaccines, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D–Minn.) has proposed a bill that would revoke liability protections from online platforms that spread so-called “misinformation.” Klobuchar’s bill, unveiled Thursday, would create an exception to Section 230, the 1996 law that shields online platforms from liability for user-created content, in order to combat “health misinformation that is created or developed through the interactive computer service.” In plain English: If a social media site like Facebook or Twitter used its algorithm to amplify the spread of anti-vaccine posts, for example, then the site itself could be sued over that content.
The carve-out would be a narrow one, applying only during declared public health emergencies. During such an emergency, the Health Misinformation Act would give the Department of Health and Human Services the authority to determine what counts as “misinformation.” Courts would have to determine a website’s liability if anyone brought a lawsuit.
Actually dragging Facebook into court isn’t really the goal, of course. Revoking, even in a very narrow way, the broad liability protections offered by Section 230 would give platforms a powerful incentive to proactively police content for anything that might upset the public health authorities.
In other words, what Klobuchar is proposing is more of a protection racket than an actual mechanism to combat the spread of misleading or inaccurate information about vaccines. – READ MORE
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