Media Contact:
Benjamin Arden, (202) 418-0288 
benjamin.arden@fcc.gov 






CARR APPLAUDS CHAIRMAN PAI’S ANNOUNCEMENT ON SECTION 230

WASHINGTON, DC, October 15, 2020—Today, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced that he will move forward with clarifying the meaning of Section 230.

FCC Commissioner Carr issued the following statement in support of Chairman Pai’s announcement:

“Section 230 reform is long overdue.  The status quo isn’t working.  That is why I have called for the FCC to take action and do our part to rein in Big Tech.  Chairman Pai is right that the FCC has legal authority to interpret Section 230, and I applaud his leadership in announcing the FCC will move forward with clarifying the statute.

“Section 230 confers a unique set of benefits on social media companies and other ‘providers of interactive computer services.’  It gives them special protections that go beyond the First Amendment rights that protect everyone in this country.  Congress passed this provision back in the 1990s to address the limited content moderation practices employed by Internet sites like the then-popular Prodigy and CompuServe messaging boards.

“Flash forward over 20 years, and the content moderation practices employed by the Internet giants of today bear little resemblance to the activities Congress had in mind when it passed Section 230.  And a handful of court cases have drastically expanded the scope of Section 230, adding immunities found nowhere in the statutory text, as Justice Thomas explained in a statement just this week.

“Moving forward at the FCC will bring much-needed clarity to Section 230 and close the loopholes that Big Tech has exploited.  These reforms will promote ‘a forum for a true diversity of political discourse,’ as Congress envisioned when it passed Section 230, without limiting the First Amendment rights of any speaker.

“I commend Chairman Pai for his leadership on this issue, and I look forward to the FCC taking expeditious action.”

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Office of Commissioner Brendan Carr: (202) 418-2200
www.fcc.gov/about/leadership/brendan-carr