On Tuesday, In remarks prepared for Congress Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said that proposals to reform a law providing online liability protection could lead to more harmful content by limiting the ability of platforms to remove abusive material.
Dorsey’s comments came in prepared testimony due to be given at a Senate hearing Wednesday examining reform of a contentious law governing the internet.
The Senate Commerce Committee was due to hear from Dorsey as well as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai on the law known as Section 230, which shields online services from liability for content posted by others.
Defenders of the law argue that it is a cornerstone of the internet allowing online services to flourish without fear of a flood of litigation, but attacks on the law are on the rise across the political spectrum.
Dorsey said in his remarks that Section 230 as currently written gives online services flexibility to remove hate speech and other inappropriate content, and that the law underpins the social media world where anyone can post comments.
He said: “Eroding the foundation of Section 230 could collapse how we communicate on the internet, leaving only a small number of giant and well funded technology companies.”
“We should also be mindful that undermining Section 230 will result in far more removal of online speech and impose severe limitations on our collective ability to address harmful content and protect people online.”
“I do not think anyone in this room or the American people want less free speech or more abuse and harassment online. Instead, what I hear from people is that they want to be able to trust the services they are using,” he added.
