Journal Title
SMU Science and Technology Law Review
Volume
24
Issue
2
First Page
257
Document Type
Article
Publication Information
2021
Abstract
Sitting and former U.S. Presidents, as well as members of the general public, financial, political and educational institutions, use social media. Yet, an overwhelming majority of users, content creators, parents, "conservatives," "progressives," Democrats, and Republicans distrust social media owners. Some critics allege that owners "digitally pollute" platforms by encouraging users to post "corrosive, dangerous, toxic, and illegal content." Other critics assert that service providers' purportedly objective content moderation algorithms are biased-discriminating irrationally on the basis of users' political association, ideology, socioeconomic status, gender, and ethnicity. Republicans and Democrats have crafted roughly twenty bills on this matter. In theory, the enacted proposals would "sanitize" social media and end owners' allegedly irrational practices—by abolishing, reforming, or "limiting the scope" of the safe-harbor-preemption defense under the Communications Decency Act § 230.4. But, would the proposals actually increase users' ability to survive a preemption defense and sue providers on the merits?
The bills' sponsors have not carefully weighed this question. To fill the void, the author conducted a legal and empirical study to glean probative evidence from state and federal courts' section 230 preemption decisions. Among other findings, the analyses reveal: (1) courts are more likely to block only certain users' or content creators' lawsuits when tech companies raise a section 230 preemption defense; (2) judges are more likely to allow a section 230 defense to thwart content creators' tort-based rather than contract-based lawsuits; and (3) content creators are more likely to evade a preemption defense and litigate claims on the merits, if a federal statute contains a safe harbor clause as well as an unequivocal rights-preservation exemption. Hopefully, the findings will provide some "judicial guidance"-when Congress considers whether to abolish, reform or restrict the scope of the CDA's section 230 immunity defense.
Recommended Citation
Willy E. Rice, Abolishing the Communications Decency Act Might Sanitize "Political Biased," "Digitally Polluted," and "Dangerously Toxic" Social Media? - Judicial and Statistical Guidance from Federal-Preemption, Safe-Harbor and Rights-Preservation Decisions, 24 SMU Sci. & Tech. L. Rev. 257 (2021).