After hearing two cases that seek to hold Google and Twitter responsible for third-party content on their platforms, the U.S. Supreme Court appears unlikely to meddle with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, legal experts told TheWrap.
The reason may have less to do with the complexity of operating under a 1996 federal code immunizing internet companies from liability, and more to do with the widening political divide.
“This is a non-partisan issue,” said Douglas Mirell, a veteran litigator in First Amendment, entertainment and other media law who has written extensively about Section 230. “But the sides have problems with Section 230 for very different reasons: The progressive left says it’s allowing too much hate speech and disinformation … the right, for its part, says what’s going on here is that platforms aren’t allowing enough conservative voices to be heard.”