Section 230

The House Rules Committee appears likely to clear at least some of 17 amendments to the Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill for floor consideration this week, said communications sector lobbyists and officials in interviews. A final vote on HR-1644 is expected Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning.

With Colorado poised to enact net neutrality legislation, observers said the state might be less likely than others to attract a lawsuit. Longtime net neutrality supporter Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) is expected to sign SB-78 to restrict high-cost support or other state broadband funding to companies that adhere to open internet principles, and require government entities give preference in procurements to ISPs that follow rules.

Republicans will actively oppose the Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill (HR-1644) when it comes up for a House floor vote next week, but there's unlikely to be a repeat of the protracted amendments fight seen during the House Commerce Committee's Wednesday markup, said ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., in a Thursday interview. House Commerce cleared HR-1644 Wednesday night on a 30-22 party-line vote, as expected (see 1904030077). That followed a more than nine-hour, sometimes-heated debate and series of votes on 15 amendments, including 13 sought by Republicans.

A patchwork of 50 conflicting state privacy laws would be “unworkable” for industry, said FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson Wednesday, a day after meeting with industry groups. Speaking at an American Enterprise Institute event, Wilson said she met with a room “full of large companies” Tuesday. She declined to name the companies when asked on the sidelines at Wednesday’s event.

House Commerce Committee Republicans are likely to file “several” amendments to the Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill for consideration at the committee's Wednesday markup but see virtually no chance to defeat the bill outright given prospects for uniform support from panel Democrats, said ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., in an interview. HR-1644 and Senate companion S-682 would add a new title to the Communications Act that reverses the FCC order rescinding its 2015 rules. The bill retroactively would restore reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service (see 1903060077).

The House Communications Subcommittee advanced the Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill (HR-1644) Tuesday on a party-line 18-11 vote, clearing the way for a likely full House Commerce Committee vote on the bill next week. HR-1644 and Senate companion S-682, filed earlier this month, would add a new title to the Communications Act that says the FCC order rescinding its 2015 rules "shall have no force or effect." The bill retroactively would restore reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service (see 1903060077).

The U.S. should make concerns about China less of a central factor in developing 5G deployment plans, said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., during an appearance on C-SPAN's The Communicators online and set to have been televised over the weekend. House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., meanwhile, continued during a separate interview also set to be shown then to push lawmakers to consider whether edge providers should be considered common carriers given their importance as online gatekeepers (see 1903080032). The lawmakers differed on whether the Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill (HR-1644/S-682) will get significant bipartisan support.

Without Communications Decency Act Section 230 protections, online media would “face an onslaught of bad-faith lawsuits” and pressure from the powerful to silence critics, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Tuesday. Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri claim tech companies have gotten off easily with liability protections. President Donald Trump accused Twitter, Facebook and Google of coordinated anti-conservative bias. There's "big discrimination" against conservative users and groups, he said during a Tuesday joint news conference with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. "It’s collusive, and it’s very, very fair to say that we have to do something about it," Trump said. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., is suing Twitter for alleged defamation and negligence, citing accounts sharing critical and insulting content about him. Calls to alter Section 230 also have come since the New Zealand mass shooting. “Tech companies certainly need to continue to be far more vigorous about identifying, fingerprinting and blocking content and individuals who incite hate and violence,” Wyden said. But he warned that forcing tech companies to intervene could have First Amendment consequences.

House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., said Thursday he's disappointed that committee Democrats are interested in pursuing only their own net neutrality bill, the Save the Internet Act, but he's also looking at future options. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., said Friday he filed the House version of the bill with 132 co-sponsors, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. That bill and Senate companion S-682 would add a new title to the Communications Act that says the FCC's rescission order “shall have no force or effect" (see 1903060077). The bill would retroactively restore reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service and would bar the FCC from reissuing a rescission order. A Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing is expected to focus on only the Democrats' bill and not discuss a trio of GOP-led measures that avoid using Title II (see 1902070056 and 1903050042). Democrats have been unenthusiastic about the GOP legislation (see 1902220001). The Save the Internet Act is "not something the White House is going to be signing, and I doubt the Senate will pass it," Walden told reporters. "Hopefully we can find" a path forward. Walden said he believes lawmakers should use work on net neutrality as a way of re-examining online platforms’ content liability protections under Communications Decency Act Section 230 because edge providers' argument they need the statute makes them sound like common carriers. "It may be time to take a look at" changing aspects of that statute, because it "seems kind of peculiar to argue on the one hand you get Section 230 protection because you're a common carrier but on the other hand call for net neutrality legislation" that governs "everybody but yourself," he said. "We've had hearings on shadow banning, we've had hearings on the algorithms and there's not a real clear picture here" about "how some of these platforms operate." Net neutrality and Section 230 "are distinct policies that both give consumers more access to ideas and content online,” an Internet Association spokesperson said. "Net neutrality means consumers, not ISPs, get to decide where they go online," while Section 230 "allows online platforms to host -- and to moderate -- user generated content online."

Removing liability protections from Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act results in heavier content moderation, evidenced by impacts of a new anti-sex trafficking law (see 1806290044), Facebook Public Policy Manager Lori Moylan said at the Cato Institute Friday. Moylan said it’s likely some Conservative Political Action Conference attendees might argue that without Section 230 protections, Facebook “would no longer accidentally take down any conservative political speech,” which is “simply not true.”