Report: FCC Nominee At Odds With Biden On Section 230

Jessica Rosenwarcel

President Joe Biden’s selection to lead the FCC, Jessica Rosenworcel, has a track record that suggests she is unlikely to help him overhaul a controversial law that gives social media platforms legal immunity for content moderation decisions, reports The Washington Examiner.

Biden has expressed an interest in both repealing and reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects social media companies such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter from being sued for content posted by their users, toward the goal of empowering regulators to crack down on misinformation and disinformation.

The FCC has some jurisdiction over Section 230, but Rosenworcel has said she doesn’t believe the agency should play a role in moderating or censoring content.

“While social media can be frustrating, turning this agency into the president's speech police is not the answer,” Rosenworcel said in July 2020 in relation to a Trump administration petition asking the commission to develop rules to stop social media platforms from censoring content under Section 230.

Earlier this year, Biden revoked Trump’s order for the commission to review the law.

Liberal scholars of internet and tech policy say that it’s highly unlikely that Rosenworcel will change her mind regarding Section 230 now that Biden is in power and she runs the FCC.

Biden cannot revoke or amend Section 230 by himself, using an executive order or any other mechanism. Only Congress has the power to change the law.

Capitol Hill is divided, though, regarding how to solve issues related to content moderation, with Democrats focused on curbing the spread of misinformation and disinformation while Republicans are targeting what they say is rampant censorship of conservatives by the social media giants.

Despite bipartisan agreement to hold Big Tech companies more accountable for unfair and unclear behavior in regards to content moderation, the two parties do not agree on how to change Section 230 within Congress.