October 28, 2020

Wyden Statement on Commerce Committee Section 230 Hearing

Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee’s hearing on Section 230, a provision of the Communications Decency Act authored by Wyden:

“When it comes to writing laws usually you need two things – first, lawmakers need to agree on what the existing law says, and second, they need to know what problem the new law would solve. After watching the hearing today, I don’t believe my Republican colleagues have read the First Amendment, let alone Section 230. Their obsession with forcing private companies to print misinformation, lies and hate speech is unconstitutional and lays bare how little this is about Section 230 and how much it is a transparent attempt to work the refs a week before the election. 

"I stand ready to take on big tech and ensure that users, free speech and innovation are always the guiding light of tech policy. I’m all for comprehensive privacy laws, stronger antitrust enforcement and, importantly, laws to better protect and empower the vulnerable online. But today’s sad spectacle shows how far this body is from having a rational debate about how to make the internet a better place.”

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