Guest Post: " Email Marketing and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996" (OnlyInfluencers.com)
Communications Decency Act of 1996, §230(c)
Protection for "Good Samaritan" blocking and screening of offensive material
(1) No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.
FADE IN:
EXTERNAL WESTERN STREET - DUSK
Townsfolk peer through the curtains as hot dust licks the boots of the town marshal, squared off with Black Bart, the Bar-D ranch baron.
BLACK BART
“They’re just lousy herders, sheriff. The folks voted against sheep. Run ‘em off. This here’s a cattle town.”
Now rewind in your head.
Put Mark Zuckerberg under that flat-crowned black Stetson. Zuckerberg: “People want to know that companies are taking responsibility for combatting harmful content — especially illegal activity — on their platforms...Changing [Section 230] is a significant decision. However, I believe Congress should update the law to make sure it’s working as intended.” (source: Zuckerberg testifying before Congress, October 28, 2020. Not my favorite screenplay)
There’s a recurring pattern to change. When a new frontier opens up, some people head there to try building and creating, free of the old rules. Pirates. Cattle barons. Entrepreneurs.