WASHINGTON — Internet giants like Google, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter owe much of their success to a legal shield erected by Congress in 1996.
Known as Section 230, it has been called the rule that launched Big Tech. Though it drew little attention at the time, the law is now seen as a pillar of the wide-open global internet we know today.
While newspapers and TV stations can be held liable for any false and malicious content they publish or broadcast, internet platforms are treated differently under Section 230.
