Section 230 Revisited: Web Freedom vs Accountability
In a time of declining trust and confidence in large technology firms — there is growing bipartisan agreement that it’s time for legislative change. Members of Congress have been calling for a revision or repeal of the section of the 1996 Communications Decency Act that provides for a shield against legal liability for third-party content — known as section 230. But is it that simple? Has the internet’s ability to publish and disseminate hateful material with speed, breadth, and no human editorial review created a new paradigm? Is it time to re-think the protections of CDA 230 and its rights in the digital world? The Wall Street Journal has posted on its op-ed page: “Kill Section 230, You Kill the Internet.” Is the future of the internet at risk?
Ellen Weintraub
Commissioner
Federal Election Commission
Ellen L. Weintraub (@EllenLWeintraub) has served as a commissioner on the U.S. Federal Election Commission since 2002 and chaired it for the third time in 2019. During her tenure, Weintraub has served as a consistent voice for meaningful campaign-finance law enforcement and robust disclosure. She believes that strong and fair regulation of money in politics is important to prevent corruption and maintain the faith of the American people in our system of government. Weintraub holds degrees from Yale College and Harvard Law School. Prior to her appointment to the FEC, she was Of Counsel to the Political Law Group of Perkins Coie LLP and Counsel to the House Ethics Committee. She is a frequent commentator, via legacy and digital media, on issues affecting our democracy.
Yaël Eisenstat
Visiting Fellow
Cornell Tech
Yaël is a Visiting Fellow at Cornell Tech in the Digital Life Initiative, where she explores technology’s effects on civil discourse and democracy and teaches “Tech, Media and Democracy.” In 2018, she was Facebook’s Global Head of Elections Integrity Operations for political advertising. Previously, she spent 18 years working around the globe as a CIA officer, a national security advisor to Vice President Biden, a diplomat, and the head of a global risk firm. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and she provides context and analysis on national security, elections integrity, political and foreign affairs in the media.
David Kaye
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression
Uci Law
David Kaye is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression and a professor at UC Irvine School of Law. His 2019 book, Speech Police: The Global Struggle to Govern the Internet (Columbia Global Reports), explores the ways in which companies, governments and activists struggle to define the rules for online expression. He has published major reports for the UN on encryption, content moderation, AI and human rights, online hate speech, and the lawlessness of the private surveillance industry.
Steven Rosenbaum — Moderator
Managing Director
NYC Media Lab
Steven Rosenbaum is the Managing Director of NYC Media Lab. Rosenbaum was New York City’s first Entrepreneur at Large, for NYCEDC. He has started five companies, all in the video platform and digital storytelling space. He has two patents in video technology and has written two books — Curation Nation (McGraw-Hill) and Curate This (Amazon). He has presented two TED talks He holds two EMMY awards and was honored with the Science Journalism Laureates at Purdue University. Rosenbaum is a journalist, podcaster, and filmmaker. He holds a BA in English from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.
