Warner, Hirono to Introduce Section 230 Bill Aimed at Housing Discrimination

Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, plan to introduce legislation targeting Section 230 immunity, online housing discrimination and civil rights, they told us Tuesday (see 2101260066). “There are certain provisions, certain areas that we think that [online platforms] should not have immunity,” Hirono said, citing housing discrimination and civil rights. “This particular iteration has the support of a lot of groups because there’s concern, of course, on both sides, left and right.” There’s “a lot of interest” in making changes to Section 230 immunity, she added.

Civil rights is “one component part, but we don’t want to give away the store until we do this brilliant rollout” for the legislation, said Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. He called the effort a “thoughtful approach that probably won’t go as far as many want, but I think it is very defensible, particularly in terms of protecting speech.”

Expect the Earn It Act to be reintroduced, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told us (see 2008050039). “I don’t have a sense of what the timing will be, but I’m very optimistic about it,” he said, noting the start of discussions with lead co-sponsor Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “I think it will be very similar. I don’t have in mind major changes. Not right now, but there may be," Blumenthal said.

There haven’t been discussions about reintroducing the bill, Graham told us: “I need to talk about it. That’s a good question.” Reintroduction is the expectation, but timing is unclear, a Graham aide said Wednesday. Graham is expected to step down as top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, leaving the seat to Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and John Thune, R-S.D., plan to reintroduce another piece of legislation targeting Section 230: the Pact Act (see 2010010042). There aren’t any major changes “I’m aware of, but I can’t say definitively there won’t be any change,” said Schatz. Thune plans to reintroduce the Pact Act with Schatz, a Thune aide said Wednesday.

The Section 230 conversation is broader than any action taken against former President Donald Trump, said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who this week reintroduced a Section 230 bill with Sen. Joe Manchin, R-W.Va., targeting illegal drug sales on platforms. Big Tech platforms have “essentially become the de facto public square,” said Cornyn. “That they can take it upon themselves to censor communications is really troubling. I think we just need to modernize the way we approach the First Amendment, because this isn’t just a bunch of private speech. These are essentially monopolies, and I think we need to be concerned from a number of levels about their ability to steer or suppress public discourse. We need to reserve that right to the American people and not to some big corporation.”