GOP senator riles tech with bill targeting liability shield

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who has sought to make a name for himself as one of the Republican Party’s sharpest tech critics, is introducing legislation that would chip away at the legal shield preventing online companies from being held liable for content posted by their users.

Hawley on Wednesday introduced a bill requiring companies to prove they are politically “neutral” before they receive protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), which largely gives internet platforms legal immunity over content posted on their sites by third parties.

The Missouri Republican’s legislation comes as GOP lawmakers for more than a year have threatened to gut Section 230 over allegations that the top social media companies in the world are biased against conservatives, a claim that the tech companies have categorically denied and say has not been substantiated by any evidence.

The Ending Support for Internet Censorship Act would require “big tech companies” to submit to external audits conducted by the Federal Trade Commission to prove their algorithms and content moderation practices are not biased against either U.S. political party. It would require the companies to undergo audits every two years.

Big tech companies in the bill are defined as those with more than 30 million active monthly users in the U.S., more than 300 million active monthly users worldwide, or companies with more than $500 million in global annual revenue.

“With Section 230, tech companies get a sweetheart deal that no other industry enjoys: complete exemption from traditional publisher liability in exchange for providing a forum free of political censorship,” Hawley said in a statement. “Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, big tech has failed to hold up its end of the bargain.”