Something for Nothing: Untangling a Knot of Section 230 Solutions

Social media platforms have become the dominant public forum of the modern age but there is a big problem: they are privately owned and can moderate content however they like. This right is protected both by the First Amendment and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the latter of which creates immunity from suit for platforms that exercise their right to moderate content by removing—or not removing—objectionable content. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have complained that platforms are abusing this immunity and, while they have put forward a wide variety of legislative solutions, none of them have come close to being passed. In response, this Note examines the pros and cons of these solutions and relies on First Amendment limits to put forward a legislative solution of its own