Section 230 Is Essential to the Internet’s Future
Summary
Section 230 is not a gift to Big Tech, and eliminating it will not solve the problems that Big Tech is causing. Those problems stem from a severe lack of competition. Repealing Section 230 will exacerbate those problems.
Section 230 is critical to the proper functioning of the Internet. To rein in Big Tech, the law should be supported, not weakened or repealed. The Trump Administration’s executive order on Section 230 should be repealed. Further, action to limit the power of large tech companies should be taken on three fronts: antitrust, privacy, and interoperability.
Good information sources, like collections, must be available and maintained if companies are going to successfully implement the vision of AI for science expressed by their marketing and executives.
Nestled in the cuts and investments of interest to the S&T community is a more complex story of how the administration is approaching the practice of science diplomacy.
By structuring licensing-and-talent deals that replicate mergers while avoiding antitrust scrutiny, dominant technology firms are reshaping AI labor markets, venture financing, and the future of U.S. innovation.
It is in the interests of the United States to appropriately protect information that needs to be protected while maintaining our participation in new discoveries to maintain our competitive advantage.