Biden Revokes Trump Order That Overturned Section 230 for Internet Regulation

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US President Joe Biden has overturned a decree by former President Trump requiring social media platforms to regulate their content more. The abolition of Section 230 is thereby officially nullified, although this was not actively enforced.

Biden has reversed several executive orders from former President Trump. One of those presidential decrees is EO 13925, which Trump signed in May 2020. With that decree called Preventing Online Censorship, Trump attempted to repeal the now infamous Section 230. That was seen by critics as a way to make work of social media platforms more difficult.

Section 230 is part of the US Communications Decency Act. The specific part of the law protects online platforms; it limits the extent to which they can be held responsible for the content that users place on it. Trump wanted to withdraw that section, but President Biden is now making that impossible.

Repealing Section 230 could theoretically have major implications for social media and other online platforms. Without that section, authorities could hold platforms responsible for restricting, for example, freedom of expression, for example if they remove posts from users. Companies were naturally critical of that, because without Section 230 they would have to moderate much more. Critics also feared that without the section’s protection, new platforms would no longer have a chance to grow.

Trump has always been vehemently against deleting posts and accounts on social media. He signed the decree shortly after Twitter put a warning label on a tweet from the president. Trump’s decree has never been actively enforced, partly because of several lawsuits that have been filed over it.

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