Andrew Selepak comments on the impact of a possible Section 230 elimination

Andrew Selepak, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Media Production, Management, and Technology associate instructional professor, was featured in “Social Media Under the Microscope: If Section 230 was eliminated it would be absolutely devastating for the internet” during a CNBC Power Lunch segment on Jan. 27.

Section 230 is part of the 1996 Communications Decency Act protecting online platforms from liability for content posted by third-part users. Threatening to revoke Section 230 protections could cause issues for consumers.

“If Section 230 were eliminated tomorrow it would be absolutely devastating and completely change the entire way that we see the internet,” said Selepak.

According to Selepak, there are challenges to monitoring online activity. Using artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor is still not perfect and requires the intervention of human moderators.

“For the platforms, if no new regulation is passed it’s basically bad PR and can hurt the amount of time people spend on the platform or they may even stop using the platform altogether. But that’s really the extent of it because of the [current] blanket protection of Section 230,” he said.

Category: Alumni News, College News
Tagged: Andrew Selepak CNBC MPMT Section 230
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