Commentary
In what is shaping up to be an action packed term at the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices upped the ante Tuesday, Oct. 4, by granting review in another banner case: Gonzalez v. Google, Inc.
The case centers on interpretation of a law that has plagued social media users, especially conservatives, for some time by allowing tech giants to ban, promote, alter, or recommend content based on the user’s point of view.
That law is the Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996. Section 230(c)(1) of the Act (which bears the long title, “Protection For ‘Good Samaritan’ Blocking and Screening of Offensive Material”) shields “publishers” (like Big Tech platforms) from civil liability for hosting offensive content created by others. It says: “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”…