The Supreme Court is about to hear a case that could dramatically affect users’ speech rights online. EFF has filed a brief explaining what’s at stake, and urging the court to preserve the key law protecting user expression, 47 U.S.C § 230 (Section 230.)
In Gonzalez v. Google, the petitioning plaintiffs make a radical argument about Section 230. They have asked the Supreme Court to rule that Section 230 doesn’t protect recommendations we get online, or how certain content gets arranged and displayed. According to the plaintiffs, U.S. law allows website and app owners to be sued if they make the wrong recommendation.
In our brief, EFF explains that online recommendations and editorial arrangements are the digital version of what print newspapers have done for centuries: direct readers’ attention to whatever might be most interesting to them. Newspapers do this with article placement, font size, and use of photographs. Deciding where to direct readers is part of editorial discretion, which has long been protected under the First Amendment.
If Courts Narrow Section 230, We’ll See A Censored Internet
If the plaintiffs’ arguments are accepted, and Section 230 is narrowed, the internet as we know it could change dramatically.
First, online platforms would engage in severe censorship. As of April 2022, there were more than 5 billion people online, including 4.7 billion using social media platforms. Last year, YouTube users uploaded 500 hours of video each minute. Requiring pre-publication human review is not feasible for platforms of even moderate size. Automated tools, meanwhile, often result in censorship of legal and valuable content created by journalists, human rights activists, and artists. Many smaller platforms, unable to even access these flawed automated tools, would shut down.
The Gonzalez case deals with accusations that Google recommended content that was related to terrorism. If websites and apps can face severe punishments for recommending such content, they’re very likely to limit all speech related to te
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