The Internet Association said in a filing that the Trump administration petition filed in August seeking new rules “is misguided, lacks grounding in law, and poses serious public policy concerns.” It said new FCC rules could result in a loss of legal protections for removing “fraudulent schemes, scams, dangerous content promoting suicide or eating disorders to teens, and a wide range of other types of ‘otherwise objectionable’ content.
“It is shocking that our own government would seek to undermine a law that has led to unprecedented American innovation, with massive benefits for our consumers and economy,” said Michael Petricone, a CTA official. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai dismissed calls from the two Democrats on the agency’s five-member commission to reject the petition without public comment.
The petition asks the FCC to limit protections for social media companies under Section 230, a provision of the 1996 Communications Decency Act that shields social media companies from liability for content posted by their users and allows them to remove lawful but objectionable posts.