Advocates of Section 230 have long held the broad liability shield is necessary for the internet to exist and evolve as a societal tool; if websites were responsible for monitoring the heaps of content that hundreds of millions of independent users create, they contend, lawsuits would devastate platforms’ coffers and overwhelm the judicial system. “If you have fewer instances in which 230 applies, then platforms will be exposed to more liability…
If you’re contributing to enough actual harm that lawsuits could feasibly devastate your balance sheet and overwhelm the judicial system, perhaps the problem is worse than we thought.