Ellysse and Ashley Break the Internet

Andrew Bolson, privacy lawyer advocating for Section 230 reform, joins Ellysse and Ashley to evaluate the need for Section 230 reform in order to protect consumers and limit online abuse, suggest what form that should take, and explain the risks of taking a subjective approach to reforming online intermediary liability.MentionedAndrew P. Bolson, “Flawed But Fixable: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act at 20,” Rutgers Computer & Technology Law Journal 42 (2016).Andrew P. Bolson, “Moderate the Hate: A Scoring System to Grade the Content Moderation Policies & Safety Procedures of Websites” (2020).RelatedAshley Johnson and Daniel Castro, “Proposals to Reform Section 230” (ITIF, February 2021).

Jennifer Huddleston, tech policy expert at the American Action Forum, joins Ellysse and Ashley to highlight the benefits of Section 230 for free speech, competition, and innovation and explore the potential implications of new regulations for civil liberties.MentionedBrent Skorup and Jennifer Huddleston, “The Erosion of Publisher Liability in American Law, Section 230, and the Future of Online Curation,” Oklahoma Law Review 72, no. 3 (2020).Billy Easley, “Revising the Law That Lets Platforms Moderate Content Will Silence Marginalized Voices,” Slate, October 29, 2020.“H.R.1865 - Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017,” Congress.gov.

Elisa D’Amico, co-founder of the Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project—which provides pro bono legal assistance to victims of nonconsensual pornography—joins Ellysse and Ashley to explain the unique challenges the Internet poses for combatting online abuse, the struggles victims face seeking justice, and the role online platforms play in moderating abusive content.Mentioned“Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution (SHIELD) Act of 2021,” Office of Congresswoman Jackie Speier.RelatedNiraj Chokshi, “How to Fight Back Against Revenge Porn,” The New York Times, May 18, 2017.Matthew Goldstein, “Law Firm Founds Project to Fight ‘Revenge Porn,’” The New York Times, January 29, 2015. Pari Berk, “Elisa D’Amico ’06: Fighting to Protect Sexual Privacy Online, in a Share-and-Share-Alike Culture,” Fordham Law News, June 18, 2019.Elisa D’Amico and Luke Steinberger, “Fighting for Online Privacy with Digital Weaponry: Combating Revenge Pornography,” Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal 26, no. 2 (2015): 24-36.Elisa D’Amico, “The War to Stay Secure: Online Privacy and the Battle in the Civil Courts against Sexual Cyberharassment,” Human Rights 41, no. 3 (2016): 5-8.

David Kaye, free speech expert at the University of California, Irvine, joins Ellysse and Ashley to explore the challenges of developing effective and culturally relevant content moderation policies in different countries and how intermediary liability laws like Section 230 impact online speech for billions of users around the world.MentionedDavid Kaye, Speech Police: The Global Struggle to Govern the Internet(New York: Columbia Global Reports, 2019).Jack Goldsmith and John Wu, Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006). “Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Single Market for Digital Services (Digital Services Act) and amending Directive 2000/31/EC,” EUR-Lex.RelatedAshley Johnson and Daniel Castro, “How Other Countries Have Dealt With Intermediary Liability” (ITIF, February 2021).