The Scammers and Smut that Sparked the Modern Internet

Over the past few months, our host Brian Reed has been reporting on Section 230 – the law that shields online platforms and websites from lawsuits and has shaped the way we get information today.

Now, a bipartisan attack on Section 230 is taking hold in Congress. During a Senate hearing last week, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island called Section 230 “a real vessel for evil that needs to come to an end.” He and a group of senators are hoping to move forward a Section 230 repeal bill in time for its 30th anniversary early next year.

In previous episodes, we’ve looked at how the law allows misinformation, scams, and deepfakes on today’s internet. Now, Brian goes back to the beginning: the mid-1990s when lawmakers created this law. And we see how a peculiar case in one New York courtroom ended up having massive consequences for the internet we know today.

Also: an expert on Section 230 has some beef with Brian’s reporting. 

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Guest: 

• Jeff Kosseff, law professor and author of “The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet”