Trump Administration Proposes SNS Regulations... Will US IT Companies Face Backlash?

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] On the 17th (local time), the U.S. Department of Justice announced a bill to regulate online companies such as social media (SNS). The core of the bill is to eliminate the immunity from legal liability for user-posted content that U.S. online platform companies have enjoyed for the past 20 years.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the same day, the Department of Justice announced the amendment. This revises Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act enacted in 1996. Based on this law, internet platform companies have enjoyed legal immunity from liability for user-posted content regardless of its truthfulness. This legal protection helped expand internet-based services in the U.S. However, the government has now declared that it will no longer protect platform operators with legal immunity from responsibility.

This was previously foreshadowed when former President Trump signed an executive order regulating SNS in May. The tension escalated initially over the 'fact-check label' issue between President Trump and Twitter.

President Trump criticized, "SNS companies have unchecked power to censor and restrict information on their platforms, acting like editors publishing their own perspectives," and stated that he would amend or repeal this law.

Both the Democratic and Republican parties support revising the bill, but there are significant differences in their specific approaches, so it is expected to take some time before the law is amended.

However, WSJ reported that the mere preparation of this amendment bill has already exerted considerable pressure on online companies such as Twitter, Google, and Facebook, causing headwinds in their business operations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.