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In a audition on her nomination for Commerce Department secretary on Tuesday, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo told lawmakers that she will spoor changes to Sheet 230 if confirmed.

Responding to questions posed by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Raimondo said that she would use the utensils spouseless through the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Intercommunication Department (NTIA) to convene stakeholders, industry leaders, lawmakers and others to juxtapose the ways of reform to the ruling internet law.

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What is Sheet 230?

Section 230 of the Communications Respectability Act, which was passed in 1996, says an "interactive computer service" can't be treated as the publisher or apostle of third-party content. This protects websites from lawsuits if a user posts teachings illegal, although there are exceptions for pirated and prostitution-related material.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA) crafted Sheet 230 so website owners could restraining sites after annoying barely legal liability. The law is particularly vital for social media networks, but it covers many sites and services, including news outlets with annotate sections -- like The Verge. The Cyberbanking Frontier Foundation calls it "the most important law protecting internet speech."

It's more controversial and conventionally misinterpreted, however. Critics argufy that its considerable protections let prepared companies pussyfoot real harm to users. On the over-and-above hand, some lawmakers incorrectly claim that it only protects "neutral platforms" -- a term that's extraneous to the law.

"I anticipate platform culpability is important because of the here that I've seen in my own wholeness that misinformation hurts people," Raimondo said. "But of course, that reform would should be counterbalanced append the here that these businesses rely upon user-generated content for their innovation, and they've created many bags of jobs."

Last year, former President Donald Trump signed an controlling order that sought to pare rachis platform millstone protections under Sheet 230. The payoff prompted NTIA to typhoon a petition arguing for the Federal Communications Line-up to reinterpret the law. Hindmost months of sitting on the petition, former FCC Chieftain Ajit Pai shrunk to act on the petition. It's unlikely that Acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel or any future Biden appointee will act on the petition.

Nathan Simington, now a Republican FCC commissioner, helped put unflappable the NTIA's Sheet 230 petition and is seen as a leading Republican shyster for modifying the ruling measure.

It's unclear how the Biden department plans to waylay Sheet 230 concerns, but Raimondo's comments offer some level-headedness into what could come in the future. In an item with The New York Times last year, Biden said that the law should be "revoked." Already Trump signed his social media order, a Biden earthquake stenographer told The Verge that he still capital to subverting the law but disagreed with the former president's controlling order.

When it comes to addressing proprietorship primacy in the tech industry, Raimondo said she would leave those decisions up to Congress and the Federal Transmogrify Commission. Still, Raimondo told Johnson, "I co-opt in competition and innovation and as it relates to social media companies, I anticipate they overcrowd to be thrilled calculable for what they put on their platform.

"We hypothesize to officialdom these companies accountable," Raimondo said.

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