Consumer Law

Reminder from China about the importance of Section 230 immunity

By Paul Levy

Discussion on a panel about the role of the Internet in social change in China, held at Computers Freedom and Privacy 2009 today, which is the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, provided a stark reminder today of the crucial role played by section 230 of the Communications Decency Act  in our own system of free Internet speech.  Panelists discussed China?s multi-layer system of Internet censorship ? at the national level, at the provincial level, at the Internet host level, and at the individual level.  Several blogging sites have shut themselves down entirely for ?maintenance? or ?upgrades,? with a promise to reopen on the morning of June 6.  They have had to do this because so many people were posting material for which they might be held responsible that they could not keep up with the necessary self-censorship.  It is, I might suggest, only a robust immunity for web hosts here in the United States that allows vigorous online debate.

The panelists have movingly discussed the role of the Internet in encouraging free expression in China, in the face of powerful censorship forces, and the creativity of Chinese bloggers in using code words and analogies ? or words that mean one thing with one set of tones, and something very different when the tones are different.  Reminded me of Russian dissident literature in the 1960's and 1970's.

You can follow the rest of the program (as well as watching sessions already held) by live streaming video, or on Twitter. The next panel will address online activism elsewhere around the world.

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on June 04, 2009 (boomark / email).