Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) said Congress has to remove the “liability shield” of Section 230 for online platforms.
Britt said, “The truth is, these AI companies can absolutely do much of this on their own. But we know consistently time and time again, whether it’s been social media companies or now some in the AI space that we consistently see people putting their profits over actual people.”
Host Jake Tapper said, “Do you think that how much money these companies make is affecting legislators for passing regulations?”
Britt said, “I do.”
She continued, “I mean, we are not doing enough to put up guardrails. You and I did not grow up with front-facing cameras. So when you’re looking at what’s happening right now with sextortion and young people, when you’re looking at what’s happening right now with the bullying online and whatnot, you know, if these things were happening in a storefront on a main street in Alabama, we would shut that store down. But we are not able to do that. The liability shield that we see in these social media companies and, to an extent, in this AI space has to be taken down because people need to be held accountable.”
Tapper asked, “So what do you mean by liability shield?”
Britt said, “Well, if you look at Section 230 and a number of ways that prevents social media companies from being held liable.”
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