Fenwick Partners Discuss the Future of Content Moderation Online

Fenwick intellectual property partner Andrew Klungness and privacy & cybersecurity co-chair Tyler Newby sat down with dot.LA for a discussion over Zoom on the potential legal implications of changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Lawmakers are considering changes to the law that would increase regulation of social media following the violent takeover of the U.S. Capitol in January.

Newby pointed to a series of recent bills aimed at reining in the power of tech companies. Both Newby and Klungness noted that bills involving changes to content moderation laws could have sweeping impacts on more companies than just giant social media companies.

"It's going to have a huge stifling effect on innovation," Klungness said, referring to a possible drop in venture capital to startups with content platforms or user-generated content sites due to the heightened liability risks.

Klungness also noted that if companies are liable for how their users behave, some companies may never take the risk of launching these companies. "Some business models may be just simply too risky or may be impractical because they require real-time moderation of content," he said.

Read the recap article and watch the full discussion on the dot.LA website.