[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 6, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S46]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUNSET SECTION 230 ACT

  Mr. WELCH. Mr. President, this bipartisan bill is a crucial first 
step to bring Members of Congress, industry, civil society, and 
families to the table to discuss the future of the internet. It does 
not aim to end the conversation.
  Social media, and the internet broadly, continue to evolve. We need 
to keep up. Tech platforms must be appropriately incentivized to 
address the harmful content that has been allowed to proliferate online 
and influence our children, our communities, and our country as a 
whole.
  Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 was passed into 
law during the early days of the internet, with the intent of 
incentivizing an environment where platforms could innovate. Section 
230 also immunized platforms that engaged in good-faith moderation of 
content they deem to violate their platform's terms and conditions or 
community standards.
  While section 230 played a central role in the growth of the internet 
as we know it today, the legislation could not have anticipated the 
growth and popularity of social media platforms we are now grappling 
with. For nearly 30 years, social media platforms have enjoyed blanket 
immunity for the content they host. They have failed to adequately 
police harmful content on their sites, despite their terms and 
conditions mandating them to do so.
  While most of the conversation surrounding section 230 focuses on Big 
Tech, it is important to take into consideration small community-based 
platforms that are also protected by section 230. These platforms do 
not use algorithmic recommendations, do not contain live feeds, like 
buttons, and are not in the business of keeping people online. Rather, 
they serve as a platform for community engagement. I believe these 
platforms can serve as a model for content moderation, and I look 
forward to working with my colleagues to find ways to continue to 
provide protection for platforms that promote respectful exchange among 
users.
  I have long advocated for free speech and believe that all 
communities should have the right to express themselves online. But 
tech platforms have made billions while ignoring violent and 
exploitative content and disinformation that lives on their platforms. 
It is time for Congress to act.

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