Over the past few years, Section 230 has taken on an outsize role in the dialogue about the dominant role of digital platforms in public discourse, and a number of legislative proposals have been put forward to reform it. In an effort to advance the dialogue and avoid unintended consequences, Public Knowledge introduced “Section 230 Principles to Protect Free Expression Online” — a set of guardrails for legislative reform that incorporates feedback from a wide range of stakeholders. The scorecard demonstrates how Public Knowledge consistently evaluates every Section 230 reform proposal: reform proposals that rate poorly are unlikely to promote the public interest.
This scorecard assesses federal proposals for Section 230 reform in the 118th Congress that:
- Have been introduced with full language text broadly available (not only a press release or fact sheet);
- Have gained sponsorship or support from legislators in the relevant committee(s), or been introduced by committee leadership; and
- Have shown momentum toward gaining broad support.
Key:
To download the full description of each principle, see here. For the text available for each bill, see the links in each column. For our report card on Section 230 reform proposals in the 117th Congress that met our criteria, see here.
| Key: | |
 | Indicates the proposal incorporates this principle and will likely have a positive impact on it. |
 | Indicates the proposal does not address this principle, or the likely impact of the proposal on the principle is neutral or mixed. |
 | Indicates the proposal runs contrary to the principle, or will likely have a negative impact on the principle. |