Democratic infighting on Section 230 reform spreads

Democrats reintroduced in both chambers a bill to examine the impact the first-ever law revamping Section 230 has had on marginalized sex workers, suggesting new efforts to reform the tech industry’s liability shield may face sustained headwinds from progressives. The reintroduced bill comes less than a month after senators advanced the EARN IT Act (S. 3538) out of the Senate Judiciary Committee via a voice vote — and implies that despite its apparent popularity, EARN IT will continue to face pushback from progressive Democrats in both chambers. Sens Warren (D-MA) and Wyden (D-OR) joined Reps Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) in reintroducing the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act, legislation they first introduced last Congress. The bill tasks the Department of Health and Human Services with studying what sex workers say have been the unintended consequences of SESTA/FOSTA (H.R. 1865). That bill, passed in 2018, removed liability protections for platforms that knowingly host content that facilitates sex trafficking. Khanna, who represents a Silicon Valley district, said in a statement he’s heard from sex workers who’ve experienced “increased physical and sexual violence after being pushed off online platforms and forced onto the streets to find clients.” A report released in June 2021 from the Government Accountability Office found SESTA/FOSTA has not yet actually been used by federal prosecutors to seek restitution for victims of sex trafficking. Khanna told MT Thursday he hopes that report will help him “drum up broader support in both the House and the Senate for this bill.”