To provide a sunset for section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, and for other purposes.
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMs. Hageman introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Sunset To Reform Section 230 Act would eliminate Section 230 of the Communications Act, the law that shields internet platforms from legal liability for content posted by their users. The bill sets an expiration date of December 31, 2026, after which platforms would no longer have this legal protection.
Who Benefits and How
Traditional media companies (newspapers, TV networks) would benefit from a more level playing field, as online platforms would face the same liability risks they do. Lawyers specializing in defamation and content liability would see increased business opportunities from lawsuits against platforms. Individuals who feel harmed by content on social media or by platform moderation decisions would gain new legal options to pursue claims.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Large social media companies like Meta, Google, and X/Twitter would face dramatically increased legal risk and potential liability for billions of user posts. Small and mid-size websites with comment sections, forums, or user-generated content would face existential legal exposure. Online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay would need to significantly increase content moderation or face lawsuits over third-party listings.
Key Provisions
- Adds a sunset clause to Section 230, making the entire section expire on December 31, 2026
- Does not replace Section 230 with any alternative liability framework
- Creates urgency for Congress to negotiate a replacement before the deadline
- Applies to all "interactive computer services" including social media, websites, apps, and hosting providers
- Would affect both content moderation immunity and third-party content immunity
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
To sunset Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, which provides legal immunity to online platforms for third-party content, making the immunity expire on December 31, 2026.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Force Congress to reform Section 230 by setting a firm sunset date, creating urgency for bipartisan compromise on platform liability rules."
Likely Beneficiaries
- Content creators harmed by platform moderation decisions
- Individuals seeking legal recourse against platforms
- Traditional media companies competing with online platforms
- Legal services industry
Likely Burden Bearers
- Large social media platforms (Meta, Google/YouTube, X/Twitter)
- Small and mid-size online platforms
- User-generated content websites
- Internet service providers
- Cloud hosting providers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230) provides immunity to interactive computer services from civil liability for content created by third parties and for good-faith efforts to moderate objectionable content.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology