Techdirt. – Section 230 Turns 30; Both Parties Want It Gone—For Contradictory Reasons

Feb 092026
 

Here’s what’s strange about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the law that made the open internet possible: Both sides of the traditional political spectrum hate it. But for opposite reasons. That, alone, should highlight that something is wrong in their analysis.
Republicans hate it because they say it lets websites censor conservative speech. Democrats hate it because they say it lets websites host dangerous disinformation.
Read those two sentences again.
One side is furious that platforms can moderate. The other side is furious that platforms don’t have to moderate. Both sides are attacking the same 26-word provision of a 30-year-old law—and if you understand why their complaints are contradictory, you understand what Section 230 actually does.
This weekend…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.techdirt.com/2026/02/09/section-230-turns-30-both-parties-want-it-gone-for-contradictory-reasons/

 2026-02-09  No Responses »

The Intercept – “Uptick in Abductions”: ICE Ramps Up Targeting of Minneapolis Legal Observers

Feb 092026
 

On Friday, legal observers on an encrypted group call in Minneapolis received a desperate plea. A fellow observer was following federal agents who’d just loaded her friend into an unmarked vehicle. Now, she herself was boxed in. “Please help,” the woman said, again and again, her voice rising to a scream. Then, her pleas stopped. By the time support arrived, the observer was gone. All that remained was an empty SUV, engine running, abandoned in the middle of the city’s snow-lined streets. Referred to locally as abductions, it was at least the fourth such disappearance of the day — the third in a span of less than 30 minutes. The observers call themselves commuters. They are…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://theintercept.com/2026/02/09/ice-minneapolis-legal-observers-abduction/

 2026-02-09  No Responses »