From reason:

On Zoom, Jeffrey Toobin, and Section 230: Inappropriate sexual behavior during a video chat with colleagues could bring lawsuits, notes Shoshana Weissmann, riffing on current events involving The New Yorker‘s Jeffrey Toobin. “And if lawsuits are filed, Toobin, rather than Zoom, should be liable. Zoom likely had no knowledge of the incident until it was reported, nor did Zoom have anything to do with his actions. Toobin is also not an employee of Zoom.”

If you agree, you should support Section 230 of federal communications law, Weissmann explains:

It is this same principle that Section 230 protects: that platforms should not be liable for content published by users. But platforms are liable for their own content that they publish, such as tweets from @Twitter or any static pages on Facebook.com created by Facebook.

Unfortunately, there have been a plethora of proposals to strip Section 230 protections unless certain (often arbitrary) conditions are met. These proposals are ill-advised, and the Toobin incident highlights why….

If a lawsuit comes of the Toobin incident, he will be liable for the behavior, and Zoom will not. Let’s keep each responsible for their own junk.

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