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TikTok was recently sued after a 10-year-old girl died from taking part in a viral challenge that dared users on the app to choke themselves until they passed out. 

Courts have historically protected social media companies over user-generated content due to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. However, this content was pushed by a TikTok-controlled algorithm, which the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled is not protected under Section 230.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), a leading voice in the fight against TikTok and to modernize Section 230, released a statement on the court’s decision.

• “The Third Circuit Court of Appeals is right: algorithms should not enjoy protections under Section 230. For years, Big Tech companies have abused these special protections even as they use murky algorithms and unaccountable teams of moderators to manipulate online discourse to their worldview. This court decision is the first step towards accountability, but Congress should also take action by passing my DISCOURSE Act to make clear algorithmic amplification, moderation activity, and other similar efforts are not protected under federal law.” – Senator Rubio 

Flashback … In June 2021, Rubio introduced the Disincentivizing Internet Service Censorship of Online Users and Restrictions on Speech and Expression (DISCOURSE) Act, which would update Section 230 so that when a market-dominant firm actively promotes or censors certain material or viewpoints — including through the manipulative use of algorithms — that firm no longer receives protections. The bill would also limit Section 230 immunities for large corporations that fail to live up to the statute’s obligations.