Wyden urges keeping Section 230 to block Trump era censorship
Mar 3rd 2026
Sen. Ron Wyden argues in a Feb. 27 op-ed that preserving Section 230 is crucial to protect ordinary users and critics from government and private censorship, while endorsing targeted privacy and design reforms instead of broad repeal.
- Sen. Ron Wyden wrote an op-ed on Feb. 27 marking Section 230's 30th anniversary and called the law a key protector of online speech for critics and activists.
- Wyden warned that bills in Congress, including a proposal from Sens. Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin to repeal Section 230 in two years, would weaken online protections.
- He criticized proposals to strip Section 230 for posts labeled medical misinformation, saying that would give HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy the power to silence critics of his anti-vaccine agenda.
- Wyden cited examples such as citizens using messaging apps and social platforms to document alleged abuses by ICE and CBP and the role of online sharing in the Jeffrey Epstein reporting to show the law's public accountability effects.
- He noted courts have limited Section 230 in cases where platforms acted as speakers or for their own business practices, pointing to litigation involving Amazon, Meta, and a California state ruling on platform design.
- Wyden said he supports targeted reforms like a federal privacy law and regulation of addictive design elements but warned that gutting Section 230 now would empower the Trump administration and wealthy actors to control online speech.