Actor and filmmaker Joseph Gordon-Levitt joined lawmakers and grieving parents at a Capitol Hill press conference to advocate for reforming Section 230, the federal law that shields social media companies from legal responsibility for content on their platforms.
The event, led by Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois and Senator Lindsey Graham, focused on the Section 230 Sunset Act, which would eliminate the 30-year-old legal protection within two years. Gordon-Levitt, father to three children, explained his personal motivation for supporting the legislation.
“I’m here to talk about the section 230 Sunset Act,” Gordon-Levitt said. “If you don’t know and you’re watching, section 230, what it does is basically says that a platform on the internet can’t be held liable for the content that it hosts.”
The actor emphasized how the law affects families across America. “The harm that was done to these kids online might have been prevented if certain big tech companies knew that they could be sued, but under section 230, they cannot be,” he explained. “So these amoral companies, they just keep allowing these awful things to happen on their platform and they don’t do anything about it because they will always prioritize profits over the public good, even when it comes to kids.”
Gordon-Levitt, who co-founded the online community HitRecord, acknowledged understanding the law’s original purpose but stressed how dramatically the internet has changed.
“Back then message boards and other websites with user-generated content, they really were more like telephone carriers. They were neutral platforms. But that’s not how things work anymore,” he said. “Today, the internet is dominated by a small handful of these gigantic businesses that are not at all neutral, but instead algorithmically amplify whatever gets the most attention and maximizes ad revenue.”
The press conference featured emotional testimony from parents who lost children to online dangers. Bridget Noring spoke about her son Devon, who passed away from f**tanyl poisoning after connecting with dealers through Snapchat.
Brandon Guffey described how his 17-year-old son Gavin took his own life after being extorted online. Kristen Bride shared how her son Carson passed away following severe cyberbullying.
Former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, who originally voted for Section 230 in 1996, spoke about how technology has evolved beyond the law’s original intent. “They may have been a dumb pipe 30 years ago, but they aren’t now. They’re the most intelligent pipe in human history,” he said. “The platforms enjoy this protection that no other business enterprise in this country enjoys.”
Gordon-Levitt concluded with a call to action: “I want to see this thing pass 100 to zero. There should be nobody voting to give any more impunity to these tech companies. Nobody. It’s time for a change. Let’s make it happen.”
