Graham leads bipartisan demand for tech reform vote to 'bring social media companies to heel'
FIRST ON FOX: A group of bipartisan senators are demanding that Republican and Democratic Senate leadership allow a vote on legislation that would rein in tech companies’ ability to get...
By Fox News · Fox News
FIRST ON FOX: A group of bipartisan senators are demanding that Republican and Democratic Senate leadership allow a vote on legislation that would rein in tech companies’ ability to get off with few legal ramifications for serious online harms. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., led by Sen. Lindsey Graham , the lawmakers called for major reforms to Section 230, a decades-old law that they contend has shielded tech companies from liability for a litany of online crimes. Graham said in a statement to Fox News Digital that his New Year’s wish is "for Congress to bring social media companies to heel ." HAWLEY OPENS PROBE INTO META AFTER REPORTS OF AI ROMANTIC EXCHANGES WITH MINORS "These platforms are doing enormous damage to our country, pushing people to suicide and selling fentanyl-laced pills and tablets," Graham said. "It is long past time to open up the American courtroom to those who have been harmed by this out-of-control system, and to finally have regulations and accountability for the largest businesses in the history of the country. The courthouse doors are closed and there is no meaningful regulation." Graham and his colleagues, including Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., are eying February for a vote. META AI DOCS EXPOSED, ALLOWING CHATBOTS TO FLIRT WITH KIDS The problem began nearly 30 years ago, the lawmakers said, when the Telecommunications Act of 1996 , including the Communications Decency Act and Section 230, were first passed. At the time, that law was meant to help a nascent internet grow. But in the time since, they argued, it has expanded immunity for tech companies too far, shielding them from accountability for harmful conduct. SENATE REPUBLICAN DEMANDS GOOGLE SHUT DOWN AI MODEL OVER FALSE RAPE ALLEGATION They listed off seve…