What is Section 230?
Section 230 is the 230th section of Title 47 of the United States Code. The Communications Decency Act was written by Nebraska Senator Exon and passed through the senate to be sent to the House of Representatives. Two Representatives named Ron Wyden and Christopher Cox decided to write Section 509, the Internet Freedom and Family Empowerment act, to add to the CDA, this is what would eventually become known as "Section 230."
Ron Wyden (left) and Christopher Cox (right) at a news conference after the Supreme Court decision in Reno v. ACLU
Cox wrote a 'Letter to the Editor' explaining the way that his law works and why he supported this approach over Exon's. Cox states, "It is designed to do two important things for parents: Help keep objectionable material off their kids' computer screens and insure the unfettered expansion of the Internet as an educational tool. It does this by encouraging the use of blocking software, both by parents and by online service providers, and by granting "Good Samaritan" protection from lawsuits to those who attempt to block indecent material in this way."