AI technology would be an exception to Section 230 internet protections.
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri and Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut recently introduced legislation that would hold internet companies liable for the harmful effects of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
The legislation would make an exception to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which holds individuals liable for what they post on the internet rather than the host sites themselves. But two important exceptions to that rule have been made since its passage in 1996; internet companies can be held liable for hosting child pornography, and they can also be held liable for illegally hosting copyrighted material.
The senators’ legislation proposes making an additional exception to Section 230, that of harmful content created by AI generation.
AI image and word generation does not currently create new ideas but pulls from millions of other images and words to put together an amalgamation that it thinks best matches what the user wants it to make. This can lead to images that are crafted to deceive Americans, such as fake pornography featuring popular celebrities or extremely realistic-looking footage of fake protests and terrorist attacks.
“We can’t make the same mistakes with generative AI as we did with Big Tech on Section 230,” said Senator Hawley during his announcement of the legislation.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Senators Hawley and Blumenthal as they advocate for holding companies responsible for the use of AI.
- For members of the Senate as they consider and debate the merits of the legislation.
- For those who have been deceived or defrauded due to the use of AI technology.
Sources: Reuters, Axios
