Wyden Statement on Gonzalez v. Google and Twitter v. Taamneh Opinions

Supreme Court Unanimously Rules Lawsuits Would Not Prevail, Even Without Considering Section 230

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous rulings in Gonzalez v. Google and Twitter v. Taamneh. 

“I appreciate the Supreme Court’s thoughtful rulings that even without Section 230, plaintiffs would not have won their lawsuits. As is the case with a majority of suits blocked on 230 grounds, the First Amendment or an inability to prove the underlying claims would lead to the same result,” Wyden said. “Despite being unfairly maligned by political and corporate interests that have turned it into a punching bag for everything wrong with the internet, the law Representative Cox and I wrote remains vitally important to allowing users to speak online. While tech companies still need to do far better at policing heinous content on their sites, gutting Section 230 is not the solution. I urge Congress to focus on things that will truly address abusive practices by tech companies, including passing a strong consumer privacy law, reigning in unethical data brokers and tackling harmful design elements in ways that don’t make it harder for users to speak or receive information.”