Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act basically puts the social media companies in the same position as the cable networks after the abolition of the Fairness Doctrine. They have no legal obligation to be gatekeepers, and plenty of economic incentives not to be, so they only do the absolute minimum necessary to fend off criticism from politicians and the public. As a result, lies and conspiracy theories fly around the internet at the speed of light, and the survival of our political system is in question.
Republican leaders correctly see Section 230 as being vital to the social media companies’ business model, but do not appear to understand that repealing it would work to the GOP’s disadvantage, since irresponsible right-wing partisans would suffer first from the ensuing censorship. In fact, the total abolition of Section 230 would be a mistake, as it would deter valuable as well as worthless speech. We don’t need what would amount to an unaccountable private sector Great Firewall of China.
The correct answer to the question is that Section 230 needs to be amended to make the companies liable for posts which include dangerous rumors and hate speech. Drafting this amendment will not be easy. Creating definitions of the kinds of speech which need to be eliminated will be complicated at best. It has to be tried, however. The status quo is unacceptable to everyone except liars and extremists.