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Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have publicly questioned the broad scope of Section 230. Once a way to protect upstart tech firms, the law now provides a legal shield to some of the most valuable companies in the world. Some fear tech companies lack the incentives to combat misinformation on their platforms as technology that makes it easier to fake video and voices becomes more advanced.

Some conservatives believe Section 230 has aided tech companies’ ability to censor speech they don’t agree with. There’s little evidence mainstream tech firms systematically discriminate against certain ideologies, but they have at points removed politically charged posts, sometimes in error, only to apologize and reinstate them later.

Such claims of bias inspired Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s proposed revision to Section 230 that would tie the law’s promise of immunity to a regular audit proving tech companies’ algorithms and content-removal practices are “politically neutral.”

What do the law’s defenders say?

Tech companies have vigorously defended Section 230, testifying to Congress repeatedly about how it allows them to remove the most objectionable content from their platforms and protects start-ups from being sued out of existence.

Wyden still stands by Section 230, writing in a Washington Post op-ed Monday that efforts to repeal it would punish small start-ups rather than giants like Facebook and Google.

Wyden said corporations lobbying for changes to Section 230 are doing so to find “an advantage against big tech companies.”

“Whenever laws are passed to put the government in control of speech, the people who get hurt are the least powerful in society,” Wyden wrote, referencing SESTA-FOSTA, a 2018 law that made an exception to Section 230 for platforms hosting sex work ads. The law was billed as a way to mitigate sex trafficking, but opponents, including many sex workers, say it made consensual sex work less safe since those engaging can no longer vet their clients in advance and from behind a screen.

How could the law change?

Congress has held several hearings on Section 230 and sought input from academics and tech executives. Lawmakers in both parties admonished the Trump administration’s push to include a similar provision in U.S. trade agreements as Congress continues to debate Section 230′s future.

Most critics of Section 230 recognize the importance of maintaining some of its key elements, like moderation protections. Former Vice President Joe Biden revealed himself as a notable exception. In an interview with The New York Times editorial board published earlier this year, the Democratic presidential hopeful said Section 230 “immediately should be revoked” for tech platforms including Facebook, which he said, “is propagating falsehoods they know to be false.”