Attorney General Barr blasts big tech, raising prospect that companies could be held liable for dangerous, viral content online

US Attorney General William Barr blasted big tech, raising the specter that Silicon Valley might soon be held accountable for a wide array of dangerous, harmful content that critics say has flourished on their sites and services. At an event that laid bare tech’s broad troubles — including the spread of terrorism, illicit drug sales and child sexual exploitation online — AG Barr said it may be time for the government to seek sweeping changes to a key portion of federal law, known as Section 230, that long has spared tech companies from liability for content posted by their users. “No longer are tech companies the underdog upstarts,” AG Barr said, reflecting on the origin of the statute. “They have become titans.” “The department has the responsibility to keep up with changes in technology to protect our citizens from these new harms, while at the same time preserving the benefits of this new technology.”