Section 230: How it shields Facebook and why Congress wants changes

Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, sat before a Senate subcommittee for more than three hours and described how the social media giant has prioritized its profits over public good. In her testimony, Haugen called on Congress to regulate Facebook and require more transparency from the company on its practices. She also urged lawmakers to reform a key federal law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields internet companies from legal liability for content posted by its users. But she warned that focusing on reforms that would make Facebook only liable for content that its users post would not be sufficient to fix Facebook's problems. Instead, she suggested that lawmakers revise Section 230 to make Facebook responsible for its algorithms, which are used to rank content. In doing that, Haugen thinks the company would get rid of engagement-based ranking, which feeds a cycle of feeding harmful, inflammatory or untrue content to users. Calls for Section 230 reform are a common refrain from both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, who generally agree that changes need to be made to the law. As a result, there's already a slew of legislation aimed at reforming the liability shield that's being considered. C|Net put together this guide to help you better understand what Section 230 is and how lawmakers may revise it to rein in the power of social media giants, like Facebook.