WASHINGTON - The Trump administration has begun inserting legal protections into recent trade agreements that shield online platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube from lawsuits, a move that could help lock in America's tech-friendly regulations around the world even as they are being newly questioned at home.
While the rules for trading goods have largely been written - often by the United States - the world has far fewer standards for digital products. Countries are rushing into this vacuum, and in most cases writing regulations that are far more restrictive than the tech industry would prefer. The US rules, codified in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, shield online platforms from many lawsuits related to user content and protect them from legal challenges stemming from how they moderate content. Those rules are largely credited with fueling Silicon Valley's rapid growth. The language in the trade deals echoes those provisions but contains some differences.
Senator Josh Hawley has said the liability shield should cover large platforms only if they are certified as politically neutral. The White House is also said to be drafting an executive order that would narrow the law's protections. "This is US law," Mr Lighthizer said in a congressional hearing in June."I didn't write 230. The Congress did - it was signed by the president, No. 1.
The rules, which also provide for open access to government data and protections for company source codes and algorithms, are also part of the United States proposal for negotiations over e-commerce with dozens of countries at the World Trade Organisation.