The online community Reddit has announced that it will go dark on January 18th, 2021, to protest against SOPA-like legislation being proposed by the US government.
The online community Reddit has announced that it will go dark on January 18th, 2021, to protest against SOPA-like legislation being proposed by the US government. Reddit’s co-founder Alexis Ohanian is among a number of tech leaders who have signed a letter to Congress calling for reform of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), which protects online platforms from legal liability for content posted by their users. “Without Section 230 protection, we would be subjected to debilitating lawsuits and endless liability for our users’ actions,” reads the letter.
Reddit has been one of the most vocal supporters of Section 230 since its inception in 1996. The site is known for its free speech policies and has been responsible for a number of viral posts and internet memes over the years. However, in recent years some users have used Reddit as a platform to share racist or hateful content – leading many companies including GoDaddy and Cloudflare to remove support from hate speech sites such as The Daily Stormer.
In response, Congress introduced legislation called FOSTA/SESTA – which stands for Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act/Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act – that aims to reduce sex trafficking by forcing websites like Backpage.com and Craigslist to crack down on sex work ads. But critics argue that this law would make it harder for sex workers – who are often victims themselves – to safely advertise their services online.
