Grassley, Graham, Bipartisan Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Sunset Section 230, Protect Americans Online

Grassley, Graham, Bipartisan Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Sunset Section 230, Protect Americans Online

WASHINGTON - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in introducing the Sunset Section 230 Act. The bipartisan bill would repeal Section 230 immunity two years after the date of the bill's enactment, allowing users who have been harmed by online platforms to hold those platforms accountable.

"For nearly 30 years, Section 230 has provided Big Tech cover as they turn a blind eye to heinous crimes committed on its platforms," Grassley said. "As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I'm glad to join my colleagues in this bipartisan effort to update our nation's laws, rein in Section 230 and hold Big Tech accountable."

"I am extremely pleased that there is such wide and deep bipartisan support for repealing Section 230, which protects social media companies from being sued by the people whose lives they destroy. Giant social media platforms are unregulated, immune from lawsuits and are making billions of dollars in advertising revenue off some of the most unsavory content and criminal activity imaginable," Graham said. "It is past time to allow those who have been harmed by these behemoths to have their day in court."

"Children are being exploited and abused because Big Tech consistently prioritizes profits over people. Enough is enough. Sunsetting Section 230 will force Big Tech to come to the table and take ownership over the harms it has wrought. And if Big Tech doesn't, this bill will open the courtroom to victims of its platforms. Parents have been begging Congress to step in, and it's time we do so. I'm proud to partner with Senator Graham on this effort, and we will push for it to become law," Durbin said.

Additional cosponsors include Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Bill text is available HERE.

Background:

Section 230, enacted as part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, provides legal immunity to online platforms for third-party content. The provision was originally created to allow then-fledgling internet entities - like social media companies - to host and moderate user content without fear of lawsuits. Today, many of these entities are some of the most powerful companies in the world and rely on Section 230 to shield themselves from much needed accountability.

In 2025, Grassley chaired two Senate Judiciary Committee hearings to examine online safety and online child exploitation, and introduced three bipartisan bills with Durbin to hold violent online criminals accountable.

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