26 words that make the internet possible
📅 It’s Monday, and we’re 32.79% of the way through 2024
Also today: The 25th anniversary of The Matrix, re-examining the JFK assassination, and strategic small talk
By Harris Sockel
If you’ve used the internet, you’ve benefited from 26 words known as Section 230. This sentence, nested within the 1996 Telecommunications Act, has profoundly shaped the internet we use today:
“No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”
Section 230 gives platforms immunity from most legal liability regarding how people use their products. It’s fostered the relatively open, weird, wild, sometimes offensive and other times delightful, web we have today.
A few years back, Colin Crowell — former VP of Global Public Policy at Twitter — shared what it was like to help pass Section 230. He worked on Capitol Hill in the ’90s and describes an intense, multi-year process of long hours leading to lifelong friendships. Some trivia: In honor of the fact that this bill was meant to spread information, it’s one of the few federal laws in U.S. history to be signed in a public space — the Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress. (Most bills are signed in the White House.)
28 years later, Congress is wondering if maybe Section 230 was a little too permissive, and whether platforms should take more responsibility for monitoring their content. Wikimedia Policy recently published a three-part series detailing what might happen if 230 goes away. One example, similar to how those “cookie acceptance” banners are everywhere now: Sites might start protecting themselves from legal liability by asking new users to sign waivers before using their products.
If you want to learn more, I highly recommend this podcast episode featuring Wikimedia’s VP of Global Advocacy, Rebecca MacKinnon.
What else we’re reading
- It’s been just over 25 years since The Matrix was released — and film critic Simon Dillon attributes its popularity to the fact that it “fits any number of social, political, or religious perspectives, and the viewer can take it any way they please. Or they can just enjoy it as an exciting science fiction adventure with a bit of a love story to give it heart.”
- UX designer and product manager Chelsea Roden shares a complete guide to asking users for their pronouns. One tip: Instead of asking people to select their pronouns from a predetermined list, give them the option of writing their own. Gender-neutral neopronouns like fae/faer and ey/em have a history dating back to the 18th century.
From the archive: Reconsidering the JFK assassination
The U.S. government maintains that Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed President John F. Kennedy, yet conspiracy theorists continue to question the evidence over 60 years later. Bonar Menninger, a journalist who wrote a book on the topic, spent decades interviewing ballistics experts and analyzing eyewitness testimony. In a fascinating, chilling, and long story (73 minute read), he re-examines the prevailing narrative and points toward the possibility that a Secret Service agent may have accidentally shot America’s 35th president.
We’re not here to spread conspiracy theories, but after spending hours with this post… I feel just like one reader who responded: “I am in awe of your meticulous, wide-ranging research and dedication… It was thought-provoking and fascinating and proves that it is very good to read outside your normal ‘comfort zone.’”
Your daily dose of practical wisdom: about small talk
Introverts tend to shy away from small talk, but extroverts use it so they can better relate to people down the road.
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Edited and produced by Scott Lamb, Jon Gluck, & Carly Rose Gillis
Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us: tips@medium.com
