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Section 230; Free Speech; First Amendment; Social Media; Internet; Media; Misinformation; Economic Theory; Facebook; Twitter; Instagram; Communications Decency Act; Law and Economics; Law and Society; Law; Policy; European Union; Society; Digital; Technology; Privacy; Liability
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Section 230 And The Problem Of Social Cost, Stanley M. Besen, Philip L. Verveer
Section 230 And The Problem Of Social Cost, Stanley M. Besen, Philip L. Verveer
Journal of Law and Policy
This Article employs, with certain modifications, the framework developed in Ronald Coase’s classic article, “The Problem of Social Cost,” to analyze the current debate over Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This provision absolves interactive computer services, also known as platforms, from liability when they disseminate materials that cause “harm” to third parties, “harm” that can take the form of compensable damage of a sort found in ordinary tort cases but also can include broader injuries to social order and cohesion in the form of such things as hate speech and misinformation. The Article begins by pointing out that, …