Commentary: Will Duffield - Repealing Section 230 would limit Americans' speech Will Duffield FacebookTwitterEmail Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act prevents digital intermediaries from being treated as the “publisher or speaker” of their users’ speech and blocks litigation over platforms’ decisions to remove speech they deem violent, obscene or otherwise objectionable. Platforms are under no obligation to remove speech, with some exceptions, but cannot be required to carry speech either. The law applies universally to digital intermediaries; Facebook is not liable for its users’ speech, and the New York Times is not liable for its comments section. By properly placing responsibility for harmful or unlawful speech with the speaker, Section 230 maximizes the ability of companies to produce publishing tools.