Republicans and Democrats both want to repeal part of a digital content law, but experts say that will be extremely tough Texas Tribune Published: Tags: Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. Inspired by the example set by former President Donald Trump, who regularly railed against social media companies before they banned him from their platforms, Republicans in Texas have focused their ire on a provision of a 1996 law regulating digital content. Ad Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act significantly predates many of the current targets of Republican anger — companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter. Congress passed it in 1996, during the early days of the internet in the U.S. The law defines tech companies as private platforms rather than publishers, a designation that shields them from legal liability for the content their users post.