Tech chief executives to defend social media protections

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chief executives of Twitter Inc , Facebook and Alphabet Inc will tell U.S. lawmakers a 1996 law is crucial to free expression on the internet, according to written testimony seen by Reuters.

Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey will tell the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday that eroding the foundation of Section 230 “could collapse how we communicate on the Internet, leaving only a small number of giant and well-funded technology companies.” Section 230, a provision of the 1996 Communications Decency Act shields social media companies from liability for user-generated content and allows them to remove lawful but objectionable posts. It has come under heavy criticism from President Donald Trump and many in Congress.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Nandita Bose)