Connecticut Attorney General William Tong told Sacred Heart University students that there needs to be a review of federal law to hold Facebook, Twitter and other social media providers more accountable.
Tong visited the university on Wednesday, Sept. 15, during Constitution Day, which commemorates the date when the Founding Fathers finished writing the Constitution and sent it out to the states for ratification in 1787.
He is concerned about Section 230 of the federal Communication Decency Act, which protects providers from liability even if misinformation is posted on their platforms.
“Justice Jackson famously said the constitution is not a suicide pact," Tong said. "And it has been said by the Supreme Court, you can’t shout fire in a crowded theater. You don’t have the constitutional right right now to start a panic. It is a difficult, sometimes noxious stew when we talk about misinformation and disinformation, but it is doing real damage right now."
Sacred Heart University is the licensee of WSHU Public Radio.
