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This note provides background on Title 47 US Code § 230, the section of federal law that protects internet companies from liability for the content shared by users, and for the moderation and even removal of that content if considered objectionable. So central is this law to the debate over online speech and content policy that it is commonly referred to simply as ""Section 230,"" even though nearly every one of the 54 titles in federal law also contains a section 230. Passed as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Section 230 ended a ""moderator's dilemma"" that resulted from a 1995 court decision. If that decision had not been overturned, it would have meant internet companies that restricted access to objectionable content became liable for any and all content on their platforms. This technical note is particularly useful when used to facilitate discussion of the case ""Trump v. Twitter, et al."" (UVA-S-0360). The case explores the period in 2020 in which the social media activity of Donald Trump, then president of the United States, started to be moderated by some social media companies, receiving warning labels and even being removed for violating content guidelines.

During a 30-day window between late May and late June of 2020, President Donald Trump earned international attention not only for the content he posted to social media sites such as Twitter, but also for the ways in which social media companies responded to his posts. For the first time in history, social media posts from a sitting president were receiving warning labels, and in some instances were even deleted for violating Twitter's content guidelines, "The Twitter Rules." The substance of a debate over online content that began 25 years earlier had come full circle as a host of social media platforms-initially imagined to help people share group text messages and photos with friends-were now being referred to as the 21st century equivalent of a public square. Had Twitter's executive team gone too far by placing a warning notice on the president's tweets? Would social media companies be able to adapt if the Trump administration's recommendations led to meaningful changes in the law that made "The Twitter Rules" actionable? How will companies prepare for an environment within which content policy is not simply a legal concern but a strategic decision?