Lindsey Graham Takes Aim at Section 230 With Yet Another Bill Proposal

Lindsey Graham Takes Aim at Section 230 With Yet Another Bill Proposal

WASHINGTON — Senator Lindsey Graham (R, South Carolina), Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, quietly scheduled yesterday an item on the agenda for Thursday’s committee meeting, aiming to discuss a new bill, S. 4632, which he called the Online Content Policy Modernization Act.

Graham's new bill, which explicitly seeks to undermine the First Amendment based on a new notion of "objectionally reasonable belief," includes a change of wording that attempts to single out "material that the provider or user has an objectively reasonable belief is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or promoting self-harm, promoting terrorism, or unlawful, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected.”

The Online Content Policy Modernization Act is yet another attempt by Graham to reform or revoke Section 230 protections, the so called “First Amendment of the Internet.” A previous Graham sponsored bill, the EARN IT Act, also aimed at Section 230, is making its way through the Senate, as are a few other proposals that Graham has praised.

Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden have expressed their wish to repeal Section 230, with the current president issuing a confusing Executive Order earlier in May that ordered federal agencies to find ways to challenge its protections.

According to the U.S. Constitution, only Congress has the power to alter or repeal Section 230.

A New Copyright Bureaucracy

Graham’s new Online Content Policy Modernization Act, which he previously called Online Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act, claims as its stated purpose to "establish an alternative dispute resolution program for copyright small claims, to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to modify the scope of protection from civil liability for ‘good Samaritan’ blocking and screening of offensive material, and for other purposes.”

Graham’s bill proposes the creation of a new federal bureaucracy under the Copyrights Office, the Copyright Claims Board. Graham’s new board will supposedly “serve as an alternative forum in which parties may voluntarily seek to resolve certain copyright claims regarding any category of copyrighted work, as provided in this chapter.”

This new form of government intervention would essentially tie third-party-upload content sites, from Facebook to Twitter to YouTube and adult tube sites, in endless litigations arbitrated by this new, politically appointed board.

Altering the Language (and Spirit) of Section 230

The last part of the bill directly changes language to Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 22 U.S.C. 230), altering the current version — No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider — with the following:

(A) IN GENERAL.—No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

‘(B) APPLICABILITY.—

(i) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any decision or agreement made or action taken by a provider or user of an interactive computer service to restrict access to or availability of material provided by another information content provider.

(ii) CIVIL LIABILITY.—Any applicable immunity for a decision or agreement made or action taken by a provider or user of an interactive computer service described in clause (i) shall be provided solely by paragraph (2).’

That paragraph (2) currently reads:

No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be held liable on account of

(A) any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected; or

(B) any action taken to enable or make available to information content providers or others the technical means to restrict access to material described in paragraph (1).

Graham’s new bill would amend paragraph (2) as follows:

(A) any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the provider or user has an objectively reasonable belief is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or promoting self-harm, promoting terrorism, or unlawful, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected; or

(B) any action taken to enable or make available to information content providers or others the technical means to restrict access to material described in paragraph

A further change of language is directly aimed at recent attempts by Twitter and Facebook to fact-check information disseminated via their platform. Graham wants to make them liable as “being responsible in whole or in part for the creation or development of information.”

Graham's 'Objectively Reasonable Belief'

For the adult industry, the most concerning change is Graham’s new definition of “material that the provider or user has an objectively reasonable belief is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or promoting self-harm, promoting terrorism, or unlawful, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected.”

Graham’s bill essentially seeks to end First Amendment protections based on something being declared “unlawful” and, more specifically, creates a new, incredibly vague legal category of “objectively reasonable belief,” and directly applies it to the words “obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy.”

The enormous danger in the fact that Graham is now seeking to write legislation enshrining belief as “objective” — and that what he considers “obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy” does not need to be spelled out.

Text of S4632 Proposal

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Sara Jay, Dan Leal to Sponsor XBIZ Amsterdam Kick-Off Event

Sara Jay’s Wyde Syde Productions and Porno Dan Leal’s Market64 will co-sponsor the Bottoms Up Day Drinking kick-off event for XBIZ Amsterdam 2025 at Excalibur Café on Sept. 2, from 2-4 p.m. (CET).

AEBN Publishes Report on DP Trends

AEBN has published a report on DP and extreme penetration categories from its straight and gay theaters.

Free Speech Coalition Appoints Megan Stokes to Board of Directors

The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) announced today that it has appointed Megan Stokes to its Board of Directors.

FansRevenue Acquires DivaTraffic

FansRevenue has acquired web traffic service DivaTraffic.

AEBN Announces Peter Green as Top Male Boy/Girl Performer for Summer 2025

AEBN has revealed its top 10 male Boy/Girl performers for summer 2025, with Peter Green landing atop the leaderboard.

Spicey AI Relaunches Site, Debuts $Spicey Tokens

Interactive voice chat platform Spicey AI has relaunched its website and introduced $Spicey tokens.

FSC: Missouri Age Verification Rule Will Not Take Effect August 30

The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) announced that Missouri's proposed age verification legislation will not take effect on August 30, as it had originally estimated.

Little Caprice, Marcello Bravo to Co-Host 2025 XMA Europa Awards

XBIZ is pleased to announce that husband-and-wife duo Little Caprice and Marcello Bravo will co-host adult’s biggest night in Europe: the 2025 XMA Europa Awards on Sept. 4, in the epic climax to XBIZ’s fall events series.

Germany Will Block Payments to AV-Noncompliant Adult Sites as of Dec. 1

Starting Dec. 1, Germany will implement new rules prohibiting financial institutions from providing payment services to adult sites deemed to have inadequate age verification systems and making it easier for the government to target websites mirroring the content of such sites.

Jerkmate Joins Pineapple Support as Partner-Level Sponsor

Jerkmate has joined the ranks of over 70 adult businesses and organizations committing funds and resources to Pineapple Support.

Show More