Joseph Gordon-Levitt Advocates for Tech Accountability at Capitol Hill

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is calling on Big Tech to make meaningful Section 230 reform of the Communications Decency Act.

The 44-year-old actor and other advocates attended a press conference in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday (February 4) in Washington, D.C.

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Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Dick Durbin introduced the Sunset Section 230 Act last year that “would repeal the provision that protects major tech companies from being held legally responsible for third-party or user-generated content on their platforms,” reports The Hill.

Those who want reform say that the law was “originally intended to protect fledgling internet companies, but has been stretched far beyond its original purpose and is now dangerously out of date,” leading to many victims to be “routinely denied justice.”

In short, the law was originally meant as a way to protect smaller internet and tech companies from being sued for the type of content users posted, even if that content is harmful or a cause of misinformation.

Critics asking for reform argue that now the extremely large and successful companies are profiting from user-generated content without taking responsibility for the harm the content on their sites can cause.

Joseph and others like him are arguing that there needs to be more regulation online, especially amid the rise of AI which the actor has spoken out about before. In December, he questioned why AI companies don’t have to “follow any laws.”