Zoe Lofgren: “Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has been an important element of the law. It has allowed the internet to…”

“Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has been an important element of the law. It has allowed the internet to flourish. We support that. But we never intended section 230 to protect people who are trafficking in human beings, who are abusing children, who are prostituting children. Really, modern slavery. It is an outrage. And when we saw the court cases about Backpage where they basically used the CDA as a shield for action that was absolutely criminal, in my judgment, those guys belong in prison, as far as I am concerned. The good news is that the bill drafted by Representative Wagner actually fixes this problem. We just got a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice. I just received it. This is what they say: ``Every day, trafficking victims in America appear in online advertisements that are used to sell them for sex. The Department works diligently to hold traffickers accountable for their crimes but faces serious challenges.'' It goes on to say that the ``high evidentiary standard needed'' is a problem; but it also says that that bill, as drafted and reported from the Judiciary Committee, addresses the issues that are preventing prosecution, and it ``would take meaningful steps to end the industry of advertising trafficking victims for commercial sex.'' I would just like to say thanks to the authors of the bill, as well as the Judiciary Committee, on which I serve. We worked together on a bipartisan basis to make adjustments.…”