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Standing alongside parents who lost their children to online abuse, actor and filmmaker Joseph Gordon-Levitt blasted tech companies on Capitol Hill, accusing them of hiding behind Section 230 to evade accountability.
Gordon-Levitt appeared alongside Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin to back the Illinois senator’s bipartisan Sunset Section 230 Act, legislation that would dismantle the decades-old legal shield protecting social media companies from liability over user content.
“I just heard a couple of stories that left me trying to keep myself together,” Gordon-Levitt said, standing alongside parents who lost their children to online abuse.
“These photos remind me of my kids,” added Gordon-Levitt, the father of three children under the age of 12.
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“The harm that was done to these kids online might have been prevented if certain Big Tech companies knew that they could be sued. But under Section 230, they cannot be. So, these amoral companies, they just keep allowing these awful things to happen on their platform, and they don’t do anything about it because they will always prioritize profits over the public good, even when it comes to kids,” he said, visibly emotional.
Alongside Gordon-Levitt, parents recounted their experiences, including South Carolina state Rep. Brandon Guffey.
“I lost my 17-year-old son, Gavin Guffey, to suicide,” Guffey said. “We learned days later that he had been the victim of sextortion. It started around midnight, and by 1:40 a.m., he had taken his life. He was living his best life, there were no warning signs and I had never even heard the term ‘sextortion.’
“Days later, I received a call from an aunt who lives about an hour away. Her 14-year-old daughter, Gavin’s cousin, was being extorted by the same person who targeted my son,” he explained. “Meta removed one profile but left another active. Because that account remained online, the predator went on to extort at least 13 more children. Meta knew this was a criminal, yet the account remained online.”
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Other parents shared that they lost their children from cyberbullying and dangerous connections made over social media.
Gordon-Levitt urged lawmakers to repeal Section 230, a provision of federal law that protects social media companies from being sued over content posted by users.
“I have a message for all the other senators out there. I want to see this thing pass 100-0. There should be nobody voting to give any more impunity to these tech companies. Nobody. It’s time for a change. Let’s make it happen,” Gordon-Levitt said.
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