Biden again urges Congress to rein in Big Tech, but GOP, Dems still at odds on content liability

President Biden is again asking Congress to pass legislation that would rein in Big Tech, particularly to make changes to the industry's liability shield, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

The section essential shields tech giants such as Facebook or Twitter from liability for third-party content.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Biden argued the U.S. is making progress toward increasing tech industry oversight but that the federal government is reaching the limits of its statutory authority, according to CNN. 

"We need bipartisan action from Congress to hold Big Tech accountable," Biden wrote. "We’ve heard a lot of talk about creating committees. It's time to walk the walk and get something done."

Biden was also specific about limiting targeted advertising and banning it "altogether" for children.

That goal was a top priority in a bipartisan privacy bill in the last Congress. However, a similar effort has not emerged to the forefront of the new Congress, which just started a few weeks ago. And passage of such a measure – most any measure – is expected to now be more difficult considering Republicans now control the House, with Democrats still control the Senate.  

Biden and others want to amend Section 230 in ways that would expose tech platforms to more lawsuits over content moderation, CNN also reports.

Republicans and Democrats have not been able to agree on why the law needs changing or how to do it.

Democrats essential argue tech companies should face more liability for not remove enough problematic content, while Republicans say tech platforms are removing, on censuring, too much content.