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Events • February 26, 2026 

# *Section 230 at 30: The Past, Present, and Future of Online Speech and the 26 Words That Created the Internet* — Panel 2: Present: Current Debates and Challenges Regarding Section 230 

Thirty years ago, as part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Section 230 became law. The law was the result of a bipartisan effort that saw the potential of the internet and sought to encourage innovation and opportunities for online speech. Thirty years later, the law remains crucial to users and innovators of all sizes; however, it has been criticized by both the left and the right.

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This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

![Ari Cohn -circle-cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2026-01/Ari%20Cohn%20-circle-cropped.jpg?itok=bQcOUbJo) 

##### Ari Cohn 

Lead Counsel, Tech Policy, FIRE

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](https://x.com/AriCohn) 

![Billy Easley II - circle-cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2026-01/Billy%20Easley%20II%20-%20circle-cropped.jpg?itok=k8CkBHlu) 

##### Billy Easley II 

Lead Public Policy Manager, Reddit

[ 

](https://x.com/billyez2) 

![A Kazaryan portrait](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-02/a-kazaryan.jpeg?itok=q20YvQ95) 

##### Ashkhen Kazaryan 

Senior Legal Fellow, The Future of Free Speech

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](https://x.com/Ashkhen) 

![Gary Shapiro](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-08/gary-shapiro.jpeg?itok=yM-a_FKe) 

##### Gary Shapiro 

Consumer Technology Association

[ 

](https://twitter.com/GaryShapiro) 

[![David-Inserra-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-11/David-Inserra-cropped.jpg?itok=UVcZA19i)](/people/david-inserra) 

##### [David Inserra](/people/david-inserra)

Fellow for Free Expression and Technology, Cato Institute

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](https://x.com/dr_inserra)