I would assume that “extort” isn’t the word that the author of a new report on Section 230 would prefer. Maybe “no carrot, all stick”? Actually, he instead uses the much nicer phrase “leverage to persuade platforms to accept a range of new responsibilities.” But either way, the pitch is pretty similar:
Hey, tech companies — that’s a nice bit of protection from legal liability you’ve got there. It would be a real shame if anything were to happen to it. Maybe if you cut a big enough check every month, we could make sure it stays nice and secure.
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