Just before Christmas 2025, a bipartisan coalition of U.S. senators, including Lindsey Graham, Dick Durbin, Josh Hawley, Amy Klobuchar, Marsha Blackburn and Ashley Moody, introduced legislation to sunset Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act on January 1, 2027. If enacted, the sunset could break Big Tech’s seemingly impenetrable stranglehold on the legislative process, forcing Congress to protect kids online and secure Americans’ freedom from censorship.

Section 230, which dates to 1996, immunizes interactive computer services from being held legally responsible both for hosting user content and for blocking content that is obscene or objectionable. These immunities sought to encourage a competitive, decentralized and open internet ecosystem, while preventing the widespread proliferation of pornography on the early internet.

Nowadays, however, 230 allows Big Tech companies like Meta, Alphabet, Snap, TikTok and X to escape liability for addicting kids, exposing users to a constant deluge of dangerous, toxic and erotic content, and silencing conservative voices.

>>> How Congress Can Protect Children from Predatory Social Media and Pornography Platforms

Although members of Congress have introduced numerous legislative proposals, many intended to combat Big Tech’s abuses, the tech industry has spent millions to defeat them with near perfect success.

Under 230’s sweeping immunity shield, Big Tech wins by default. Without an end to the liability gravy train, there is little incentive for industry to come to the table. Sunsetting 230—ending one of Big Tech’s most prized subsidies—could finally break that trend. With the impending end of their 230-enabled fiefdoms, tech companies would have a strong incentive to negotiate reforms in good faith, rather than stall out every attempt to restrain their power.

A robust 230 reform package, negotiated in light of a fixed sunset, could also serve as a vehicle to enact other long-overdue tech legislation like the Kids Online Safety Act, which passed the Senate overwhelmingly in 2024, and comprehensive data privacy legislation modeled after the American Privacy Rights Act.

In the face of a clean sunset, Congress would be forced to do its job and finally hold Big Tech accountable. With our children and the future of free speech hanging in the balance, it’s time to put Big Tech on defense.