The chief executives of Facebook Inc., Google LLC, and Twitter Inc. will be grilled in front of Congress Wednesday, with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg the only one expected to embrace reform regarding the controversial Section 230 law.

Section 230 is a statute in the Communications Decency Act that gives companies broad protection over liability for the content that appears on their platforms. For some time now, lawmakers have said that the law needs to be reformed.

It appears that Zuckerberg advocates changes to the law. In his written testimony, he said that Section 230 “encourages free expression,” adding that without it companies could be held liable for anything people say. The upshot, he said, would be extreme censorship. Moreover, he said the law allows companies to moderate their platforms, and without it “platforms could face liability for doing even basic moderation, such as removing hate speech and harassment.”

But although most of the testimony was in support of the law, Zuckerberg said he believed that it should be updated to ensure it’s working as it should. “At Facebook, we don’t think tech companies should be making so many decisions about these important issues alone,” he said. “I believe we need a more active role for governments and regulators.”

Twitter’s Jack Dorsey for the most part echoed Zuckerberg in that the law is critical for free speech and safety. He said no one wants more limitations on free speech and no one wants companies to have less ability to moderate content. He added that transparency was key, mentioning a number of ways Twitter moderates its platform. But unlike Zuckerberg, it seems he does not embrace reform at all.

“As we consider developing new legislative frameworks, or committing to self-regulation models for content moderation, we should remember that Section 230 has enabled new companies — small ones seeded with an idea — to build and compete with established companies globally,” wrote Dorsey. “Eroding the foundation of Section 230 could collapse how we communicate on the Internet, leaving only a small number of giant and well-funded technology companies.”

Google’s Sundar Pichai said his company is “deeply committed to the freedom of expression” and is transparent about how it removes content deemed harmful. He denied the accusation that Google has any sort of political bias, one of the reasons why some lawmakers are asking for reform.

“Our ability to provide access to a wide range of information is only possible because of existing legal frameworks, like Section 230,” said Pichai. “The United States adopted Section 230 early in the internet’s history, and it has been foundational to U.S. leadership in the tech sector.” He added that the committee should be “very thoughtful” when considering any changes to the law.

Photo: Anthony Quintano, JD Lasica, Nguyen Hung Vu/Flickr