The Big Story: Congress increases pressure on vital Internet law. Policymakers are ramping up attacks on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the 1996 law that has allowed startups that host user content to thrive. While this law provides online companies of all sizes with the ability to moderate users’ content without being held liable for users’ speech, the latest round of attacks on Section 230 have been largely framed around Internet companies’ content moderation practices—a difficult, time consuming, and expensive task for any online platform.

The Big Story: DOJ proposes changes to bedrock Internet law. The Department of Justice this week released a set of proposals for reforming a bedrock Internet law, a move that would make it more difficult and costly for Internet companies to host users’ content. The announcement comes as some lawmakers and federal officials have called for legislation to scale back Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides Internet companies of all sizes with the ability to moderate user content without being held liable for what they do or do not take down from their sites.

The Big Story: Treasury pushes for ‘much more targeted’ small business relief. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Senate Small Business Committee on Wednesday that the Trump administration is open to including a new round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans in the next coronavirus relief package, although he said that any future funding “needs to be much more targeted to the industries and small businesses having the most trouble going forward.” Mnuchin added that he is loosening the program’s existing rules in order to ensure that most of the small businesses receiving PPP loans can receive at least some loan forgiveness.

In light of recent nationwide protests over police brutality and systemic racism, we’re putting our normal newsletter on hold this week in order to focus on organizations working to address those issues. Technology policy has a role to play in making sure people can stay connected and informed, and the tech industry has a long road ahead in addressing its own systemic inequality. But we’re spending this time listening to and highlighting organizations that have been working to address these issues on a larger scale, and we encourage you to do the same.

The Big Story: White House executive order threatens bedrock Internet law. President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday targeting “censorship” by online companies, a dangerous and misguided move that threatens to undermine the bedrock law that has allowed Internet platforms of all sizes to grow. The directive came after Twitter added fact-checking labels to several of President Trump’s tweets about mail-in ballots earlier this week. 

The Big Story: Congress working to clarify small business loan program. The U.S. Senate this week tried to double the amount of time that recipients of Paycheck Protection Program loans have to spend the emergency funding, even as House Democrats plan to advance legislation next week that would change accessibility requirements and allow PPP loans to be used over an even longer 24-week timeframe.