Bill Barr vs. Big Tech

The DOJ wants Congress to reconsider protections for Big Tech; North Korea continues saber-rattling along the DMZ. Tonight's Sentences was written by Cameron Peters. TOP NEWS DOJ takes aim at protections for Big Tech Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images - On Wednesday, the Justice Department proposed new legislation to Congress that would substantially alter the protections long afforded to online platforms under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. [[WSJ / Brent Kendall and John D. McKinnon](] - The proposal, which argues that it is time to "realign the scope of Section 230 with the realities of the modern internet," comes just two weeks after President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting big tech companies. [[Washington Post / Tony Romm](] - Specifically, the DOJ recommendation, if passed by Congress, would remove the immunity granted to online platforms for illegal third-party content, a move that could open up Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to greater liability. [[Politico / Leah Nylen, Betsy Woodruff Swan, and Cristiano Lima](] - The move follows a 10-month investigation by Justice into online platforms’ “record on monitoring and ridding sites of harmful conduct, including child exploitation and pornography,” according to the New York Times. [[NYT / Cecilia Kang](] - And the proposal may find a receptive audience in Congress, at least among the GOP. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley on Wednesday introduced another bill relating to Section 230, which would open up Big Tech to lawsuits over alleged anti-conservative bias. [[Axios / Margaret Harding McGill](] - Democrats, however, appear less interested in any potential DOJ proposal, though Section 230 has been a target of bipartisan scrutiny. In a statement, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said he was concerned that the DOJ effort was “politicized” and could be exploited by the Trump administration. [[CNBC / Lauren Feiner and Ylan Mui](] - The DOJ effort isn’t the only reason Big Tech has been in the news lately: On Tuesday, Facebook said it would change its ad policy to allow users to opt out of seeing political ads. The policy, which is part of an election-year voter turnout push, will also extend to Instagram. [[The Verge / James Vincent](] - The Facebook announcement comes amid calls for the company to take a more active role in fact-checking Trump, among other figures; Twitter’s decision to do so elicited a quick response in the form of an executive order, but Facebook has largely avoided taking action to moderate the president. [[Recode / Shirin Ghaffary](] In the Korean DMZ, a demolished office and redeployed troops - On Wednesday, North Korea announced its intent to send troops into and heighten the readiness of artillery along the border of a previously demilitarized zone along its border with South Korea as tensions between the two nations continue to escalate. [[NPR / Anthony Kuhn and Scott Neuman](] - The announcement follows North Korea’s demolition of a joint liaison office on Tuesday using explosives. Until recently, the building had been used for talks between the two countries, which are technically still at war. No one was in the building at the time of the explosion. [[NYT / Choe Sang-Hun](] - North Korea said the destruction of the office was an act of retaliation after defectors — not affiliated with the South Korean government — sent anti-regime leaflets over the border into North Korea. [[CNN / Joshua Berlinger, Jake Kwon, and Yoonjung Seo](] - But, as Heather Hurlburt writes for New York magazine, the heightened tensions are also indicative of the fading prospects for renewed peace talks not just between the two Koreas but also between the US and North Korea. [[NYMag / Heather Hurlburt](] - That breakdown is particularly clear in some of the attacks directed at South Korean President Moon Jae-in in recent days. On Wednesday, Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong-un’s sister, described Moon as a “servile partner ... soaked by deep-rooted flunkyism.” [[Washington Post / Simon Denyer and Min Joo Kim](] MISCELLANEOUS The Atlanta police officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks has been charged with felony murder. [[Twitter / Josh Campbell](] - Why a small lab in Texas charged 20 times the usual rate for coronavirus testing. [[NYT / Sarah Kliff](] - How black people really feel about the police, explained. [[Vox / Aaron Ross Coleman](] - “Oh, are you a nuclear power?”: Former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s new book depicts a president out of his depth and out of control. [[Washington Post / Josh Dawsey](] VERBATIM "It’s a strange experience reading a book that begins with repeated salvos about 'the intellectually lazy' by an author who refuses to think through anything very hard himself." [[Critic Jennifer Szalai on John Bolton's new book / NYT](] LISTEN TO THIS [Some are calling six blocks of a Seattle neighborhood the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.]( Some are calling six blocks of a Seattle neighborhood the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. [[Spotify / Sean Rameswaram](] [Read more from Vox](#) [College football players are taking a stand against racism — and taking a big risk]( [Senate Republicans’ narrow new police reform bill, explained]( [Black authors are on all the bestseller lists right now. 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