Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, stated that he needed to put a hold on the controversial bill that required Internet companies to report a terrorist activity on their platforms.
Section 603, which is said to be one of the provisions included in the Intelligence Authorization Act scheduled to take effect in the Fiscal Year of 2016, received strong opposition from the industry as well as from various civil rights groups.
Senator Wyden had planned to work with colleagues as a way to revise or remove the provision in order for the rest of the bill to finally move forward.
On Monday, the senator announced that the provision, which was described as "vague and dangerous," had already been removed from the bill, allowing him to eventually lift his hold on it.
"Social media companies aren't qualified to judge which posts amount to terrorist activity," said Senator Wyden in a statement.
The provision in question carries the title "Requirement to report terrorist activities and the unlawful distribution of information relating to explosives." Under the sub-heading "Duty To report," it stated: "Whoever, while engaged in providing an electronic communication service or a remote computing service to the public through a facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce, obtains actual knowledge of any terrorist activity, including the facts or circumstances described in subsection [c] shall, as soon as reasonably possible, provide to the appropriate authorities the facts or circumstances of the alleged terrorist activities."
Several groups that include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Democracy & Technology and the Consumer Watchdog among others have likewise crafted a Human Rights Watch Letter that is meant to question the said provision.
Part of the letter stated that the provision would "create strong incentives for providers to over-report on the activity and communications of their users, in order to avoid violating the law."
A spokesman for California Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein who is also a prominent member of the intelligence committee gave out a statement which left an impression that the dispute on the provision is highly unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. Feinstein had reportedly agreed to drop the provision for the sole reason of allowing the intelligence bill to move forward. However, she still believes that it is important to block terrorist activities in social media.
