Andy Parker, activist, author, and father of slain journalist Alison Parker, will make the case for revisiting the immunity and protections enjoyed by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other online publishers of third-party content under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) at a National Press Club Headliners newsmaker event Tuesday, August 6 at 2:00 p.m.
Parker’s daughter Alison was 24-years-old and working as a journalist with CBS affiliate WDBJ in Roanoke, VA when she was assassinated on live TV by a disgruntled former co-worker. The murderer filmed the killing and then posted that video to YouTube before taking his own life. That video has been viewed and shared tens of thousands of times, with some consumers reposting, editing, and using the video to harass and threaten Parker and his family.
In the four years since the shooting, Parker has attempted to get the videos of his daughter’s murder removed from YouTube. Google, YouTube’s parent company, originally instructed Parker to search for and review each video of his daughter’s death and flag the specific portion of the video that violates the company’s terms and conditions. In more recent communications with Parker and his legal team, Google cited Section 230 of the CDA as grounds to claim that they are not legally required to remove the content.
Parker will be joined by Aderson B. Francois, a Professor of Law and the Director of Civil Rights and & Voting Rights Institute at the Georgetown University Law Center, who will discuss the origins and evolutions of Section 230 and help make the case for revisiting the Communications Decency Act.
This press conference will take place in the Club’s Zenger Room, and is open to credentialed media and members of the National Press Club free of charge, with advance registration required.