At a time when Twitter and Facebook face increasing criticism for spreading disinformation, the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) Minorities in the Profession Section (MIPS) Black History Month high school essay contest deals with the landmark law that shields social media companies from liability from the content users post.
Daryl Williams, chair of MIPS, said the section chose to use Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 as this year’s essay topic because it’s an issue that would connect students to the law.
“This is a generation of kids that was raised on the internet, raised on Twitter. This topic is ripe” he said.
“If we don’t inspire young people to get into this profession, this profession will die. We want to inspire the next generation to join us,” Williams said.
Williams said the contest is an important educational component of the annual Black History Month event, which will be held virtually on Feb. 25.
Dozens of students from across New Jersey submitted essays on why Section 230 was originally passed into law, what its impact has been, whether the law should be changed and, if so, how it should be changed.
At the online event, the finalists and runners-up will compete in a trivia contest for cash prizes. Festivities also includes a performance by the Trenton High School Orchestra and a virtual art show on the NJSBA website featuring the work of a Black New Jersey artist, Anthony Gartmond, a retired Essex County assistant prosecutor.
Williams said it’s important to recognize that Black history doesn’t stop at the end of February. “It’s all year long, but we celebrate it in February, so we’re going to celebrate it to its fullest. Hopefully it will inspire others to learn the history and to cherish it all year long. This is American history.”
The event is sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation; Hill Wallack LLP; Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla; McElroy Deutsch; and Investors Bank, and presented in cooperation with the Garden State Bar Association; New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association; South Asian Bar Association of New Jersey; Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey; Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey; and the Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey.