Dealmaking between industry and lawmakers in Washington DC

According to a New York Times article, Google and Facebook have been trying to reach a compromise with lawmakers in response to a proposed bill against sex trafficking, which would hold Internet companies responsible for the harmful content on their platforms. The article states that companies have had to recognise the ‘new environment in Washington’ in which Internet firms are a focus of lawmakers, and that they ‘could not stop the bill entirely because of strong political headwinds’. The bill would allow state and local authorities to prosecute websites that contain content related to sex trafficking. Industry and critics are concerned that the law would lead to numerous lawsuits to Internet companies as users’ actions are difficult to control. Yet as the bill has received extensive political support from, Facebook and Google are discussing changes to the bill with senators.