One of the internet’s primary protections is on the verge of an overhaul.
Section 230 part of the Communications Decency Act shields online companies, including tech platforms and publishers, from being liable for the content that others post to their sites. But, amid outcries over disinformation, hate speech and concerns about biased decisions to kick people off social media platforms, Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike have proposed changing Section 230 over the past year.
The most recent reform proposal is the SAFE TECH Act, which was introduced on Feb. 5 by Democratic Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. The bill would make platforms like Facebook and Twitter liable when paid content posted on their sites is used to target vulnerable people. But some lawyers and media executives say the SAFE TECH Act and other reform proposals would remove legal protections that helped the web thrive in the first place.
This hasn t stopped other platforms like Gab from growing as it seemed to target disillusioned conservatives by similarly calling itself the free speech social network. Nothing in U.S. law makes it explicitly illegal to give a certain group a platform, even at the risk of hosting smaller, domestic extremist groups, said Alex Stamos, director of the Cyber Policy Center’s Internet Observatory and former chief security officer at Facebook. You re going to continue to see the separation from the companies that are trying to go after the (extremist) groups versus those that aren t, which is not something I think we actually have a good history of or demonstration of what s going to happen, he said.
Uncovering and explaining how our digital world is changing and changing us.
When I tell people I write about data privacy, I usually get something along the lines of these two responses:
“Is Facebook listening to me? I got an ad for parrot food, and the only possible explanation is that Facebook heard my friend tell me about his new pet parrot, because he mentioned that exact brand, which I never even heard of before.”
Here’s the other:
“I’m sure that’s important to someone, but I don’t have anything to hide. Why should I care about data privacy?”
Of Course! Dems Go After Section 230, Free Speech After Capitol Riot newsbusters.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsbusters.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
OPINION — Within today’s online environment, we’ve seen a billowing public awareness of “fake news,” the uncontrolled spread of disinformation (and its very real impacts), public acts of violence, and a national and often heated conversation about structural racism. More and more, “hate speech,” “extremism,” and “toxic rhetoric” are mentioned in the headlines we read each day. … Continue reading "The Tragedy of Social Media Moderation"