Smaller Websites Nervous Over Giant Facebook’s Support for Liability Reform
Facebook Inc. says it’s time to rethink the legal immunity that protects it from lawsuits over what users post online, a position that’s leaving smaller websites concerned about the cost of accepting more responsibility for what appears on their platforms.
The social-media giant has been prominent in the debate in Washington over the liability shield contained in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which may be the subject of a proposal by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission as soon as Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, President Donald Trump is expected to veto a defense bill in part because lawmakers refused to include a repeal of the protections. Congress is planning to override the veto but lawmakers have said they want to address the liability shield in the coming term.
Facebook support for liability reform has little guys nervous
Todd Shields and Ben Brody, Bloomberg News The Facebook Inc. application is displayed for a photograph on an Apple Inc. iPhone in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, March 21, 2018. Facebook is struggling to respond to growing demands from Washington to explain how the personal data of millions of its users could be exploited by a consulting firm that helped Donald Trump win the presidency. , Bloomberg
Facebook Inc. says itâs time to rethink the legal immunity that protects it from lawsuits over what users post online, a position thatâs leaving smaller websites concerned about the cost of accepting more responsibility for what appears on their platforms.
Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty
Facebook is playing a big role in the debate over the the legal immunity contained in Section 230 of the US s Communications Decency Act, in relation to what users post online
Smaller players like Etsy and Tripadvisor are nervous because they don t have the same content moderation and legal resources as Facebook
Trump insists the rule should be eliminated altogether, with a vote on the proposal expected to take place in January
Facebook says it’s time to rethink the legal immunity that protects it from lawsuits over what users post online, a position that’s leaving smaller websites concerned about the cost of accepting more responsibility for what appears on their platforms.
Dec 20, 2020
A coalition of states is suing to try to break up Facebook Inc. the latest event to call the company’s future into question. If Microsoft Corp.’s antitrust ordeal is at all analogous over three years from suit to settlement it could be a long time before the outcome of all this is known. And it could be years more until we see the ultimate impact on Facebook.
For investors in the social media company’s stock, the future might look different from the kind of innovation and industry dominance we’ve seen over the past decade. But it could still turn out well for shareholders if the company’s focus shifts more toward optimizing its operations for near-term profitability with an emphasis on financial engineering.
Ads that disregard personalized targeting generate 60% fewer sales than ads that target consumers, Facebook added, citing its own data. Apple’s new feature at the heart of the issue App Tracking Transparency won’t forbid companies like Facebook from collecting targeting data, but will ask them to disclose it and seek user opt-in.
In a conference call and blog post Wednesday, Facebook continued its attack, saying Apple’s business stands to gain from these changes. “Apple is behaving anti-competitively by using their control of the App Store to benefit their bottom line at the expense of creators and small businesses,” said Dan Levy, head of Facebook’s small business program. Facebook was sued earlier this month by state and federal regulators for alleged anticompetitive behavior.