Cnn has not determined the authenticity of the emails and investigation by Senate Republicans and it in september without uncovering any evidence that joe biden abused his powers or changed u. S. Policy because of his sons business ties with Ukrainian Energy company burisma. Nobody in the fbi or anybody has issued public statements about whether or not this is linked to a disinformation campaign. We dont know if the emails centered the story are authentic or fake. Within three hours of the New York Post publishing wednesday facebook said it would slow its distribution so it would appear less frequently in users newsfeeds and twitter went further to block those. Among those block said white house secretary Kayleigh Mcenany after she posted the story. By wednesday night, jack dorsey criticized his own companys decision. And on thursday, the New York Post article would allow similar information to be shared alongside a label to provide context. That same day, the chair of the federal Communications Commission got into the act. He said he would soon clarify the law. Here were his words, social med mediaia companies have a right to free speech but they do not have a right to a special immunity denied to other Media Outlets such as newspapers or broadcasters. Second 230 of the Communications Decency act, 26 words that provided internet platforms with a liability shield that enabled the internet to thrive. Here are those 26 words. No provider or user of an Interactive Computer Service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider. Meanwhi meanwhile, President Trump is calling facebook and twitter a monster and threatening to go after them, repeal section 230. Heres what he said on thursday. And a big tech persists with coordination with the mainstream media, we Must Immediately strip them of their section 230 protection. Okay. Its very simple. And we all believe in freedom of the press, but dont forget, big tech got something years ago that let them become big tech. They got total protection. Were going to take away their second 230 unless they shape up. In my view, this controversy raises issues that transcend the current election. And for the president , maybe this is a case of be careful what you wish for. This suggests that trumps issue with facebook and twitter is their alleged censorship. But if his dream of a World Without 230 actually came true, it might have far greater degrees of content restriction, focused on content that might subject platforms to legal liability. And i can think of one figure hoom those platforms might immediately consider restricting in a World Without 230 as a liability shield. With 17 days to go before the final day of voting circle october 28 on your calendar. On that day, the heads of facebook, twitter and google are all scheduled to testify before the Senate Commerce committee. This hour, i want to know what you think. Go to my website at smerconish. Com and answer this weeks survey question. Should facebook and twitter be shielded from liability for the way they police their platforms . So, how might this impact the final days of the campaign . Joining me now to discuss is scott gallogalloway. Hes a professor of marketing at the Nyu Stern School of business. Professor galloway, why now . Good to be with you, michael. Simply put, the polls showing a Biden Harris Administration is becoming more and more likely. It looks as if theres going to be a new sheriff in town. And today, weve had somewhat of an unholy alliance between the administration and these platforms that if you continue to let us weaponize these platforms to spread misinformation we will regulate or break you up. And there is a justified fear among big tech that alliance is about to break apart. So they seem to be finding religion around assuring that their platforms arent weaponized to the staple extent theyve been weaponized in the past. You know Silicon Valley so well, does Silicon Valley lean red, or blue . No, it leans green. Deciding we dont want to be ash sist arbiters of the truth. It send its to be conspiracy theories that are nor novel, if you will, more exciting or inflammatory. And when they get spread, any engagement, regardless of the damage it does, results in engagement which results in more clicks. Which results in more nissan ads which results in more shareholder values. These algorithms that arent biased towards any political leaning, theyre biased against clicks. And especially when its especially false or especially provocative. You heard my opening commentary where im wondering aloud if conservatives have it backward. The 230 is actually their best friend. What does a post230 world look like, relative to the content on the internet . Yeah, youre exactly right. The Trump Administration sort of has it half right. And that is these companies should be subject to the same scrutiny as cnn or the New York Times or msnbc. The question is if they just remove 230 or dont update it or replace it, its likely that the removal of that shield will make these platforms much more skittish and have absolutely no idea how to respond to some of the content that the president puts out as some people could interpret as motivating or insigciting violence. And could take as a count down. So this feels like a punishment that hes trying to levy that he doesnt understand. It would likely heard turt the right than the far left if 230 were to go away. Take it from me, my personal experience is when i meet people in the real town square, theyre pleasant, even if theyre disagreeing with me. But via facebook, twitter, its an awfully nasty world. They get beer muscles because you dont really know who they are. If 230 goes away and takes on more of a regulatory notion, wont they want to know who the speakers are . Actually, they dont. If twitter would have a blue check on the accounts like they have on you and i accounts, they would be decrease by 50 to 80 . Youre right, anonymity is a huge problem here. I would argue, if we went on your and my twitter feeds we would find accounts that are trying to create arguments and purposely trying to undermine, for example, if we Say Something critical about russia, that we can reverse engineer to an individual. Were in an age that interpretation of a message is dependent upon who is communicating that message. And on these platforms, you really dont know. So, when you get hundreds of messages about antivacs, and ho and who is behind it could be a problem. Final question, im at home, watching cnn and im hearing questions about the impact on the campaign. But beyond the campaign, what does it mean to me as an Internet User . Well, you deserve better, if youre willing to stand eight hours in line to vote then the platforms that have tens of billions of cash flow should hold themselves to higher standards. Whereas, if somebody is paying for an ad thats going to compress your vote or confuse you about poll times, they have an obligation to employ a fraction of resources and scrutiny to make sure the content youre receiving is legitimate content. And that freedom of speech is not freedom of reach. That theres a conversation around these issues thats warranted when it gets more oxygen because its incendiary, we have a problem. These platforms are tearing at our society. As a voter, a citizen, a parent, bottom line, you deserve better. And it looks like theres going to be a new sheriff in town. Well see, theres likely going to be overdue changes. The reckoning is overdue. Im surprised to see you saying if im reading you correctly that they have the ability to monitor the speech. To me, its a fire hose of information. A quick response. Be clear, were not talking about the realm of possible. Facebook and twitter can figure it out with billions of cash flow. They can absolutely solve this problem. They throw their arms up and claim its impossible. That is a lie. Professor galloway, thank you as always. Thank you. What are your thoughts . Tweet me at smerconish. Go to my facebook page. Ill read responses. What do we have . Im not a trump fan at all but when twitter locked out the White House Press secretary for posting a published story that was censorship, plain and simple. Joe abrams, i dont want to be recompetitive, i think what conservatives wish more might not actually be the panacea that they envision. It stands to reason, if you get rid of 230, if you get rid of 230, what theyre saying, they open themselves up to liability. Think about it logically. If you start treating the platforms not like a phone line. We dont hold sprint or at t responsible for the speech that crosses their line, instead, right, we think of them as a newspaper going forward. Then theres editorial control that theyll need to scriexhibid perhaps even more speech. Make sure youre answering this weeks survey question, should facebook and twitter be shielded from liability for the way they police their platforms . Up ahead, parents are worried about covid19 and forcing heir kforce ing their kids on. And its political yard sign season. Theyre everywhere. Do them matter . I will ask an academic who has studied the issue. Plus, are americas leaders getting too old . Were choosing between two 70something president ial candidates. And we have many 70 and even 80somethings in the house and senate leadership. Dare we consider age limits . Fresh you ideas delivered like me. And me. Dianne feinstein. And me chuck schumer. And we have great new leaders waiting in the wings like hot young thing Elizabeth Warren and also, thats right. Its fun time. And im still around, too. What if you could have the perspective to see more . At morgan stanley, a global collective of thought leaders offers investors a broader view. We see companies protecting the bottom line by putting people first. We see a bright future, still hungry for the ingenuity of those ready for the next challenge. Today, we are translating decades of experience into strategies for the road ahead. We are morgan stanley. Joe biden was raised with middle class values. Joe doesnt need to be the center of attention. Or see himself on tv. He has always focused on getting the job done. Joe led us out of the 2008 recession, and increased Health Coverage for millions. As president , joe will focus on getting us out of our crises. Hell listen to experts, work across the aisle. And put the American People first. 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The same humira you trust with less pain immediately following injection. If you cant afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. Is america in a crisis of ageing leadership . We Ground Airline pilots at age 65, but our leaders piloting the country are one, even two decades older. We have minimum age requirements for our representatives. Youve got to be 25 to run for congress. 30 to run for the senate. 35 to be president. But from then on, the skys the limit. Whoever wins on the final day of voting, america will have its oldest president at inauguration ever. Donald trump will be 74. Joe biden, 78. Our oldest previous president was Ronald Reagan who when he left office was 77. And some thought had cognitive issues. This year, several of bidens top rivals would also have been the oldest president s at inauguration. Bernie sanders just turned 79. Mike bloomberg, 78. Elizabeth warren, a relatively youthful 71. And its not just the executive branch. The age age in congress is near an alltime high. When the 116th Congress Took office in january 2019. The average is 57. 6 years. Of senators, 62. 9 years. Now we can add 21 months to those figures the oldest serving congressman, alaskas don young is 87 years old. Trying for a 25th term. Look at the house leadership, speaker pelosi, 81. Majority leader hoyer, 81, jim clyburn, 80. Chair of services maxime water, 82. Rare of the judiciary jerry nadler, 73, outgoing chair of foreign affairs, elliott angle who lust, 73. And richard neal only 71. On the senate side, 28. 28 of the 100 senators over 70. Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell running in the polls, 78. President pro tem joe grassley, 87. As is dianne feinstein. Richard shelby, 86. Armed Services Committee share, jim imhoff, 85. Chair of nutrition and forestry, pat roberts, 84. Departing chair of Health Education labor and pensions Lamar Alexander is 80. As is Ranking Committee member patrick leahy. I could go on and on, but i think you get the picture. Its an unique phenomenon. The typical eu leader has actually gotten younger. Think of Frances Emmanuel macron only 42. Austrias sebastian kerrs, 34. Canadian Prime Minister justin trudeau, 48. North koreas leader kim jongun believed to be 36. And new zealands Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern who just won an election in a landslide, 40. Most countries have only minimum age requirements on the books from as young as 18 and as old as 45. As adam taylor has pointed you out in the Washington Post the few limits there can be strategically ignorechinas xi jinping now 67, widely expected to flout beijings retirement age to continue for a third term or outright appeal it. And happened in turkmenistan and uganda by legal means. All must retire at 70 and in the philippines, Government Employees have a mandatory retirement age of 65. But neither applies to president s. Brazils president before bolsonaro, michel teamer was five until he held office. Rodrigo duterte is 75. Malaysia had a 92yearold who stepped down in february. Zimbabwes Prime MinisterRobert Mugabe was 93 when ousted from office. Could that happen . 1967s age discrimination and employment act protected those 40 and over from age, based on discrimination, but only until you reach the age of 70. In 1986, the 70yearold limit was removed. And, of course, as for the Supreme CourtJustice Ruth Bader ginsburg recently passed on the bench at age 87, stephen breyer, on the bench is 82. No other western democracy allows its most powerful judges to serve to advanced age. In fact, thr32 states in the und states have mandatory retirement ages for judges from 70 to 90. And there are definitely old drivers on the road that need a renewal license test. Do we need to set a sunset year . Joining me is daniel bettermast. He coauthored an article, america has become a gerotocrasy. I never heard that word before. What accounts for that, professor . Hi, thanks for having me, i think the two major reasons are, number one, the elected officials reflect the largest voting bloc and thats, of course, the baby boomers and to a lesser degree the sagging generation. And now the incumbency are probably one of two major technical issues and i would add into that the fact in United States we dont culture, we talk about old age and what the role of people in politics should be as they get older. I think its difficult, perhaps, to have a blanket maximum age law. Because sometimes that would restrict people who maybe should be running. And i think thats important. But i do think we need to talk more seriously what it says about the culture and american politics that so much of our government who, for example, wont be around to deal with effects of climate change. Many of whom are also wealthy and dont suffer inequality. Its something that we need to discuss. I am sure postshow i will hear from my mother who, by the way, insists she is 65. And im not going to second guess her. And her argument would be probably, wait a minute, you get all of this wisdom, the age and experience factor. Is that enough of a justification . I will also probably hear from my mother as well. I think that i think this is in fact important. I think there is an element of politics, people who are in the system, know the system well, people who have important decisions to make, i think thats absolutely right. I think the issue comes when obviously its a structural concern when there are younger people locked out of positions particularly in the democratic party. I think when theres a lot class of developmegerontocrats and to it and why young people are locked out of these leadership positions. Well, is it a function of older voters, an older voting demographic, voting for their own . I think it must be partially a function of that. Clearly, voters, and this is understandable want to elect people who not only look like them but understand their concerns fully. Understa