Silicon Valley is a uniquely American creation, the product of an entrepreneurial spirit and no-holds-barred capitalism that now drives many aspects of modern life.
But the likes of Facebook, Google and Apple are increasingly facing an uncomfortable truth: it is Europe's culture of tougher oversight of companies, not America's laissez-faire attitude, which could soon rule their industry as governments seek to combat fake news and prevent extremists from using the internet to fan the flames of hatred.
While the U.S. has largely relied on market forces to regulate content in a country where free speech is revered, European officials have shown they are willing to act. Germany recently passed a law imposing fines of up to 50 million euros ($59 million) on websites that don't remove hate speech within 24 hours. British Prime Minister Theresa May wants companies to take down extremist material within two hours. And across the EU, Google has for years been obliged to remove search results if there is a legitimate complaint about the content's veracity or relevance.
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Friday November 03 2017, @04:31PM (5 children)
There is and was no free speech. You always end up paying somehow.
(Score: 4, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Friday November 03 2017, @05:38PM (4 children)
There is and was no free speech. You always end up paying somehow.
In Europe they censor to prevent World War 3. In the US we censor to protect corporate profits.
It's illegal for me to tell you how to decrypt a DVD here in the land of reverential free-speech.
(Score: 1) by Woosh on Friday November 03 2017, @07:47PM (1 child)
It's not illegal to tell someone how to decrypt a DVD. It is illegal to decrypt a (copyrighted) DVD. IT Security classes teach about exploits to digital systems in order to train on prevention. As a software engineer, how can I protect a website from SQL injection without actually knowing what it is? Look at the guy who's getting away with selling plans on how to make 3D printed guns under the first amendment. Unless you make the case for national security or any other government mandate (i.e. gag order on jury duty) you're free to talk about whatever you want in any capacity. I also feel like I have to add so long as the platform you're using to exercise that right allows it (i.e. Soylent News, Facebook, etc.)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by JNCF on Friday November 03 2017, @08:02PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_number [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Friday November 03 2017, @10:33PM
So they infringe upon people's fundamental rights while deluding themselves into believing they're actually preventing a grand catastrophe? That's just idiotic. Speech is different actions which physically harm others, like making war. If your people are that susceptible to bad ideas, then you are doomed anyway and it's not the fault of the speech but the people implementing its message.
Which is completely unconstitutional and does not justify any form of censorship in the slightest. It's a matter of getting the courts to realize the obvious unconstitutionality of this.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 04 2017, @01:17AM
By censoring, complaints can not be seen or heard. People are unhappy, but they hide it.
At some point, society reaches a breaking point. Europe is only a generation or two away from this at most.
There will be a flood of refugees. I don't know where the losers (non-Sunni) will go. Perhaps they will try to reach the USA. Perhaps they will choose Russia or somewhere in South America. Many will die.