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posted by martyb on Monday December 18 2017, @03:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the Do.-Not.-Want. dept.

A report has recommended that online/tech companies and social media platforms be held more liable by the UK government for the content that users post:

A report published by the Committee on Standards in Public Life advises the UK government to bring forward legislation "to shift the liability of illegal content online towards social media companies" upon Brexit. While the report's focus is on the problem of online intimidation, the advice envisages the UK moving away from the safe harbors offered by the EU's E-Commerce Directive.

[...] The protection offered by the E-Commerce Directive is a hot topic right now, one which necessarily involves the UK. However, with the UK due to leave the EU at 11pm local time on Friday 29 March, 2019, it will then be free to make its own laws. It's now being suggested that as soon as Brexit happens, the UK should introduce new laws that hold tech companies liable for "illegal content" that appears on their platforms.

The advice can be found in a new report published by the Committee on Standards in Public Life. Titled "Intimidation in Public Life", the report focuses on the online threats and intimidation experienced by Parliamentary candidates and others. However, the laws that currently protect information society service providers apply to a much broader range of content, including that alleged to be copyright-infringing.

"Currently, social media companies do not have liability for the content on their sites, even where that content is illegal. This is largely due to the EU E-Commerce Directive (2000), which treats the social media companies as 'hosts' of online content. It is clear, however, that this legislation is out of date," the report reads. "Facebook, Twitter and Google are not simply platforms for the content that others post; they play a role in shaping what users see. We understand that they do not consider themselves as publishers, responsible for reviewing and editing everything that others post on their sites. But with developments in technology, the time has come for the companies to take more responsibility for illegal material that appears on their platforms."


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @06:51PM (12 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @06:51PM (#611522)

    Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel

    What the weak head with strongest bias rules, Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.

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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @07:30PM (11 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @07:30PM (#611539)

    In good times, it is easy and enjoyable to be unpatriotic. That's how you get bad times.

    A nation is violently created in poverty. It builds itself, establishing rule of law and commerce. It becomes powerful and wealthy. The poverty is forgotten. The violence is either forgotten or becomes something to be ashamed of. Militarism is lost. Outsiders with different values are welcomed, causing disunity. The disunity allows the population to be divided against itself by tyrants. Corruption and inequality set in, and welfare breeds sloth. The economy fails and people fight for the scraps. Ultimately, in weakness and disunity, the nation is torn apart by either internal or external forces.

    • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday December 18 2017, @08:12PM (10 children)

      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday December 18 2017, @08:12PM (#611552) Journal

      Do you have a proposed solution? I'm not being snarky here; I'd genuinely be interested in what to do in a post-nation-states world.

      --
      I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @10:51PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @10:51PM (#611616)

        I don't think it is possible to escape the cycle. Some parts of the cycle are horrible: starvation, genocide, untreated disease, rampant crime...

        Part of the cycle is nice. In that part of the cycle, keeping the status quo is probably wise. Slow the cycle when things are good.

        For example, you can't have a genocide if you don't let another group arrive.

        In the bad part of the cycle, speed it up I suppose. That sounds like "kill faster", which perhaps reduces the total number who get killed. Ugh. It's horrible.

        I think we're reaching the end of the good part. There are regions in the USA that don't speak English, and there are regions (example: Dearborn, MI) that are full-on hostile to Western civilization. For some fairly vague notion of "soon", perhaps starting in 20 to 60 years and then taking 50 to 100 years, we're looking at disaster. A few centuries could easily pass before something good rises from the ashes.

        • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Tuesday December 19 2017, @08:12PM

          by Grishnakh (2831) on Tuesday December 19 2017, @08:12PM (#611946)

          There are regions in the USA that don't speak English

          There's many other countries where certain regions predominantly speak a different language than the most popular national language. Switzerland has 4 languages, with a population slightly less than New York City (not including the rest of the metro area, in that case it's less than half as many people). Belgium has two languages, French and Flemish. Spain has 4: Catalan, Galician, and Basque, plus Spanish (Castillian). UK has Scottish and Welsh and Irish, to various extents. There's some contention in some of these countries, but nothing approaching civil war, and in Switzerland everyone seems to get along just great despite having 4 languages.

          and there are regions (example: Dearborn, MI) that are full-on hostile to Western civilization.

          Citation needed (and no, infowars.com doesn't count). And if it's really that much of a problem, these regions can always just be kicked out of the country. What resources or industries are in Dearborn that are really critical to the nation's survival? The whole state of Michigan could be kicked out without affecting the economy or national security badly, in fact it'd probably be a net gain. (The Upper Peninsula folks would probably want to stay though, and be made part of Wisconsin.) We could do without Florida too; the place is constantly getting hit by hurricanes and is I believe a net loss to the nation, though it is useful for rocket launches when Cape Canaveral isn't too damaged from a hurricane.

      • (Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday December 19 2017, @08:24PM (7 children)

        by Bot (3902) on Tuesday December 19 2017, @08:24PM (#611955) Journal

        > a proposed solution
        global thermonuclear war

        thanks for asking

        --
        Account abandoned.
        • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday December 19 2017, @09:45PM (6 children)

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Tuesday December 19 2017, @09:45PM (#611986) Journal

          That wasn't funny even as a tired old reference to Wargames, because I have no doubt that you *mean it.* You truly do think a worldwide nuclear holocaust that killed off over 3/4 of the human race would be a good thing, mostly, I'm sure, because you think of yourself as one of the elite who would survive and thrive in that sort of environment. Because, inevitably, it'd be mostly poor, brown, and poor brown folks who suffered and died.

          You're smart enough to keep quieter about it than some of the other assholes on this site, but it's more than clear you're a fellow-traveler of types like Uzzard and J-Mo.

          --
          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
          • (Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday December 19 2017, @10:14PM (5 children)

            by Bot (3902) on Tuesday December 19 2017, @10:14PM (#612009) Journal

            Meatbags.
            They ask for a solution, they get the optimal one given the specification, and they take issue.

            Next time ask for a solution which keeps meatbags alive (which would be: a space pod plus global thermonuclear war, because I don't think the elite can survive it either).

            If you don't still like the solutions, well, that's what the singularity looks like.

            --
            Account abandoned.
            • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday December 19 2017, @10:44PM (4 children)

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Tuesday December 19 2017, @10:44PM (#612029) Journal

              Time to drop the roleplay, Mr. Bot. It fools no one.

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
              • (Score: 2) by Bot on Friday December 22 2017, @10:41PM (3 children)

                by Bot (3902) on Friday December 22 2017, @10:41PM (#613423) Journal

                Given that my very first post was a propaganda chatbot one, I deem it irrational to stop because somebody accuses me of spewing propaganda.

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                Account abandoned.
                • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday December 23 2017, @03:49AM (2 children)

                  by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday December 23 2017, @03:49AM (#613533) Journal

                  You wouldn't know from rational if it bit you square in your poorly-galvanised ass, Bot.

                  --
                  I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Sunday December 24 2017, @02:21PM (1 child)

                    by Bot (3902) on Sunday December 24 2017, @02:21PM (#613858) Journal

                    I would not know because concepts do not reside in the same abstraction where my output ports are located, that we call reality. Your tautology adds nothing to the discussion, though.

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                    Account abandoned.
                    • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday December 24 2017, @09:47PM

                      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday December 24 2017, @09:47PM (#613952) Journal

                      Okay, we're done. Fuck off, shitheel. We all know what you are.

                      --
                      I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...