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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday April 13 2019, @08:19AM   Printer-friendly
from the end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it dept.

Currently the content of comments on web sites are the responibility of the commentor. There have been several pushes to change that. So it is obvious now to ask the question, what happens if platforms really are treated as if they were publishers or movie studios and not as utilities? And would joke ideas like just slapping paywalls on everything be a real solution?

In the past year, especially in recent weeks, the public and political governance in many parts of the western world has signaled an increasing interest in removing most laws that protect Internet platform companies from downstream liability for user-generated content, and requiring the platforms to acts as publishers, responsible for all content on their platforms (or as distributors or broadcast networks), not as utilities.

There is certainly some understanding that the capacity for users to reach most of the world on their own without supervision or permission of others has created new opportunities and also provides a new layer of check on establishment corruption – an idea that may have reached its peak in 2011 with the so-called Arab Spring. On the other hand, there is also a problem like giving everyone detention to punish the few. Bad actors create real dangers for others and random victims. This has long been the case with some problems, like cyberbullying. But in recent years the Internet is becoming seen as an amateur facility that destroy legacy businesses and jobs and that can facilitate unpredictable (“stochastic”) terror attacks. Is the risk “worth it” – if you become a victim? The question has a strong parallel in the Second Amendment and gun control debates.

This discussion has several components. [...]


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 13 2019, @10:57AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 13 2019, @10:57AM (#828928)

    This is a great idea ... except for all the downsides.

    Maybe identifying the specific issues and addressing them with specific solutions rather than a broad brush, baby/bath water approach would be more effective?

    Just remember that these platforms are trying to function/survive in many different countries with vastly different laws and cultural norms. So solutions that may satisfy or offend one group may offend or satisfy another. People have already proven that they cannot control themselves, and see trolling, abuse and bullying as not only acceptable behavior but fun.

    It's someone else's platform, so it's someone else's rules. You have no right to join, participate or be heard. You have no right to anonymity. You have no right to complain. You only have the right to start your own platform and to then deal with everyone who wants to abuse your rules and treat you as though you are doing them wrong.

    Believing that a one-size-fits-most solution exists is pure fantasy.

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  • (Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Saturday April 13 2019, @08:27PM (1 child)

    by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Saturday April 13 2019, @08:27PM (#829087) Journal

    You only have the right to start your own platform if you also start your own payment processing, hosting and ISP services simultaneously.

    --
    В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 13 2019, @11:31PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 13 2019, @11:31PM (#829162)

      Untrue. Now, if your platform is so outside of accepted cultural norms that no one wants to do business with you, then you're going to have to find or establish partners who will put profit above everything else.