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from the to-censor-or-not-to-censor,-that-is-the-question dept.
The DOJ is proposing scaling back protections for large social media companies outlined in The 1996 Communications Decency Act. In section 230 of the act it states
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.
This has protected the platforms from liability over user-generated content through the years and enabled the incredible growth of social media. An executive order signed last month directed the FCC to review whether social media companies "actions to remove, edit or supplement users' content" invalidated the protections they enjoyed from liability. It seems we have an answer:
In a press release, the Justice Department said that the past 25 years of technological change "left online platforms unaccountable for a variety of harms flowing from content on their platforms and with virtually unfettered discretion to censor third-party content with little transparency or accountability."
The new rules will be aimed at "incentivizing platforms to address the growing amount of illicit content online," the department said; the revisions will also "promote free and open discourse online," "increase the ability of the government to protect citizens from unlawful conduct," and promote competition among Internet companies.
In announcing the [requested] changes to the 26-year-old rules on Wednesday, Attorney General William Barr said: "When it comes to issues of public safety, the government is the one who must act on behalf of society at large."
"Law enforcement cannot delegate our obligations to protect the safety of the American people purely to the judgment of profit-seeking private firms. We must shape the incentives for companies to create a safer environment, which is what Section 230 was originally intended to do," he said.
The full review of section 230 by the DOJ is available here. Key Takeaways and Recommendations are here.
Also at: Justice Department proposes major overhaul of Sec. 230 protections
(Score: 0, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday June 18 2020, @05:57PM (2 children)
Large websites with adult content should be 18+ in terms of service, but Democrats are desperate for more votes and are trying to catch them young.
Stick it to the bastards. I've said over and over again that the best way to stick it to them would be to halt and rescind the H1-B program, which will do 2 things: Get more Americans hired, and get more political diversity into these big corporations who are run by and who prefer prefer rootless foreigners with no loyalty to the U.S.
That plus removing all their liability protection would be hilarious to see and I hope to see at least the latter before November.
What would be even better, though, is if Facebook went quite the other way and stopped the censorship altogether as a method to beat the sanctions (only censoring the most blatantly illegal content). Then the public would get a much better idea of what people really think. But something better happen fast, I don't believe the polls about Trump now but he may actually be in trouble if he doesn't do something big like Halt the H1-Bs and/or BTFO Big Tech.
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 18 2020, @06:28PM
Ok pedowhinge
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday June 18 2020, @11:06PM
Now tell us all about the Jews and the Mexicans again.
I for one hope Trump starts taking your campaign advice.