Thread: A good morning with a good long read on one of the most interesting issues of our time. A few random quotes from the article and commentators in the thread. Attribution in the article. #freespeech #responsibility #bigtech @FT
on.ft.com/3oOcpHG
on.ft.com/3oOcpHG
”...the decision to de-platform the democratically elected president has exposed as never before the contradictions at the heart of social media”.
”As long as Mark, Jack, Sundar or Susan can arbitrarily decide who can appear on their company’s services and what they are permitted to say, people will not be satisfied that these decisions are in the public interest, rather than corporate commercial interests.”
”The assault on the Capitol was a horrible week for Big Tech because it raised their prominence, it raised their visibility — not simply as commercial institutions, but as political institutions,” William Kovacic, a former FTC chairman and a current law professor at GWU.
”The fact that they ‘broke the glass’ by blocking Trump's ability to communicate on their services has, if anything, placed greater pressure on these companies to demonstrate the legitimacy of their decisions”.
”It is problematic to have Jack Dorsey decide whether Donald Trump stays or goes, but it may be more problematic to have federal judges do so.”
”One improvement, according to many observers, would be a clearer delineation of the rules that the platforms apply to policing speech, along with more consistent enforcement.”
”Consistency will never be easy. Regulation of language is inherently subjective. Having turned a blind eye to the repeated use of exactly the same language for weeks, it was only when election denial turned to violence at the heart of US government that the tech companies acted”
”Europe’s proposed digital services act, meanwhile, attempts to impose similar checks on internet companies judged to have the power of gatekeepers. They would have to audit their algorithms and content moderation decisions to show whether they risked bias or other harms.”
”There is no guarantee that more regulation will stem the tide of online hate speech and conspiracy-mongering. It may also entrench big platforms with the resources to operate in a more regulated world...
But after last week’s stark demonstration of tech company power over political speech, it just got one step closer.”
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