Ari Cohn Profile picture
Dec 6, 2021 12 tweets 6 min read Read on X
1/ Whoever at the @bostonherald is responsible for this: toss your stash, you got a bad batch.

Seriously, this is a mishmash nonsense from people who thought "hey, Section 230 is hot, I should write about that even though I know nothing about it."

bostonherald.com/2021/12/05/edi…
2/ So I don't know the age of whoever wrote this, but presumably they are old enough to realize that Section 230 predates Facebook and Twitter by, uh... a long time.

The phrase "public utility" has a meaning, and this aint it. Nor has any social media platform claimed to be one. Image
3/ And this has nothing to do with what Facebook/Twitter think of themselves.

Section 230 merely says that they are not *liable* as a publisher. If they weren't at risk of being deemed publishers, the law would be pointless.

If you knew anything about 230, you'd realize this. Image
4/ Hate to break it to you @bostonherald, but you actually do get Section 230 protection.

"Hiding behind?" For people who write for a living, you're pretty loose with definitions and usage. ImageImage
5/ You all knew this was coming. Traditional media does not like that its business model was disturbed. They blame Section 230. They should blame themselves. Image
6/ I'm sorry, net neutrality?

What? Image
7/ What illusion? If you thought Twitter was a public utility you're an idiot. That's a YOU problem. Image
8/ More absolute tripe. Does @bostonherald think that it could be sued for publishing "hate speech" or refusing to publish Donald Trump's op-ed, or over article placement?

This speaks to the cluelessness: what liability does the Herald think Twitter is escaping that it has? Image
9/ Yes, and that's the point! But they were only "hiding" if you had your eyes closed. They admit it, in federal court even! Image
10/ Don't believe me? This doesn't exactly look like hiding their curatorial role, @bostonherald... ImageImageImage
11/ Not sure what the Herald editorial staff is trying to say here, but I mean...social media platforms are subject to competition too so your point is...what? Image
12/ Again, entirely unclear what this is even supposed to mean, but wow is it laden with hysterics.

Do better, @bostonherald. This is embarrassing for you. Image

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More from @AriCohn

Aug 16
If only someone had counseled people to take a deep breath and not panic over speculative fears that have not been borne out in a single election cycle.

Oh wait. I did.

politico.com/news/2024/08/1…
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I did it when I testified in the U.S. Senate: techfreedom.org/wp-content/upl…
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I did it for the Senate's AI Insight Forum on Elections: techfreedom.org/wp-content/upl…
Image
Read 6 tweets
Jan 31
Senate Judiciary is having a hearing today on "Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis," in which senators will yell at a bunch of social media platform CEOs and likely say some very wrong things. Follow along in this thread, if you dare.

judiciary.senate.gov/committee-acti…
2/ Durbin kicks off by showing a video from victims of online CSE and their parents. Undeniably horrible stories, and if the hearing really focuses exclusively on platform efforts to combat CSE/CSAM, I'll be on board--platforms SHOULD be doing more.

But that's unlikely.
3/ And not for nothing, Durbin's STOP CSAM Act swings the pendulum too far, threatening end-to-end encryption and incentivizing takedowns of lawful content and campaigns of false reporting. EFF has a good explainer: eff.org/deeplinks/2023…
Read 111 tweets
Aug 8, 2023
1/ I must respectfully take issue with this piece, for a few reasons.

First, as a normative matter, to mee it comes too close to equating the harms of CSAM with the effects of minors looking at porn. Whatever you think about the latter, the former is *inestimably* worse.
2/ Second, the "secondary effects doctrine" is a heaping MESS that gives government an end-run around the First Amendment, even for non-porn speech. Expanding it to the online world rather than physical locations would be terrible.

SED should be retired, not broadened.
3/ Third, there is no distinction between the age verification mandates being proposed now, and the ones struck down in the Great COPA Wars, practically or constitutionally.

The curtailment was in fact being forced to verify your identity before accessing disfavored content. Image
Read 14 tweets
Jun 30, 2023
1/ So @MiamiSeaquarium, which tortures Orcas by keeping them in confined spaces, have filed suit because Phil published drone pictures and criticized them.

It's evident that they didn't like being criticized, and are trying to shut him up.

Complaint: https://t.co/EwdXgkcQOvtinyurl.com/muhbjzr7
2/ I'm no expert in Bird Law, so the claims involving drones are not in my wheelhouse.

But @MiamiSeaquarium also alleged defamation (a good indicator of SLAPPiness)--kind of.

It seems that their lawyers are not entirely competent. This is the entirety of the defamation count:
@MiamiSeaquarium 3/ This is plainly a deficient pleading. Why?

Because notice what's missing: any identification of the allegedly defamatory statements.

You can't just waltz into court and say "they said defamatory things." You have to actually say what those things were.
Read 8 tweets
Jun 16, 2023
1/ On Wednesday @TechFreedomfiled an amicus brief with the 6th Circuit in Johnson v. @kathygriffin.

Our PR and the brief can be found here: techfreedom.org/protect-intern…

In case you're unfamiliar with the litigation, let me refresh your memory & explain why it's important.
2/ In April 2021, a video started circulating on social media showing a man accosting a teen taking pre-prom pictures with his boyfriend at a hotel restaurant, because the teen was wearing a dress.

Super normal stuff.

When Kathy saw the video, she tweeted about it a few times.
3/ In her first tweet, she identified the man as Sam Johnson, and noted that he worked at VisuWell, a telehealth software company from what I gather.

A couple tweets later, VisuWell announced Johnson's firing. Griffin asked if he was going to remain on the board. They said no.
Read 27 tweets
May 24, 2023
Oh hey, did you know that you can wreck a @Target display and doing that enough will get them to pull the products you're vandalizing about? Image
The War on Christmas is gonna be EPIC this year. Get ready, @Target!
@AskTarget how many people, exactly, need to trash your terrible produce section before you cede ground and stop trying to sell mushy apples?
Read 4 tweets

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