From an article by Paul Collits at The Quandrant online.
Posted on 08/09/2019 8:11:29 PM PDT by TigerClaws
It appears the Trump administration is drafting an executive order that has the potential to radically change how the content posted on social networks are governed, stripping crucial protections from tech companies and inserting much more government oversight. This is being done under the guise of a popular political talking point claiming that social media networks are censoring conservatives.
The drafted order, of which CNN obtained a summary, is called Protecting Americans from Online Censorship, though in its current state it appears to more powerfully instill the fear of god in social networks with millions of active users than grant these users more freedom of speech.
To be clear, there is no evidence that social media networks are actively engaged in deliberate censorship of any particular political point of view. They (sometimes) enforce their own respective terms of service agreements that oftentimes prohibit content that includes hate speech or calls to violence. For some, that’s a political ideology.
The order tasks the FCC with determining whether social media companies are protected by a provision of Section 230 when they take down content without informing the user or censor content in a way that is characterized as “anticompetitive, unfair, or deceptive.”
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act effectively states that websites and services aren’t liable for content that users or third parties post on their platforms. The drafted executive order wants to dismantle some of the protections that fall under this internet regulation and would apply to companies with a monthly user base that meets or exceeds one-eighth of the U.S. population. That would include the likes of Facebook, Google, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Snapchat.
The order also reportedly notes that the Federal Trade Commission will open a public complaint docket and work alongside the FCC to investigate and document the moderation practices of tech companies and whether or not they are neutral. This is related to the claim in the executive order summary that the White House received over 15,000 complaints that social networks are censoring users who post content related to American politics.
It’s important to note that the draft of this executive order is subject to change, but its overall suggestion implies that the administration is hoping that the handpicked powers that be at the FCC and FTC would rework enforcement of Section 230 in a way that helps conservatives—or at least helps them make the case that they’re being censored. The irony is that the FCC and FTC don’t even do a great job of enforcing the things that already fall under their jurisdiction. But, if everything went according to the apparent plan, theoretically, corruption could prevail in Trump’s interest. And the chilling effect could be that major social networks severely restrict what users could post or simply find its unrealistic to continue operating.
“I think if you eliminate Section 230 you will see some pretty remarkable changes,” Jeff Kosseff, a cybersecurity professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, told Gizmodo earlier this year. “You can even see that in what happened after FOSTA was passed. I think it was two days after it passed in the Senate, but before it was even signed into law, Craigslist eliminated its personals ads. You might say, ‘Well, that’s not necessarily a huge social problem.’ But imagine if they got rid of all of Section 230, who else would eliminate the ability for people to freely post online?”
Yeah this writer’s a ####.
“To be clear, there is no evidence that social media networks are actively engaged in deliberate censorship of any particular political point of view.“
Hahahahahahahahahaha.....stop it....yer killing me.
L
Yeah that’s a humongous stretch to state that there is no evidence of silencing conservative voices.
We need to run an experiment where we shut down CNN for 6 months to see if it will make any noticeable difference.
I suspect it won’t
Yes there is bias. Is government oversight the answer we want? Remember what paves the Road To Hell.
Most Gixmodo writers arr azzes
The hilarious and inevitable outcome of this order, would it ever come into effect, would be for the companies in question to eliminate all political speech and allow nothing but pictures of grandchildren and kittens.
Can't wait for the stimulating internet of the future.
It’s already broken...Trump’s fixin to fix it...
What a load.
Good. There's part of the Internet that needs "breaking".
Yup.
From an article by Paul Collits at The Quandrant online.
I want to see these would be totalitarian Nazis destroyed. Americans need to make it clear that any company that censors speech will be wiped off the map.
Our system of government was not designed to exist in an environment where one side gets to speak and the other side does not. This existing system is lethal to our freedoms.
I lived on the tenth floor of my dorm in college in the late 60’s. We were tasked with coming up with a name for our floor......we came up with the Good In-10-tions. : )
How disingenuous. The big thing on the left is to characterize all conservative ideas as racist. And since all conservative ideas are racist, i.e. hate speech, then the terms of service dictate that any conservative content be removed. Of course that isn't censorship, it's just applying the TOS.
I wonder how Gizmodo characterizes the recent banning of Senator Mitch McConnell, the deplatforming or demonetizing of conservatives like Paul Watson, the classifying as adult content of Prager U. videos, etc.? How are these things not censorship?
Here we agree. The tech Nazis need to be defanged.
Once again, it’s not the internet or social websites that is the problem.
Just like the issue with guns, it’s not the guns, it’s the people.
That's a fact.
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