Posted on 06/17/2020 5:34:02 AM PDT by karpov
The Justice Department is set to propose a roll back of legal protections that online platforms have enjoyed for more than two decades, in an effort to make tech companies more responsible in how they police their content, according to a Trump administration official.
The department’s proposed reforms, to be announced as soon as Wednesday, are designed to spur online platforms to be more aggressive in addressing illicit and harmful conduct on their sites, and to be fairer and more consistent in their decisions to take down content they find objectionable, the official said.
The Justice Department proposal is a legislative plan that would have to be adopted by Congress.
The move represents an escalation in the continuing clash between the Trump administration and big tech firms such as Twitter Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit and Facebook Inc.
Last month, President Trump signed an executive order that sought to target the legal protections of social media companies, responding to concerns among some conservatives about alleged online censorship by the platforms. The executive order sought to impose limits on legal immunity for social-media firms when they are deemed to unfairly curb users’ speech, for instance by deleting their posts or suspending their accounts
...
The proposal’s restrictions on platforms’ content-moderation practices would be extensive.
For instance, the department will propose to strike from federal law a provision that allows platforms to delete content that they merely deem to be “objectionable.”
The proposal also would give some teeth to an existing “good faith” standard that platforms are supposed to use in their content-moderation decisions. The aim would be to require platforms to adhere to their terms of service as well as their public claims about their practices. Platforms also would have to provide reasonable explanations of their decisions.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
????
Google Ads needs to be broken up under anti-trust. THAT would really get to them.
That is the vehicle being use to suppress comments on many sites.
I suspect MyNorthwest.com is among them.
That means this is all talk and political posturing, not real action. Can you imagine congress taking this up and passing it in any form similar to this. Not going to happen, especially during an election year.
NOW we’re talking!
>>>For instance, the department will propose to strike from federal law a provision that allows platforms to delete content that they merely deem to be “objectionable.”
So, no more zots?
Twiddling their thumbs while these Tech COmpanies are committing Multiple Felonies and Criminal Acts under our Anti Trust Laws that would normally bankrupt, asset strip and imprison for life the Executives of a company that took these Illegal approaches to Restrain Trade and create Monopolies..
Wouldn’t this be a lot easier if these platforms just created another channel that only addresses political discourse? The only rule would be no advocating violence or harm to people because of their political ideology.
By doing this, politics is removed from the main sites and people who have different beliefs will not force their political viewpoints on people who do not wish to see this crap.
Limited? It needs to be removed.
And if they are seen to limit access to conservative political sites, they need to be brought up on FEC charges, this being an election year, for unreported, in-kind political contributions.
Mark
That would work.
That billions in ad revenue is nice. Be a shame if it were found against the anti trust laws.
“The department’s proposed reforms, to be announced as soon as Wednesday, are designed to spur online platforms to be more aggressive in addressing illicit and harmful conduct on their sites,“
Yeah, just what we wanted. Good job Barr... moron.
Might be easier, but it will never happen since stifling dissent is the goal.
And not just in the US.
Also, it’s pretty fricking funny that while the UK is having kittens about the meme ban, a group in the UK is assisting NBC in putting the screws to The Federalist and Zero Hedge.
It’s about f*cking time.
These people burn buildings, pair down statues, and kill people in the street by beating them to death. You really think they’re going to take notice when the DOJ removes the term “objectionable” as a standard?
Make them into UTILITIES now.
Literally anyone can write a bill. You just need a Member to put the bill in the hopper for it to be introduced.
Actually DOJ has a much stronger case for busting-up Google Ads under existing antitrust law than for anything having to do with content.
How Google Ads work
https://www.wordstream.com/articles/what-is-google-adwords
If Google decides to “de-monetize” your site, then ads will no longer go there.
What could be done? Separate the bit about which sites are deemed “unsuitable” by advertisers, and have multiple competitive ad servers. If you, as an advertiser, do not want your ads going to right-wing sites, then fine, buy your ad space through a leftie ad server. But you will pay a higher rate for that preference, in a competitive environment.
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