I don’t care if I agree or disagree with the content, there is simply too much power in mere “complaints” these days. We MUST reach the point where every provi

I don’t care if I agree or disagree with the content, there is simply too much power in mere “complaints” these days. We MUST reach the point where every provider is incapable of knowing exactly what is hosted. In other words: you pay me money for service X, I provide X, and anything outside that simple agreement is out of scope. Concurrently, we can address the likely reasons to want a “takedown” by working on new authenticity technologies: rather than trying to “remove X from the Internet”, make it so that any copy of X can be compared to a signed version. This would train people to scrutinize what they read, much like they sort of know to scrutinize non-padlocked web site forms. For instance, given any snippet of text X, perhaps a browser has a way to determine if that matches any signed statements from the quoted person. And then, if you set up a smear web site claiming that I said X, anyone can use my official signing key to see if I actually published statements that match your text. If what you quote can be verified then the browser could indicate that the information appears to be accurate; otherwise, the browser could warn that the content is unverified. This concept could be extended to other forms of media as well. In order for much of this to work, we need to be able to decentralize all encrypted content so providers can’t even easily guess who hosted something (like the firing squad: not every shooter has a bullet but somehow the deed is done). If the volume of traffic might also be a hint, then winnow and chaff the volume across providers to the point where you can’t even tell how much real content is present. Obviously this anonymity would mean that we can no longer use sledgehammers to kill ants, for some definition of $UNDESIRABLE ants. To me, that is not only fine but downright crucial: put the burden/cost of proof back where it belongs. Or better still, let these people learn to do the digital equivalent of changing the channel: if you don’t like what a web site said then don’t visit that web site!