4 ms·
I think a couple big concepts are being conflated. There are a couple really important questions: 1. Should Google, Facebook, etc. be responsible for user gene
by gonational 7y ago
I think a couple big concepts are being conflated. There are a couple really important questions:
1. Should Google, Facebook, etc. be responsible for user generated content hosted on their websites (i.e., should they not be treated as “public square”)?
2. Should the government have any hand in telling any company or any person what they can or cannot say, as long as they are not making threats or publishing illegal materials?
I am of the personal opinion that most (all?) of the major tech companies have engaged in censorship and even politically driven enforcement of their content policies, and therefore should have lost their “public square” status a long time ago, making them responsible for illegal content posted by their users.
Pertaining the second question, there simply is no question; the government does not and should never have any authority here, because the Constitution protects free speech, regardless of what kind of Ministry of Truth they would like to implement.
- GcVmvNhBsU 7y agoI think question 1 should really be: should Google, Facebook, etc, be responsible for the user generated content that they algorithmically focus presentation on? It’s one thing to have, say, an early 2000’s forum where users search for and consume information. It’s another to ignore timelines and present content that will likely generate the most engagement. The latter to me is editorialization of the content.