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I'm still not understanding why we are questioning their right to do this? Back in the old days, you paid for an advertisement in the newspaper. Your right to p
by jaybrendansmith 6y ago
I'm still not understanding why we are questioning their right to do this? Back in the old days, you paid for an advertisement in the newspaper. Your right to post that ad was completely controlled by that paper. If you posted an ad with inflammatory or blatantly false information, the newspaper would refuse to run your ad.
Imagine if I was Nixon running against JFK, and I attempted to buy an ad in the Times on the second page, immediately after the election, indicating that the election was fraudulent, and that I had actually won. Would anybody have run that ad? Absolutely not. What's incredible is that Twitter does actually allow these tweets but simply indicates the facts may not be accurate.
- JoeAltmaier 6y agoBut we all understand that an old newspaper is quite different, right? Now 'news' is instantaneous, simultaneously 'published' everywhere, unedited, capable of rousing the rabble like a lightening rod... We'll need different rules for this new media.
- BoorishBears 6y agoDon't buy that for argument for a second. The letter of the law might need to adapt, the spirit does not. We don't need to allow the media to be weaponized with abject lies that are killing Americans are damaging our country.
- JoeAltmaier 6y agoWanting something, and it being practical, are entirely different things. That's the trouble with slogans. They don't get us anywhere.
- jaybrendansmith 6y agoYes, and obviously I understand the legal difference between these two models as well. Section 230 is still an experiment, one that was put in place primarily to protect intermediaries, like ISPs. It allows for a free and open Internet, and without it, the Internet as we know it is dead. How do we square this against the control and restrictions a publisher has? Because that is what keeps publishers in check, and prevents them from printing lies, or publishing things that are too radical. And how do we pragmatically solve this issue, in a way that can be as fast as the Internet? One way to look at it might be, how bad would this dystopia look, you know, the one where a 'publisher' is redefined a bit. Section 230 should continue to protect ISPs, and Proxies, and anything that supports complete and total net neutrality. But any service that 'filters' what I see, in any way whatsoever, should automatically fall under old school publisher libel laws. That's the issue. It's not that Facebook or Twitter are broadcasting freely, it's that they are modifying and adjusting what user's see, using unknown algorithms. Much like the FCC regulates the RF spectrum, and approves devices, the FCC needs to approve algorithms, and determine if they qualify for Section 230. Fixed it. Discuss.