3 ms·

Would it be acceptable if the government set up a regulatory body that could force Facebook et al to communicate why a user was banned? Here's how I imagine it

Would it be acceptable if the government set up a regulatory body that could force Facebook et al to communicate why a user was banned? Here's how I imagine it would work: 1. User gets banned by Facebook without an explanation 2. User asks Facebook for an explanation 3. Facebook declines to answer 4. User goes to the government regulatory body with a complaint 5. Regulatory body forces Facebook to provide a reason 6. Facebook tells user what they violated and when Step #5 would allow the regulatory body to require identification to make sure that the user is under their jurisdiction (or you just have to show up in person). This would allow them to identify bad actors and would decrease the chance that the system could be abused. Obviously this should only apply to platforms/services that are beyond a certain size (>1M users?). Also, I wouldn't be surprised if some consumer protection agency doesn't already have powers akin to this.

colejohnson66 6y ago
I can easily see that being abused to only force an explanation if the one banned is a politician, and the bannee(?) is the same political party as those in charge. Not to mention that the FTC is already a thing.
joshspankit 6y ago
I wonder if something similar could be accomplished with a group helping people file specific Freedom Of Information requests. I feel like the reason would have to legally be in there
roenxi 6y ago
Acceptable, sure. As burdens go it isn't crazy. Useful/good idea is one for the debate floor. I imagine in this case, for example, Facebook would send Mr. Birch an email telling him that he distributed nude photos via Messenger and they have a 0 tolerance policy towards that. That doesn't really move the situation forward from what is already being publicly written about in an article. It increases the cost of competing with Facebook too, which is probably an own goal given the outcomes the regulation is trying to achieve. There are a lot of things in life that do not need a legislative response. Being banned from Facebook is one of them.

colejohnson66 6y ago

I can easily see that being abused to only force an explanation if the one banned is a politician, and the bannee(?) is the same political party as those in charge. Not to mention that the FTC is already a thing.

joshspankit 6y ago

I wonder if something similar could be accomplished with a group helping people file specific Freedom Of Information requests. I feel like the reason would have to legally be in there

roenxi 6y ago

Acceptable, sure. As burdens go it isn't crazy. Useful/good idea is one for the debate floor. I imagine in this case, for example, Facebook would send Mr. Birch an email telling him that he distributed nude photos via Messenger and they have a 0 tolerance policy towards that. That doesn't really move the situation forward from what is already being publicly written about in an article. It increases the cost of competing with Facebook too, which is probably an own goal given the outcomes the regulation is trying to achieve. There are a lot of things in life that do not need a legislative response. Being banned from Facebook is one of them.