3 ms·

U.S. senators target tech's legal immunity to stop vaccine misinformation

17 points by ramblenode 5y ago

mikewarot 5y ago
So you make anyone liable for user comments, only the existing players will be able to muster the resources to comply with the ever increasing and self-contradictory regulations that result. This is a great way to raise the drawbridge for FAANG and stop innovation in its tracks. All the startups will move to some country with actual freedom of speech.
- lsiq 5y ago
  As Naval wisely said when Trump was cancelled, "if you can silence a king, you are the king." FAAMG is the government and the internet. Just a matter of time until it becomes official.
  - adminscoffee 5y ago
    i miss the internet before the late bloomers showed up, back when irc was the place to go for a chat
    - raxxorrax 5y ago
      irc is still active, but not relevant to the masses on social media.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - robbedpeter 5y ago
        Are the masses on social media actually relevant? From what I can tell, it's the top 1% of the top 1% that have any relevant, "good" impact on the real world, and lots of drama and pain occur when people or companies try to reconcile their policies, views, or actions to the various mobs. Maybe disregarding the masses entirely is the way of sanity.
        raxxorrax 5y ago
        No, I don't think they are too relevant but it is a self fulfilling prophecy. Outlets will write about topics that buzz on Twitter. It is easier and if you post something viral, you get the clicks. This is self reinforcing. The whole gender discussion was a self fulfilling prophecy because many people complained. It still brought clicks, so there were more articles about it. Same could happen for racism, but here journals are at least a little bit more careful.
- benque 5y ago
  Tangential but genuine question - can you please provide examples of such countries?
  - mikewarot 5y ago
    Touché - no such places exist
bruceb 5y ago
Congress wants the ability to sue people/companies over talking about the vaccine...but of course the makers of the actual vaccines are immune from lawsuits...
redis_mlc 5y ago
AFAIK, the corona vaccines: - are not FDA-approved - have not had side-effects reported - OSHA stopped reporting side-effects - have not had clinical trials for children. So what's misinformation, and what's not?
lnreddy 5y ago
Thank god for the US constitution and the 1st and 2nd amendments. Power hungry ideologues and fanatic mobs(woke or otherwise) would turn it into an authoritarian shit-hole without them.
- TechBro8615 5y ago
  And thank god for the two party system that never gets anything done. A slow government is a good government.

17 points by ramblenode 5y ago

So you make anyone liable for user comments, only the existing players will be able to muster the resources to comply with the ever increasing and self-contradictory regulations that result. This is a great way to raise the drawbridge for FAANG and stop innovation in its tracks. All the startups will move to some country with actual freedom of speech.

lsiq 5y ago
As Naval wisely said when Trump was cancelled, "if you can silence a king, you are the king." FAAMG is the government and the internet. Just a matter of time until it becomes official.
- adminscoffee 5y ago
  i miss the internet before the late bloomers showed up, back when irc was the place to go for a chat
  - raxxorrax 5y ago
    irc is still active, but not relevant to the masses on social media.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - robbedpeter 5y ago
      Are the masses on social media actually relevant? From what I can tell, it's the top 1% of the top 1% that have any relevant, "good" impact on the real world, and lots of drama and pain occur when people or companies try to reconcile their policies, views, or actions to the various mobs. Maybe disregarding the masses entirely is the way of sanity.
      - raxxorrax 5y ago
        No, I don't think they are too relevant but it is a self fulfilling prophecy. Outlets will write about topics that buzz on Twitter. It is easier and if you post something viral, you get the clicks. This is self reinforcing. The whole gender discussion was a self fulfilling prophecy because many people complained. It still brought clicks, so there were more articles about it. Same could happen for racism, but here journals are at least a little bit more careful.
benque 5y ago
Tangential but genuine question - can you please provide examples of such countries?
- mikewarot 5y ago
  Touché - no such places exist

bruceb 5y ago

Congress wants the ability to sue people/companies over talking about the vaccine...but of course the makers of the actual vaccines are immune from lawsuits...

redis_mlc 5y ago

AFAIK, the corona vaccines: - are not FDA-approved - have not had side-effects reported - OSHA stopped reporting side-effects - have not had clinical trials for children. So what's misinformation, and what's not?

lnreddy 5y ago

Thank god for the US constitution and the 1st and 2nd amendments. Power hungry ideologues and fanatic mobs(woke or otherwise) would turn it into an authoritarian shit-hole without them.

TechBro8615 5y ago
And thank god for the two party system that never gets anything done. A slow government is a good government.