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I'm not at all opposed to implementing new laws that society believes will reduce harm to online users (particularly children). However, if Section 230 is on i

I'm not at all opposed to implementing new laws that society believes will reduce harm to online users (particularly children). However, if Section 230 is on its way out, won't this just benefit the largest tech companies that already have massive legal resources and the ability to afford ML-based or manual content moderation? The barriers to entry into the market for startups will become insurmountable. Perhaps I'm missing something here, but it sounds like the existing companies essentially got a free pass with regard to liability of user-provided content and had plenty of time to grow, and now the government is pulling the ladder up after them.

tboyd47 2y ago
The assertion made by the author is that the way these companies grew is only sustainable in the current legal environment. So the advantage they have right now by being bigger is nullified.
- xboxnolifes 2y ago
  Yes, the way they grew is only sustainable from the current. What about not growing, but maintaining?
  - lelandbatey 2y ago
    The parent said "grew", but I think a closer reading of the article indicates a more robust idea that tboyd47 merely misrepresented. A better sentence is potentially: are able to profit to the tune of a 40% margin on advertising revenue With that, they're saying that they're only going to be able to profit this much in this current regulatory environment. If that goes away, so too does much of their margin, potentially all of it. That's a big blow no matter the size, though Facebook may weather it better than smaller competitors.
deleted 2y ago
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2OEH8eoCRo0 2y ago
> won't this just benefit the largest tech companies I'd wager the bigger you are the harder it gets. How would they fend off tens of thousands of simultaneous lawsuits?
- Nasrudith 2y ago
  By turning them all into expensive tarpits of time and money - through the power of strategic spite. Making it so expensive that all plantiffs cannot win even if they prevail in a lawsuit. It is a far harder standard to get legal costs covered and if it costs tens of millions to possibly get a few million in a decade interest dries up fast.
root_axis 2y ago
Section 230 isn't on it's way out, this happened because the court found that TikTok knowingly headlined dangerous content that lead to someone's death.
fedeb95 2y ago
not necessarily. It can also open a new market for startups. Content moderation.

tboyd47 2y ago

The assertion made by the author is that the way these companies grew is only sustainable in the current legal environment. So the advantage they have right now by being bigger is nullified.

xboxnolifes 2y ago
Yes, the way they grew is only sustainable from the current. What about not growing, but maintaining?
- lelandbatey 2y ago
  The parent said "grew", but I think a closer reading of the article indicates a more robust idea that tboyd47 merely misrepresented. A better sentence is potentially: are able to profit to the tune of a 40% margin on advertising revenue With that, they're saying that they're only going to be able to profit this much in this current regulatory environment. If that goes away, so too does much of their margin, potentially all of it. That's a big blow no matter the size, though Facebook may weather it better than smaller competitors.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

2OEH8eoCRo0 2y ago

> won't this just benefit the largest tech companies I'd wager the bigger you are the harder it gets. How would they fend off tens of thousands of simultaneous lawsuits?

Nasrudith 2y ago
By turning them all into expensive tarpits of time and money - through the power of strategic spite. Making it so expensive that all plantiffs cannot win even if they prevail in a lawsuit. It is a far harder standard to get legal costs covered and if it costs tens of millions to possibly get a few million in a decade interest dries up fast.

root_axis 2y ago

Section 230 isn't on it's way out, this happened because the court found that TikTok knowingly headlined dangerous content that lead to someone's death.

fedeb95 2y ago

not necessarily. It can also open a new market for startups. Content moderation.