After an act of censorship against the President of Nigeria, Twitter was surprised when it was banned from operating there. Twitter responded that access to their platform is a human right and would do all they could to restore access to the impacted people of Nigeria.
Ummm.
I am tempted to stop right there. This is the same company that has de-platformed voices that it deemed not acceptable and has sanctioned voices to regimes with their own human rights problems?
Ultimately, one of the chief problems in big tech right now is the narcissism that the tech overlords know better than the governments of the nations in which it operates. If they don’t like the policies and the direction of elected leaders, then they will just change the narrative through their platforms to reduce their influence and hopefully replace them with those willing to follow their bidding.
Some countries have begun to fight back, and I believe it is time that the United States does as well. This has always been a thorny issue for me as the social media companies are private companies and entitled to free speech protections, devoid of censorship. However, with free speech rights also comes responsibilities to protect against libel or incite acts of violence. From a first amendment standpoint, I have the right to engage in peaceful and controversial communication, but I do not have the right to yell “fire” in a crowded theater when one is not present.
If a newspaper prints something that is untrue and damaging, they can be sued for their actions. Yet, social media companies claim they are just content hosting services, not arbiters of truth and accuracy. At the same time, they moderate content, selectively removing voices and opinions that are contrary to their editorial objectives. So they are either responsible for their content or aren’t. But we let them have it both ways.
Imagine if your home electricity service was subject to the same whims. What if someone shut off your power because they didn’t like your political opinions? Fortunately, this can’t happen under existing law because utilities are regulated to be openly provided. The power company is not responsible for how you use the energy, you are. And you generally only lose your rights to the power if you stop paying your bill.
The solution as I see it is to make the social media companies choose. Either they affiliate as a utility and provide open access to all, avoiding liability for the content, or they affiliate as an entity that is responsible for everything that is posted from a liability standpoint, just like newspapers are.
In the utility model, those who post are solely legally responsible for their content. In the content moderator model, the social media entity shares joint legal responsibility for the content with the persons posting.
When the first amendment was envisioned, it was to protect free access to the town square for the expression of ideas. The town square of ideas is now increasingly virtual, yet we no longer have the same protections. Free speech is a core human right and it is time steps were taken to protect it.
For those wondering about book 3 of the Dreamer Series, it is being worked on, albeit at a much slower pace than the first two. I don’t have an estimated target date yet, but look for some new characters, some exiting twists and continuation of prior character’s stories. I will update as I get closer to the end. For those who haven’t yet read the first two books in the series, get them here.
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