Google opposes laws mandating proactive content filtering and monitoring, “overly rigid timelines for content removal” or other “harsh penalties” for platforms acting in good faith, Senior Vice President-Global Affairs Kent Walker blogged Thursday. Industry, government, society and users should share content moderation responsibility, he said, supporting industry transparency reports. He cited ongoing debate about the best regulatory approaches, including Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and the EU’s e-Commerce Directive.
Section 230
The Supreme Court declined Tuesday to hear a case in which the California Supreme Court ruled Yelp can’t be forced to remove negative third-party reviews from its site (see 1807030023). Engine Org Executive Director Evan Engstrom applauded the high court's certiorari denial of Hassell v. Yelp, saying Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act ensures startups don’t face “ruinous liability for the speech of their users.”
Congress needs to review “Good Samaritan” protections in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, National Religious Broadcasters said Wednesday, citing the absence of industry creating a “free speech charter” (see 1812100036). “It is unacceptable for technology giants to discriminate by algorithmic bias or human will against users just because their viewpoints are not congruent with ideas popular in Silicon Valley,” NRB CEO Jerry Johnson said. The Internet Association didn’t comment.
State attorneys general have an obligation to protect consumers against deception from online platforms like Facebook, Mississippi AG Jim Hood (D) told us Wednesday. Hood, who battled Google on various legal fronts, discussed a growing trend of tech-related enforcement from state entities. Washington, D.C., AG Karl Racine (D) recently sued Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica privacy breach (see 1812190039).
Less than 30 percent of Americans think government should ban political bias from online platforms, and 19 percent would support a ban if it would limit free speech, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation reported Monday. Silicon Valley should take concrete, self-governing steps to limit censorship of conservative and Christian views, National Religious Broadcasters wrote Facebook, Google, Twitter and Apple Monday. If not, Congress should review Communications Decency Act Section 230 safe harbors for platforms, NRB said. The Internet Association didn’t comment.
Craig Newmark is in contact with Facebook, Google and Twitter about The Markup, an investigative journalism platform that will use data science to cover big tech, the Craigslist founder said Monday. Newmark, who won't have an editorial role in the new venture, contributed $20 million, and it's headed in part by ex-ProPublica journalists. Newmark said at the National Press Club that he's working “quietly and diplomatically,” talking to online platform representatives, platform critics and reporters, “to make sure everyone plays well together.” Asked if representatives from Facebook, Google and Twitter are involved in discussions, Newmark said, “It involves everyone.” The event’s moderator noted a New York Times article on the new venture describes concerns that The Markup’s data collection practices might violate platform terms of service. “Getting to the truth” often requires data science, Newmark said. There’s a lot of conjecture about tech platforms, and “we need something real,” he said. Journalism is in “crisis,” he said, suggesting The Markup adopt values that are in line with The Trust Project, a media company collaboration aimed at creating more trust in the press. Asked about platform bias, given claims coming from the White House and conservative lawmakers, Newmark said he's more interested in the details of platform terms of service and whether companies are upholding promises. He backed more enforcement to hold platforms accountable. Newmark also suggested consumers should have a certain level of “media literacy,” the ability to sniff out when a news story is “fake.” National Religious Broadcasters CEO Jerry Jones warned big tech platforms Friday there will be calls to re-examine Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act if platform bias isn't addressed this year.
ASPEN, Colo. -- Chairman Ajit Pai defended his goals at the FCC, centering on broadband and closing the digital divide, before tech and telecom executives who laughed at his frequent jokes poking fun at himself. On a road trip to see broadband deployment and ATSC 3.0's rollout, he visited the Technology Policy Institute conference Tuesday for a Q&A. He said the Trump administration’s question about FCC review of Sinclair buying Tribune was appropriate, that an inspector general report on filing glitches bore out the agency’s and not critics’ contentions, and that a much-awaited economics office -- focus of a TPI panel last year (see Notebook at end 1708220036) -- still is coming. Ex-Chairman Tom Wheeler disagreed with Pai that the White House query on Sinclair/Tribune paled in comparison with then-President Barack Obama weighing in on an earlier net neutrality proceeding.
ASPEN, Colo. -- Seeking a national conversation on resolving what some feel are tech's harms, the head of MPAA said that without compromise from internet companies, another option is tweaking laws that let them avoid liability in some situations for what's on their platforms. He said such a change could require additional "proactive steps" for such liability protections. "One of the most vibrant and interconnected human ecosystems in history" is "in serious jeopardy," CEO Charlie Rivkin said of the internet. At a Technology Policy Institute event Monday, he sought "a declaration of accountability for cyberspace." Speaking on the following panel, a representative from Google pushed back on such criticism while saying his company is taking privacy seriously and is eyeing further privacy safeguards.
A dismissed third amended complaint against Google for its YouTube service allegedly providing material support for ISIS leaves the door open for yet one more amended complaint on one theory, but when that theory "inevitably fails," the next step is perhaps "almost-certainly-futile appeal," Santa Clara University Director-High Tech Law Institute Professor Eric Goldman blogged Monday. Goldman said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision earlier this year in Fields vs. Twitter was clear that social media providers aren't proximate causes of terrorist-related injuries, so the YouTube suit didn't overcome that standard. He said the claim YouTube shares revenue with terrorists "clearly has no chance," and the entire subset of litigation going up against Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act -- which makes immune interactive computer services that publish third-party users' content -- "will fade away." In the docket 16-cv-03282-DMR decision (in Pacer) last week, Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu said the revenue sharing claims -- the revenue coming from YouTube advertising -- also don't support the proximate causation finding under the Fields standard. She said the other claims were being dismissed with prejudice, but she couldn't conclude that further amendment of revenue sharing claims would be futile and said the plaintiffs can file a fourth amended complaint. The plaintiffs -- surviving family members of a woman killed in November 2015 terrorist attack in Paris by ISIS-associated terrorists -- allege that because ISIS used YouTube as a recruitment tool, the platform knowingly provided material support to the terror group.
Yelp can't be forced to remove critical third-party reviews, the California Supreme Court ruled 4-3 Monday, reversing a prior Court of Appeals decision. The case stems from a 2014 lawsuit from attorney Dawn Hassell, who claimed her former client, Ava Bird, defamed her through two negative Yelp reviews. Because Bird didn't show up for court proceedings, Hassell won, and the company was ordered to remove the posts. The Court of Appeals agreed. The state high court said that court “adopted too narrow a construction of” Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, and setting such a precedent “could interfere with and undermine the viability of an online platform.” The lower court improperly treated Yelp as “the publisher or speaker of . . . information provided by another information content provider,” the majority opinion said. Yelp Deputy General Counsel Aaron Schur wrote that the suit “threatened the rights of online platforms that allow people to freely share their thoughts and the billions of people that do" that. "We are disappointed in the Court’s plurality opinion, which construes the reach of the Communications Decency Act beyond its intended scope and stands as an invitation to spread falsehoods on the internet without consequence," Hassell's attorney Monique Olivier emailed, saying her client is considering all legal options, including review by the Supreme Court.