Date: January 11, 2021
01) LINK
“Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have spent years fomenting and enabling yesterday’s violence at the Capitol. Policymakers need to do something about it.
President Trump and his enablers in government and right-wing media will shoulder the blame for Wednesday’s insurrection at the US Capitol, but internet platforms—Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, in particular—have played a fomenting and facilitating role that no one should overlook.
In their relentless pursuit of engagement and profits, these platforms created algorithms that amplify hate speech, disinformation, and conspiracy theories. This harmful content is particularly engaging and serves as the lubricant for businesses as profitable as they are influential. These platforms also enforce their terms of service in ways that favor extreme speech and behavior, predominantly right-wing extremism.
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Technology products do not need to be dangerous. The tech industry used to empower the people who used its products. It can do so again. The Biden administration has an opportunity to change incentives. It can put the tech industry back on a productive course, as an engine of growth and empowerment. This will require government intervention in three areas: safety, privacy, and competition. It is not enough to amend or repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act; engineers need to be held accountable for harms. It is not enough for Apple to implement opt-in privacy for iPhone users; we need comprehensive privacy policies for all. It is not enough to break up tech giants; the government needs to restore competitive balance.
Policymakers must take action. The harms of internet platforms are no longer contained or abstract, they are destabilizing our society and our government. The Biden administration will not be able to stop the pandemic and revive the economy without limiting disinformation and conspiracy theories spread by internet platforms. The insurrection in Washington should provide both motive and opportunity to act.”
No…
…I am not cheering on censorship…I do not want to see expression damaged even more than it already is…
…but if karma comes back around to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, in the face of their vulgar levels of hypocrisy, and role in unleashing some of the worst social behaviors onto the internet [and now, world]…and if the government wants to rip these companies apart for their treachery…
…There is no way it could happen to a more fitting trio.
I know some people consider any sentiment implying acceptance of censorship to be blasphemous…
…Don’t imagine I’ve lost my vehement hatred for censorship, and disgust for those smarmy slime balls who inflict it…
…I’m simply not going to cry about it, when the dogs eat the dogs…and the self appointed “overlords” are forced to fall on their own sword.
…Fuck Them!
…They have done nothing to the people of this world, but cripple and impoverish them.
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