So very true. If they are acting as a publisher instead of a platform for 3rd party content, they can be sued just like CNN and the Washington Post was by the "Covington Kid". The big tech companies are clearly acting as a publisher (and Facebook has argued so in court - see article below) so they should lose immunity granted in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act:Soccerdad1995 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 02, 2020 2:29 pm
Yes, but these social media platforms currently avoid government regulation and liability concerns because they claim that they are merely "platforms" for the free expression of ideas, as opposed to "publishers" that actively bias the information available on their platform. They can't have it both ways. If they want to control the information presented, then they should be liable for false and damaging information that is on their sites, IMHO.
This lawsuit could be very helpful if, as part of the ruling, it is made clear that these outfits are publishers as opposed to unbiased platforms.
"No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider" (47 U.S.C. § 230).
Two good articles on tech companies skirting this section of the law that was designed to protect the growth of the internet are linked below.
From May 2019: https://townhall.com/columnists/rachela ... r-n2545882
From May 2020: https://thefederalist.com/2020/05/28/it ... s-neutral/