Government Could Have More Control Over Social Media by Shaelin Murphy

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Recently, there has been debate about allowing the government to monitor and control what gets posted on social media platforms. Many people are opposed to this because they feel that it goes against their right to freedom of speech. There is currently a law known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This law states that “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.” There are three things needed to be granted this immunity: first, the defendant has to provide or use the online service, second, the defendant must have put harmful information on the internet, and third, the information must also be found on another provider. This has saved many tech companies and users from lawsuits that could have put them out of business. However, this law could be changed. 
Over the years, social media has become more popular. Practically everyone has at least one type of social media account. It is also becoming more popular among younger children, which is a big reason why many people are pushing for change. As social media becomes more popular, there is more and more hateful and harmful content. Oftentimes, the social media companies don’t step in when there is harmful content on their platforms because they want their users to feel like it is a place where they can say whatever they want. The providers are also aware of the laws protecting them from any kind of lawsuit. People against this law argue that it was originally created when tech companies were just beginning, and they needed more protection. Now, tech companies control the nation, so people believe that they no longer need this protection and it does more harm than good. 
People that support the law argue that changing it would likely result in mandating that companies approve all content before it gets posted by the users. Very few companies would be able to afford this, causing most tech companies to shut down. This would result in a lot of people left without jobs. They believe that it is simply unrealistic to make sure that everything is checked before it gets posted online and many users would argue that this interferes with their right to freedom of speech. 

Some people have expressed their concerns that changing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act could be the beginning of unfair changes to the way that the government monitors the internet. They say that if this law gets changed, it opens up more opportunities for the government to control how people use the internet which could be negative.

This debate has been going on recently because changes may actually be made soon.


Comments

  1. DanielleMarch 31, 2020 at 9:11 AM

    This is interesting. I wonder what will happen?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 31, 2020 at 2:53 PM

    I definitely think that there should be changes made, especially if there haven't been any since tech companies have first started out.

    ReplyDelete

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