Sixty Minutes Episode Is Pure Misleading Moral Panic About Section 230

Re:Sixty Minutes Episode Is Pure Misleading Moral Panic Abou... by prepend on Monday January 04, 2021 @07:13PM (#25640181)

The phone company doesn’t moderate content. I think what blurs is that social media companies aren’t just dumb pipes (like cloud flare), they all have different levels of moderation based on what they decide and not only block content, but also promote content.

I think if they were just going to be ISPs then 230 should apply, but it seems odd that a company can select a piece of content and show it to a million people and then not be responsible. And then alternately, they can choose to remove content due to automated and manual rules, not required by law. It seems like they should either be regulated or not.

It seems off that if I solicit articles from random and print them out and mail them, I’m liable for libel. But if I review them all and publish them on a server then I’m no longer liable.

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Re:Sixty Minutes Episode Is Pure Misleading Moral Panic Abou... by renewiltord on Monday January 04, 2021 @07:22PM (#25640266)

Yes, they do. Phone companies attempt to block SMS spam.

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Re:Sixty Minutes Episode Is Pure Misleading Moral Panic Abou... by prepend on Monday January 04, 2021 @08:09PM (#25640640)

SMS spam is illegal. Phone companies also turn off service for fraud, etc.

To be more precise, phone companies only block based on regulators and consistent (at least theoretically) rules based on legal authorities given to regulators.

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Re:Sixty Minutes Episode Is Pure Misleading Moral Panic Abou... by osgovernment on Monday January 04, 2021 @07:23PM (#25640284)

Mobile phone companies can "moderate" a customer or user from abusing their services. Also, traditional phone now includes VOIP, video chat, etc.

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Re:Sixty Minutes Episode Is Pure Misleading Moral Panic Abou... by kevin_thibedeau on Monday January 04, 2021 @07:34PM (#25640377)

You pay the phone company for a service. They have certain obligations they need to uphold in exchange for payment.

New media isn't paid for by its consumers. Their computer, their rules. Nobody is wringing their hands over the decades of censorship by broadcast radio and television for "community standards".

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Re:Sixty Minutes Episode Is Pure Misleading Moral Panic Abou... by prepend on Monday January 04, 2021 @08:12PM (#25640663)

Regulations on phone companies isn’t based on whether I pay them. In my state, phone lines must dial 911 even if there’s no customer. That’s because of regulation. And I don’t pay them anything.

I don’t think the need for regulation depends much on how much I pay to use the service or whether the publisher is responsible for content.

Another example is that even publishers of free newspapers get sued for libel.

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