Re:Protocols, Not Platforms: A Technological Approach to Fre...
by majormajor on Thursday January 28, 2021 @01:32PM
(#25946535)
> 10 or 15 years ago people looked at web 1.0, saw many good communities and valuable conversations and said "we need to protect free speech".
But these places almost all had "speech control". The exceptions were (in)famous.
It was decentralized, which has a lot of benefits compared to having fewer, huge platforms, but the control existed and was essential.
The "don't let platforms moderate anything but illegal content" argument is extremely disingenous. That's not how you get back to the "good old days" - or how you keep current smaller places like HN alive.
If there are problems created specifically by the big platforms being too big, target their size specifically. Regulating advertising and privacy and data tracking might be one way to start, reduce the incentive and rewards for being huge; but I think more likely, you'd want specific taxes, fees, or actions, based on userbase size.
But these places almost all had "speech control". The exceptions were (in)famous.
It was decentralized, which has a lot of benefits compared to having fewer, huge platforms, but the control existed and was essential.
The "don't let platforms moderate anything but illegal content" argument is extremely disingenous. That's not how you get back to the "good old days" - or how you keep current smaller places like HN alive.
If there are problems created specifically by the big platforms being too big, target their size specifically. Regulating advertising and privacy and data tracking might be one way to start, reduce the incentive and rewards for being huge; but I think more likely, you'd want specific taxes, fees, or actions, based on userbase size.