It may be difficult to define a line, but I think a line needs to be drawn.

When "platforms" editorialize content for the purposes of manipulating user behaviour, rather than merely to act in users' interests in helping them find what they want, then I'm in favour of them losing protection.

HN does the latter, so I think it'd be appropriate for HN to keep its protection.

If you read the amicus briefs you will see that once you draw the line, you open the door for lawsuits to establish whether the line has been crossed in each case, with the costly discovery phase, instead of a blanket "cannot sue" now. Goodbye bootstrapped startups with user generated content or your favorite internet forum/mailing list after that.

That's a problem with the American legal system, independent of this or any particular social hazard.

Yes, it's funny how a huge amount of listed companies in the US have lawsuits against them because their stocks have gone down. Lawyers looking for clients who lost some money and then they sue. The lawyer earns money no matter what, and if they win then they get a big payout.

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My short comment did not capture the essence of my concerns, so let me suggest some background reading.

1 The Attention Economy: Where the Customer Becomes the Product – https://journal.businesstoday.org/bt-online/2021/the-attenti...

2 Forget Data. Free Labor Is Facebook’s Lifeblood – https://mashable.com/article/free-labor-facebook-profits

3 Williams, James. 2018. Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

4 The Scientists Who Make Apps Addictive – https://web.archive.org/web/20210416052902/https://www.econo...

5 A Call To Minimize Distraction – http://www.minimizedistraction.com/

6 Slow Tech – https://vimeo.com/240721308, transcript at https://www.interaxiongroup.org/sites/default/files/media/pd...

7 Ethics of the Attention Economy: The Problem of Social Media Addiction – https://doi.org/10.1017/beq.2020.32

8 Odell, J. (2019). How to do nothing: Resisting the attention economy. Melville House.