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Comment by CerealFounder | Hacker News Reader

They've always been censoring is my point. Profanity, porn and hatefulness is a normative decision. This also doesn't touch the problem that the platform based on its content structuring and targeting will always reward emotional ideas over everything.

You're just frustrated now because they came for your voice. If they're going to put advertising up against it, they should be held to the same annoying process and responsibility that broadcast media is.

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> If they're going to put advertising up against it, they should be held to the same annoying process and responsibility that broadcast media is.

But then don't you think that is selective application of law? Why should they be held to the same annoying process and responsibility only for advertising? Why not for the entire platform or publisher or whatever you want to call it. Let them be held liable for every post that goes on their network just like broadcast media is. Why just stop at advertising?

EDIT:

> You're just frustrated now because they came for your voice

Maybe they are suppressing other voices too which I am unaware of. But that point is not going to change my opinion is it? That these social media companies do enjoy powers that even Governments do not. My question is: Why are we letting them get away with it?

Section 230 was explicitly written to allow a hybrid between platforms and publishers. It stemmed from a court case where a financial forum run by Prodigy was successfully sued for a forum post by a member. It was designed to allow forums like HN etc. moderate without being liable for users' posts.

You can argue about what you think the law should be, contact your local reps and push a bill to do that. But just repeating the argument about how Twitter is behaving like a publisher won't get you far when there have been court cases that ended in the judges saying what they do is the intent of Section 230. Again, you're arguing like it's 1992.

Twitter crossed the Rubicon a few weeks ago by editorializing the US president's tweets with 'fact check' links. This has jeopardized the entire S230 gravy train for much of the BigTech platform service sector

How so? Is it going to get Congress to pass a bill to revoke Section 230? Otherwise there is nothing happening, we have a President, not a dictator. How is Twitter going to be hurt?

I am not a US Citizen so I cannot push for changes to the law. But please try and understand that Twitter operates in well over 100+ countries. Section 230's jurisdiction only applies to the US. It doesn't extend to other nations. Now what will happen to the platform if it arbitrarily starts acting as a publisher? Other Countries will start regulating it or ban it which is obviously not in the interests of these companies. So taking the legal route will create a huge mess for these companies because once that process starts it cannot be stopped unless one of the parties pulls back. If a resolution can be found without taking the legal route then it should be pursued. That can only happen through dialogue and discussion. But for some strange reason this is shunned by the liberal gang. If we have to go to the courts for everything then we don't even need discussions in the first place.

>Other Countries will start regulating it or ban it which is obviously not in the interests of these companies.

Please try and understand that things are different in the USA. Look at the mass shootings over the past several years and the ideologies behind them. Look at how Sandy Hook parents were caused to be harassed by Alex Jones.

What did Twitter do in your country? Sounds like a slippery slope fallacy to me. What are the laws around forums in your country? Can you sue a forum for user content?

> Please try and understand that things are different in the USA. Look at the mass shootings over the past several years and the ideologies behind them. Look at how Sandy Hook parents were caused to be harassed by Alex Jones.

What has any of this got to do with free speech or censorship? If there is any form of harassment the Courts are always open. These are legitimate grounds for which there are laws. I am sure the US has laws concerning harassment. We have a Defamation law. I am sure US has something similar. Why should Twitter (or any social media for that matter) change rules to address something that is a Criminal case? How are social media companies responsible for this? Did social media exist when Columbine High School massacre took place? Nope. So I can counter your point by saying that whatever be the ideology behind the shootings it has nothing to do with social media policy. Even if social media did not exist, these school shootings would have happened nevertheless! This is what is called slippery slope. To use random, unconnected real-life events to influence changes to company policy that have no bearing to the actual purpose of the company's existence.

> What did Twitter do in your country? Sounds like a slippery slope fallacy to me. What are the laws around forums in your country? Can you sue a forum for user content?

What Twitter did in my country is quite a long story. But rest assured that Twitter is already being actively investigated by my Government because citizen groups with right wing political affiliation went with an official representation against Twitter. This is along with evidence. As far as laws around forums are concerned there aren't any. Not yet at the very least. Because for a long time our laws mimicked the West. But that has changed of late. In many areas we are taking the lead. Like for instance, India was the first country to ban Chinese apps citing National Security. Other countries are following suit. It may not be surprising if you see more such regulations around social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube etc in the near future.

Twitter behaving as a publisher is treading on slippery slope. What stops Twitter from interfering in our elections tomorrow by attaching its opinions to tweets from politicians? Nothing! We don't want interference of any sort. Elections should be fair. All sides of the political spectrum must get a chance to place their points without any interference from a foreign entity. Indians use Twitter because we believe it is a platform. But that belief is fast fading. And it is not just Twitter alone. I have had my Youtube comments removed for the mere mention of "China" or "Coronavirus". And I get no alerts either. I have to intentionally misspell it as "Chyna" for the comment to be posted. This is pure censorship! And I am not living in China for my speech to be censored this way. I live in a free society where anyone and everyone have the ability to speak their mind! We are the 8th largest user base (and growing rapidly) for Twitter. What do you suppose will happen to Twitter if India bans it for political interference?

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