This (again) highlights the need for tech companies to take responsibility for what happens on their platform. And it probably won't happen without increased regulation.
Imagine you build a real-world football stadium. Then, you open the doors up to the public for free with minimal restrictions or rules for how the space is used.
You brand the stadium as a "platform" and you invite the public to treat it as such. 6 months later you have people doing drugs on one side of the stadium, holding a white supremacy rally at the other end of the stadium, and then a group of people in the bleachers playing russian roulette with the occasional casualty.
The police eventually track down the owner of the stadium. The owner says "Yes, I own the stadium, it's my property, but sorry Mr. Police, the stadium is a Platform for free expression. I have no control what the public does in there."
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Introducing new regulations is usually an unpopular suggestion. It raises the barrier of entry for competitors. It limits the market to players who can afford to comply.
But at a certain point, IMO we should stop giving tech companies a free pass just because they're a "platform" that's "too large to moderate".
Imagine you build a real-world football stadium. Then, you open the doors up to the public for free with minimal restrictions or rules for how the space is used.
You brand the stadium as a "platform" and you invite the public to treat it as such. 6 months later you have people doing drugs on one side of the stadium, holding a white supremacy rally at the other end of the stadium, and then a group of people in the bleachers playing russian roulette with the occasional casualty.
The police eventually track down the owner of the stadium. The owner says "Yes, I own the stadium, it's my property, but sorry Mr. Police, the stadium is a Platform for free expression. I have no control what the public does in there."
--
Introducing new regulations is usually an unpopular suggestion. It raises the barrier of entry for competitors. It limits the market to players who can afford to comply.
But at a certain point, IMO we should stop giving tech companies a free pass just because they're a "platform" that's "too large to moderate".