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Mark Zuckerberg Wants The Government To Help Police Internet Content (bbc.com)

"Mark Zuckerberg says regulators and governments should play a more active role in controlling internet content," according to the BBC, calling for new laws governing harmful content, election integrity, privacy, and data portability.

An anonymous reader quotes their report: In an op-ed published in the Washington Post, Facebook's chief says the responsibility for monitoring harmful content is too great for firms alone... "Lawmakers often tell me we have too much power over speech, and frankly I agree," Mr Zuckerberg writes... In brief, Mr Zuckerberg calls for the following things:

- Common rules that all social media sites need to adhere to, enforced by third-party bodies, to control the spread of harmful content

- All major tech companies to release a transparency report every three months, to put it on a par with financial reporting

- Stronger laws around the world to protect the integrity of elections, with common standards for all websites to identify political actors

- Laws that not only apply to candidates and elections, but also other "divisive political issues", and for laws to apply outside of official campaign periods

- New industry-wide standards to control how political campaigns use data to target voters online

- More countries to adopt privacy laws like the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force last year

- A "common global framework" that means these laws are all standardised globally, rather than being substantially different from country to country

- Clear rules about who's responsible for protecting people's data when they move it from one service to another

Zuckerberg believes the same regulations should apply to all web sites to make it easier to stop the spread of "harmful content." He also says Facebook will be creating "an independent body so people can appeal our decisions" when content is taken.

18 of 275 comments (clear)

  1. Policing Internet Content? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I thought the idea was that information wants to be free, and we shouldn't restrict content (unless it's clearly illegal, like child porn). Even if it's content you don't agree with...

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    1. Re:Policing Internet Content? by rmdingler · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I thought the idea was that information wants to be free, and we shouldn't restrict content (unless it's clearly illegal, like child porn). Even if it's content you don't agree with...

      The problem seems to be that folks have become reluctant to protect that most important free speech; the one you disagree with.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    2. Re:Policing Internet Content? by Rockoon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think the real problem here is we can't even decide which speech should be protected, and which should be banned.

      No, we decided that a long time ago. Ergo we arent having a problem deciding.

      The real problem isn't even that thats not good enough for some sensitive fucks.. the problem is that we take those sensitive fucks seriously.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    3. Re:Policing Internet Content? by Joce640k · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You're missing the point.

      What he really wants is:
      a) The taxpayer to foot the bill instead of Facebook.
      and
      b) To pass the buck to the Government every time the system fails.

      --
      No sig today...
    4. Re:Policing Internet Content? by Kjella · · Score: 4, Insightful

      When "Jeff in Lexington", "Anonymous in Boston", "Real Paul Revere2", and "George Wash1ngton" are all propaganda spewing sock puppets being run directly from the King's Court, then we might not have had a Boston Tea Party, we might have had a Boston Printing Press Party, because that's not free speech, that's an affront to free speech. (...) Freedom of speech does not mean lazily handing a global megaphone to everyone in the world

      Actually that is what it's about, every regime from the United States to North Korea has their own propaganda machine, the question is not whether it will exist or not. It's whether there'll be a constitutionally protected opposition or not and whether that freedom is real in practice. Like for example what Martin Luther King fought for, the right to vote was theoretically in the constitution since 1865 but if you just make it hard and dangerous to use you cut it off at the knees. To use a quote from Selma

      We know Johnson can't see the full picture. So, let's paint it for him. What are the specific hardships and humiliations we can address within the larger context of legislation? Doc, we gotta start with banning these laws that if a Negro tries to register, I mean, actually musters up the courage to go in that courthouse, that their name and address is published in the paper. It gives anybody who wants to do them any harm their exact location, and we know how the Klan is. - I hear that. But the poll taxes got to be our focus first. 'Cause black people are poor! Black people are poor down here. - Yep. - And they expected to pay for every year they weren't legally registered before they can register. Now, what the hell is that? Who got that kind of money? Come on now!

      Listen now! The big issue is voting vouchers. - Is that the number one issue? - Now hold on. Let me finish. 'Cause everybody'll forget about this part. But if you're Negro, the only way you can vote is if an approved registered voter vouches for you. Right? So, let's say, you take some place like Lowndes County, where there are no Negroes who are registered and you've got to have someone who is registered to vouch for you. What are you supposed to do? Nobody you know, not a single black person for 100 miles is registered. So how do you get the voucher, right? To get you into the courthouse door to pay the poll tax to get your name published and get yourself dead.

      Now they're trying to wrap up free speech in the same kind of web, sure you have free speech if you register with a government ID, if you go to a "free speech zone", if we get to moderate it first in case of Bad Stuff(tm) because I'm sure nothing controversial or critical of the government will be flagged for review and hidden so it never becomes the top comment, oh and let's have a real names policy so the new Klan knows where you live and so on. And you're never going to mysteriously appear on a no-fly list for extended security checks, no sir. They're never going to go over your tax returns with a fine tooth comb to find a violation. And it'll never be hacked or abused/leaked by people in the system. Unless they choose to play dirty, then you'll sadly be killed in a home invasion or disappear to a reeducation camp.

      Look, say if the King of England had allowed free speech, when "Jeff in Lexington" says something obscene about colonial aspirations, that's speech we can just disagree with. Some people did support the monarchy in colonial America after all.

      They were plotting actual treason and the armed overthrow of the government. How far do you think they would have gotten if they had to give constant progress reports to the government? Yes, maybe ToasterMonkey (467067) is a propaganda spewing sock puppet from Russia out to destroy America, but I'm willing to take my chances. It's better than creating some kind of registration/verification scheme where everyone has to hand the government a log of their speech before participating in the public debate.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  2. Fear of regulator by manu0601 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Zuckerberg calling government for help? He must fear a FTC investigation.

  3. Clean up your own shit by DogDude · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Clean up your own shit, Fuckerberg. Your ad network is full of garbage because you have decided not to spend the money that it takes to keep it not shit-filled.

    Unfortunately for the rest of us, the truth is that your business model doesn't work if you have to pay humans to moderate content. But, don't worry. In the US, you can continue to buy Congresspeople, and the rest of us non-billionaires just have to eat shit. You'll be fine.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  4. Re:Holy shit. by Calydor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No. He wants to turn the internet from the wild west into a dystopian surveillance society.

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    -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
  5. it is his problem not governments by renegade600 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    sounds more like he is trying to save money and get the government to foot the bill for moderating his and others websites.

  6. Screw You Mark - take RESPONSIBILITY by charliemerritt03 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Screw You Mark - take RESPONSIBILITY

    I think he just wants the .gov to take the heavy lifting while he take the PROFITS. No I say. Let the White Right blab hate and take the consequences. The .gov's responsibility is to thump you when you put profits over oversight. Your platform, your responsibility.

  7. ONLY the government should police Internet content by timeOday · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There have long been laws against certain things like child porn, plagiarism, and defamation. There is a democratic process for drawing these boundaries, and a formal justice system for interpreting and enforcing them. When policing speech is delegated to universities, private companies, etc. they can draw the boundaries a lot tighter, and enforce them arbitrarily. We'd be better off if Facebook, youtube etc acted as common carriers more or less.

  8. Zuck is trying to burn competitors by JoeyRox · · Score: 5, Interesting

    He knows the government is about to come down hard on Facebook, which would put them at a competitive disadvantage vs other advertising-based giants like Google, so rather than take that hit alone he wants everyone to suffer the same fate so they don't gain any advantage on him.

  9. More censorship and more ads by AHuxley · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Common rules: Set by Germany over history? Spain over Catalonia? Communist China over the real China Taiwan? The UK over word use online?

    Release a transparency report: The EU can show who got reported and removed. How many internet users are getting interviewed by police about their use of words online. What new tax was paid on every internet link in the EU.

    Stronger laws around the world to protect the integrity of elections. Support one side of politics. Talk about any other politics and get removed and reported.

    Laws to apply outside of official campaign periods. The freedom to support one side of politics before and after any approved election.

    New industry-wide standards. No freedom of speech. No freedom after speech. Blasphemy laws can be used globally.

    More countries to adopt privacy laws like the European Union. A EU link tax and more EU censorship.

    A "common global framework". Censorship.

    Clear rules about who's responsible for protecting people's data. Ad brands get to have their approved ads track users globally. No ad blocking software.

    All enforced by NGO's, political parties, theocracies, ad brands, police, think tanks, the EU, social media brands and mil govs.
    Freedom of speech and freedom after speech is looking great again.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  10. As An American by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We have free speech, so as long as his company is based in the US no government has the right to "police content," even on his shit-tier platform.

  11. Re:Holy shit. by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I doubt he wants to turn it into anything.

    It's just that in the event of someone legislating anything, he doesn't want to pay for it.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  12. In Mark's defense: by Petersko · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Government(s): "Fix it so it's better!"

    Mark: "What would you like it to look like?"

    Governments: "We don't know! You decide! But we'll know it if we see it, and will punish you if we don't like it!" ...He's just asking for the kind of regulatory oversight that most communications businesses eventually receive.

    I don't do Facebook and I wish it would go away. But he's not wrong here.

  13. Trust me, I'm from the government... by uncqual · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...or even better a third party authorized by the government.

    Common rules that all social media sites need to adhere to, enforced by third-party bodies, to control the spread of harmful content

    And, exactly, who will decide what "harmful content" is. Perhaps Trump? Perhaps AOC? Perhaps Sanders? Perhaps ISIS?

    Zuckerberg, go read the First Amendment - no, go ahead, I'll wait. There are no big words in it so you should be able to understand it eventually. Okay read it again. And, one more time, Very. Slowly. This. Time.

    Okay, now, did you notice the "abridge the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press" part?

    And, don't forget, some people think Facebook itself is "harmful".

    Laws that not only apply to candidates and elections, but also other "divisive political issues", and for laws to apply outside of official campaign periods

    See above.

    --
    Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading /.
  14. We have good policy for what should be banned by drnb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Actually we have good policy for what should be banned, a tangible and realistic threat of violence.

    I am not a lawyer but my recollection from some readings I did a few years ago is that the US Supreme Court ruled that speech that tangibly threatens or incites violence can be banned. It all depends on the context of the speech not the words themselves, the context must include a tangible and realistic fear of violence. A satirical or rhetorical or similar threat would not be banned.

    Similarly having your feelings greatly hurt, your inner self denied or dismissed, etc would not count as violence no matter how much "pain" you feel.