Edit: also, read what the EFF has to say: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/05/sunsetting-section-230-will-hurt-internet-users-not-big-tech They're saying that legal liability would result in less moderation, which is counter-intuitive. While I agree, I still think that site operators will likely reach for the ban-hammer before relying on lawyers, especially if they don't have deep pockets.
FAck. They were floating this during Trump's first term too. I'm thankful it didn't get far from Barr's desk, but I knew it was always going to be in the crosshairs going forward.
I think the impact of this would be way bigger than people realize. Basically, it would kill if not cripple the Fediverse.
The problem is that without Section 230, site admins would need to aggressively censor and remove material that would get anyone in hot water. Anyone can come along and basically torpedo whatever forum site they want. The answer to that starts to look an awful lot like lots of AI, lots of paid site moderators, and eliminating anonymity to deter that kind of behavior. So, all this photo-id-age-validation going on out there? IMO, that's companies aligning themselves to cover their collective asses before this goes through. If a site operator is on the hook for finding stuff like CSAM, cooperating with the government by handing over the real identity of the perpetrator would go a long way to get them off your back.
Also, all of those things are very hard to do for small site operators. It all costs real money to accomplish at even a modest scale. While the loss of Section 230 would be a huge step towards furthering mass online surveillance, it also "pulls the ladder up", further entrenching large social media services and forums.
That's right up there with the 'Bartender' Anime out there right now, where every episode is basically an ad for a different mainstream brand of liquor. It's a decent watch, with some good instructions about how to make good mixers, but the level of product placement is just mind-boggling. Maybe that's what's going on here? Japan has quite the beef industry.
Whoa, they're loss-leaders? That's good to know. I usually pass them up since I get better results at home but I appreciate that I'm not exactly pinching pennies to make the budget happen. I've been broke and/or between jobs before, so who knows? That is handy information.
I cannot stress this enough: this turd does not speak for the overwhelming majority of Americans. He possibly speaks for the 1%.
Colonialism is an arm of unchecked capitalism, right up there with slavery.
I think this signals something in the vicinity that the super-wealthy are eager to pursue more fertile domains than milking the middle-class dry. That or people like Rubio want to be bigger players and it's the most lucrative play available if all you have is control of a big government and military.
With all the political damage that US saber-rattling has caused, it seems unlikely that entreating EU members with this talk would work... unless they're actually talking directly to far-right parties inside those countries. Scarier still is the idea that they think that will actually bear fruit.
Even if it's not a part of a bigger play, this man is singing for his dinner, that's for sure. I wouldn't take this lightly, but I also would keep my powder try until this becomes a bigger deal than Greenland.
/me casually plugs controller into port #2