Digital Content

Apparently, the White House is considering a potential Executive Order to address the ongoing-yet-unproven allegations of pro-liberal, anti-conservative bias by companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google.

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s new tech task force leader, Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), wants to use her perch to hold tech companies accountable.

For years, the very business models of platforms like Facebook and YouTube have come under fire for prioritizing whatever grabbed their users’ attention, often leading to feeds full of content that shocks or stokes outrage or divides.

California-based company Cloudfare, which is a market leader in web infrastructure, was thrust into the spotlight of international debate after abruptly terminating its contract with 8chan, the far-right internet forum known for perpetuating conspiracy theories and hate speech, in the wake of the El Paso shooting.

As the two-year anniversary of the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville approaches, civil rights and digital activists say Twitter has not done nearly enough to prevent white nationalists from spreading hate speech online. Twitter is facing increased pressure to take action following the mass shooting in El Paso, where the shooter—who appeared to embrace white nationalism—killed 22 people and injured dozens more.

Top officials in the Trump administration expressed interest in tools that might anticipate mass shootings or predict attackers by scanning social media posts, photos and videos during a meeting with online platforms including Facebook, Google and Twitter. The technology could serve as an early-warning system for potential attacks, White House officials proposed at the brainstorming session, perhaps compiling information from across social sites to identify deadly incidents before they occur, according to three people familiar with the matter but not authorized to discuss a private gatherin

Apparently, a draft executive order from the White House could put the Federal Communications Commission in charge of shaping how Facebook, Twitter, and other large tech companies curate what appears on their websites. A summary of the draft order calls for the FCC to develop new regulations clarifying how and when the law protects social media websites when they decide to remove or suppress content on their platforms.

Netflix has been evolving its public policy strategies in recent months to align itself more with Hollywood and less with Silicon Valley, a shift driven by the streamer's maturation into a full-fledged film and TV studio, by its international expansion and by the intense scrutiny Washington is now applying to the tech companies.

Two key strategies have emerged to hold online forums responsible for violence: deplatforming and increasing the liability imposed on internet intermediaries by changing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). Both strategies are notable because they are not directly aimed at the perpetrators of violence, or even at others who are participating in the hateful forums. They are instead aimed at the chain of companies or nonprofits that host the speech of others. For either approach, there is reason to tread carefully.

An effort by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to more aggressively monitor social media for possible threats could clash with Facebook's privacy policies and possibly its attempts to comply with a record $5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. The FBI is soliciting proposals from outside vendors for a contract to pull vast quantities of data from Facebook, Twitter, and other social media “to proactively identify and reactively monitor threats to the United States and its interests.” The request was posted in July 2019, weeks before a series of mass murders shook the coun