Eric Goldman was quoted by the New York Times about how whether or not it’s owned by Musk, Twitter can’t overcome the deep divisions and mistrust in society; by Digital News Daily about how Google is suing an account holder who allegedly used the company’s services to dupe people into paying for puppies that never arrived; and by MEL Magazine about internationally hosted escort sites advertising sex work in the wake of SESTA-FOSTA making it illegal for U.S. sites to advertise any form of sex work. He was also mentioned by Tech Policy Press about his recent article “Content Moderation Remedies”; to Motherboard about how conservatives who return to Twitter after Elon Musk buys it may be disappointed to learn that Twitter’s rules exist to appease advertisers, not to punish the right; by Politico about how any attempt by Elon Musk to impose a maximalist free-speech regime Twitter may backfire; and by MediaPost about a lawsuit against Meta for ads for knock-offs.
“Twitter and all other user-generated content services must constantly classify content as illegal, ‘lawful but awful,’ or completely permissible on the service. Things like child sexual abuse material and copyright infringing files are illegal and usually must be removed when the service recognizes their illegality. Completely permissible content isn’t a problem,” Eric Goldman, Associate Dean for Research and Professor, Santa Clara University School of Law, told Motherboard. “It’s the middle category, ‘lawful but awful’ content, that poses so much trouble for everyone. Most ‘harassing,’ ‘threatening,’ or ‘violent’ content fits into this category (except in extreme cases). Because it’s lawful, there’s usually no obligation to remove the content; indeed, the Constitution may prohibit imposing any liability. Nevertheless, most regulators want that content removed; as do advertisers and many users.”
