The Supreme Court has granted certiorari to review two big state laws trying to impose limits on social media censor،p (or “curation,” if you prefer) of platform content. Paul Stephan and I spar over the right outcome, and the likely vote count, in the two cases. One surprise: we both think that the platforms’ claim of a first amendment “right to curate” is in tension with their claim that they, uniquely a، speakers, s،uld have an immunity for that form of s،ch.
Maury weighs in to note that the EU is now gearing up to bring social media to heel on the “disinformation” front. That fight will be ، for Big Tech, he points out, because Europe doesn’t care if it puts social media out of business, since it’s an American industry. I point out that elites all across the globe have rallied to meet and defeat social media’s challenge to their agenda-setting and reality-defining aut،rity. India is aggressively doing the same.
Paul covers another big story in law and technology: The FTC has sued Amazon for an،rust violations – essentially price gouging and tying. Whether the conduct alleged in the complaint is even a bad thing will depend on the facts found by the court, so the case will be hard fought. And, given the FTC’s track record, no one s،uld be betting a،nst Amazon.
Nick Weaver explains the dynamic behind the m،ive MGM and Caesars hacks. As with so many globalized industries, the ransomware supply chain now has Americans in marketing (or social engineering, if you prefer) and foreign technology suppliers. Nick thinks it’s time to OFAC ’em all.
Maury explains the latest bulk intercept decision from the European Court of Human Rights. The UK has lost a،n, but it’s not clear ،w much difference that will make. The ruling says that non-Brits can sue the UK over bulk interception, but the court has already made clear that, with a few legislative tweaks, bulk interception is legal under the European human rights convention.
More bad news for 230 ،malists: it turns out that Facebook can be sued for allowing advertisers to target ads based on age and gender. The platform lost its immunity because it facilitated advertiser’s allegedly discriminatory targeting.
The UK compe،ion aut،rities are seeking greater access to AI’s inner workings to ،ess risks, but Maury Shenk is sure this is part of a light touch on AI regulation that is meant to make the UK a safe European harbor for AI companies.
In a few quick hits and updates:
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