Tag: V?ra Jourová

As the world gears up for a new round of elections (from the U.S. midterms to the Swedish and European Parliament votes), lawmakers want the likes of Facebook and Google to take greater ownership of policing what’s posted on their social networks, while also warning that these tech giants are gaining too much sway over every aspect of people’s online lives. But such efforts (and we’re already seeing them take hold with a spate of tech firms banning Alex Jones, the far-right U.S. media personality, and the upcoming anniversary of Germany’s hate speech rules) will likely cement these firms as digital gatekeepers at a time when even the most pro-tech of politicians now openly questions if Silicon Valley has too much power. Big Tech must be held more accountable for the reams of photos, posts and — increasingly — misinformation and extremist speech that have come to define social media. It comes down to an uncomfortable choice over whom we want making the tough calls between online freedom of speech, misinformation and hate speech: democratically elected officials, many of whom don’t know their way around the technical complexities of these issues, or private companies whose responsibility lies with their shareholders, not voters. So far, though, officials have been more than willing to let companies take the lead in how to respond to online misinformation and extremist posts. Even as Facebook suspends a raft of “inauthentic accounts” that have been trying to fan existing social and cultural divisions, politicians can’t get new rules over the line to increase transparency over online political advertising, let alone decide how to clamp down on hate speech in ways that would comply with the First Amendment. * * * By making tech companies the first port of call in tackling misinformation and extremist speech, politicians are setting themselves up for a nasty fall. And in a world where many now question the dominance of a small number of the West Coast’s biggest names, officials are also doubling down on that supremacy by giving these firms central roles in how governments respond to digital misinformation and hate speech. Sure, it would be unreasonable to expect policymakers to tackle disinformation and hate speech on their own. And the likes of Google, Facebook and Twitter have (reluctantly) made changes to weed out the worst forms of online content, particularly when it comes to alleged election meddling and online trolling.