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Facebook, YouTube, and the like are publishers.

As a society, we did not have qualms before the internet about publishers declining to amplify the views of people like Alex Jones. Even in the absence of YouTube's support, he arguably has far more of a voice now than he did in the pre-internet days, before he could host his own website. He has that on top of all the traditional means of communication he always had, which includes passing out flyers and yelling in the street.

It is the responsibility of information disseminators to curate their content. Nobody is going to jail over these editorial choices, so the notion that this is a constitutional issue is pure hysteria. YouTube and Facebook are finally stepping up to the responsibility they have long owed us from the beginning.




> Facebook, YouTube, and the like are publishers.

If they are publishers then they should be held responsible for the content they publish.

Just like a newspaper would be.


Agree.

I think we are waking up to that, and this is a sign that we are beginning to move in that direction.


Facebook etc want to have the best of both worlds.

For example if a reporter at the NYT slanders me then I can hold the NYT responsible.

Facebook wants to say "oh no no no we are just a platform - you have to find and sue the poster" while at the same time heavily curating content.


Sure. They would like their liability be zero in both cases. I think it should be more than zero in both cases.


No. Facebook, YouTube and the like are more like newspaper vendors.


Arguably the story doesn't change if you look at it that way. No one would fault a newspaper stand for choosing not to carry the Weekly World News, or, say, the newsletter of the KKK.


Everyone would do that.




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