D
deleted15807
Guest
No surprise here. Social media has had a long free ride of “free expression”. Inevitably this will end as big tech and the platforms they host evolves and become the “publishers” of content and as such become editors of that content as old media companies did with paper and ink.
The Sri Lankan government’s decision to shutter access to social media sites after Sunday’s deadly bombings may mark a turning point in how countries around the world perceive Silicon Valley — and their willingness to act to stop the spread of falsehoods online.
A decade ago, Facebook, Twitter and their social media peers helped spearhead pro-democracy uprisings that toppled dictators throughout the Middle East, and their services were seen as a way to help in catastrophes, allowing authorities a vehicle to convey crucial information and organize assistance.
Today, though, those same social media sites appear to some as a force that can corrode democracy as much as promote it, quickly spreading disinformation to an audience of millions and fueling ethnic violence before authorities can take steps to stop it. That sense is heightened by tech giants’ seeming inability to strike a balance between free expression and protecting the public from harm.
What happened yesterday with the government shutting down access to social media is part of a much larger picture that’s happening all over the world,” said Michael Abramowitz, the president of Freedom House, a Washington-based think tank that measures political rights and civil liberties globally. “There’s much, much more major effort by government to regulate the Internet, to restrict access to social media.”
Authoritarian-leaning countries have long worked to rein in social media when it challenged their ability to control information. But over the past year, more democratic governments have started to target social media sites, considering new regulations to stamp out disinformation during elections and to prevent their use as rallying points for hatred and extremism.
Sri Lanka’s social media shutdown illustrates global discontent with Silicon Valley
The Sri Lankan government’s decision to shutter access to social media sites after Sunday’s deadly bombings may mark a turning point in how countries around the world perceive Silicon Valley — and their willingness to act to stop the spread of falsehoods online.
A decade ago, Facebook, Twitter and their social media peers helped spearhead pro-democracy uprisings that toppled dictators throughout the Middle East, and their services were seen as a way to help in catastrophes, allowing authorities a vehicle to convey crucial information and organize assistance.
Today, though, those same social media sites appear to some as a force that can corrode democracy as much as promote it, quickly spreading disinformation to an audience of millions and fueling ethnic violence before authorities can take steps to stop it. That sense is heightened by tech giants’ seeming inability to strike a balance between free expression and protecting the public from harm.
What happened yesterday with the government shutting down access to social media is part of a much larger picture that’s happening all over the world,” said Michael Abramowitz, the president of Freedom House, a Washington-based think tank that measures political rights and civil liberties globally. “There’s much, much more major effort by government to regulate the Internet, to restrict access to social media.”
Authoritarian-leaning countries have long worked to rein in social media when it challenged their ability to control information. But over the past year, more democratic governments have started to target social media sites, considering new regulations to stamp out disinformation during elections and to prevent their use as rallying points for hatred and extremism.
Sri Lanka’s social media shutdown illustrates global discontent with Silicon Valley