In a defense brief filed in the US Supreme Court this week, Google warned that moving Section XNUMX of the Communications Decency Act, which shields Internet-based companies from lawsuits over content created by its users, "is going to turn the Internet upside down.
The brief was filed as part of Google's defense in a lawsuit filed by the family of Nohemi González, a twenty-three-year-old US citizen who was assassinated by ISIS in the city of Paris in November XNUMX. The case will be heard on February XNUMX.
The family argues that Google-owned YouTube violated the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) when its algorithms advised users of Islamic State-related content. They argue that although the company is not responsible for ISIS content, the algorithmic recommendations should not be protected by Section XNUMX.
The González family argues that the algorithms that Google and YouTube use to direct certain content to users are creations of the companies themselves, not of the users or other third parties, and as such are fundamentally editorial functions for which they are responsible, and therefore both algorithms are not protected by article two hundred and thirty.
YouTube uses algorithms to sort and count related videos that viewers might be interested in, so they don't have to deal with billions of disorganized videos. As the planet is set to share XNUMX zettabytes of data online in XNUMX, sites are using algorithms to filter billions of pieces of content and publish information in the form most useful to individual users. The sites also allow users to choose content for others by liking or sharing photos, videos, and articles.
Lawmakers Attack Section Two Hundred and Thirty of the Internet Liability Shield
Section XNUMX, however, has been the subject of criticism from both legislators on all sides. Republicans have criticized the Section XNUMX protections, saying they let tech platforms make seemingly biased decisions about which posts to suppress, while Democrats want platforms to accept greater responsibility and expand their content moderation so their services more secure for users.
President Joe Biden has called for changes to Section XNUMX, and his administration says Section XNUMX's protections should not extend to recommendation algorithms.
Google, in its request, asserts that YouTube hates terrorism and has increasingly taken more effective steps to remove terrorist and other potentially harmful content, and that eroding Section XNUMX would make it more difficult to find and block terrorist content.
The company also argues that if Section XNUMX and the protections it provides are struck down, certain companies may be able to comply, while others may try to evade liability by refusing to perform any kind of assessment, essentially turning a blind eye and leaving everything alone. your site, reprehensible as it is. . .
"You would be forced to choose between overly organized mainstream sites or fringe sites flooded with objectionable content," the report said, adding that "the legal danger of advising or organizing content would reduce useful services like showing the best works, counting the most relevant products or showing the most useful recipe videos, songs or sources of news, entertainment and information. »
Google also claims that removing Section XNUMX would lead to a minefield of lawsuits. "A resolution that violates Section two hundred and thirty would have significant unintended and adverse consequences," according to the letter.
A related case, Twitter v. Taamneh, is scheduled for oral reasoning on February XNUMX. In one such case, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube apparently assisted and incited another ISIS attack.
Copyright © two thousand twenty-three IDG Communications, Inc.