MC Weekly Update 5/8: Solving the Head of State Problem
Alex and Evelyn discuss Utah's new age verification law going into effect and the state's completely unrelated spike in VPN downloads; the horrific footage of the Allen Texas shooting on Twitter and how the understaffed platform is coping with one of the hardest content moderation challenges; but it's okay, Musk is focusing on other really important issues. Also, Meta's adversarial threat report (and Twitter's lack thereof); the 9th Circuit decision in a jawboning case brought by RFK Jr against Elizabeth Warren; the Brazilian government's latest attempts to limit internet freedom; and Bluesky's solution to the head of state content moderation dilemma.
Moderated Content · Evelyn Douek, Alex Stamos
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Show Notes
Stanford’s Evelyn Douek and Alex Stamos weigh in on the latest online trust and safety news and developments:
- Pornhub and other pornography websites owned by MindGeek are blocking access for users in Utah with a video message protesting an age verification law that went into effect this past week. - Brian Fung/ CNN, Jonathan Edwards/ The Washington Post, Samantha Cole/ Vice News
- In completely unrelated news, VPN downloads spiked dramatically in Utah. - Cristiano Lima/ The Washington Post
- The adult entertainment industry followed up by filing a lawsuit against the state challenging the law on First Amendment grounds. - Ben Winslow/ Fox 13 News, Free Speech Coalition
Twitter Corner
- Graphic videos from a mass shooting at a mall in Allen, Texas went viral on Twitter without a warning screen or similar labeling. The glaring issue suggests Musk's staffing cuts have left the platform ill-equipped to deal with difficult, real-time content moderation problems that arise in these kinds of crises. - Benjamin Mullin/ The New York Times, Aimee Picchi/ CBS News
- Meanwhile, Musk is focusing on the real issues, like whether NPR is going to start tweeting again. - Bobby Allyn/ NPR
- But at least our benevolent leader will allow some verified public announcement and emergency services free API access. - Sareen Habeshian/ Axios, Jon Fingas/ Engadget, Ivan Mehta/ TechCrunch, @TwitterDev
- Meta released its quarterly adversarial threat report, highlighting the takedown of a pro-China influence campaign with a network of accounts posing as news organizations and a think tank. - Donie O'Sullivan, Sean Lyngaas/ CNN, Ben Nimmo, Nathaniel Gleicher/ Meta
Legal Corner
- The Ninth Circuit threw out a jawboning case brought by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others against Elizabeth Warren for a letter she sent Amazon criticizing the online marketplace for recommending their vaccine denial book. - Bob Egelko/ San Francisco Chronicle, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (.pdf)
- There is a big show-down going on in Brazil over a “fake news” bill that the government is trying to ram through, suggesting a worrying level of appetite on both sides of the aisle in Brazil to crack down on internet freedom. - Anthony Boadle/ Reuters
- Decentralized Twitter alternative Bluesky is not allowing heads of state at the moment… that’s one way to deal with a content moderation challenge! - Kylie Robison/ Fortune
Join the conversation and connect with Evelyn and Alex on Twitter at @evelyndouek and @alexstamos.
Moderated Content is produced in partnership by Stanford Law School and the Cyber Policy Center. Special thanks to John Perrino for research and editorial assistance.
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