The 'impossible war' with CSAM, UK Online Safety Bill latest and Musk's California complaint
Hello and welcome to Everything in Moderation, your guide to the policies, products, platforms and people shaping the future of online speech and the internet. It's written by me, Ben Whitelaw and supported by members like you.
By all accounts, it's been a quiet week for news. Perhaps that isn't surprising considering last week's avalanche (EiM #215) as well as the likely passing of the Online Safety Bill next week. Expect lots of coverage and analysis in next Friday's newsletter.
Although not typical, today's edition is a nice way for new subscribers to ease themselves in; welcome to fresh EiM incomers from Ofcom, Trilligent, Tremau, Thorn, Cinder, Brainly and elsewhere. Look out for my 'Read of the week', the article I enjoyed most over the last seven days.
Here's everything in moderation for the week that was — BW
Today's edition is in partnership with Videntifier, a unique visual fingerprinting technology used by leading platforms and non-profits to detect harmful and illegal content
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Policies
New and emerging internet policy and online speech regulation
The Californian state bill that forces platforms to be transparent about how they are moderating speech is the subject of a complaint by X Corp/Twitter, which has alleged that it forces them to define "political-charged" issues and deprioritise speech deemed "problematic by the government". It marks the latest moment in Elon Musk's up-and-down relationship with free speech, which apparently does not stretch to college students that track his jet. Qz has some good quotes from Santa Clara law professor Eric Goldman on why the Tesla founder is right to challenge AB 587.
Despite last week's confusion about the technical feasibility of the Online Safety Bill (EiM #215), the UK government has insisted that nothing had changed and that it is set to pass next week. Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said "there has been a lot of confusion over what this is all about" with minster Paul Scully insisting that media coverage had "not often been accurate". If you're still not sure what's going on, Tech Policy Press has a good history of the changes and controversies of the bill's short life and we can expect to happen next.
Also in this section...
- A Trio Of Failed Lawsuits Trying To Sue Websites For Moderating Content (Techdirt)
- Internet Governance and Digital Governance: Are They the Same Thing? (Tech Policy Press)
- How to Take Back the Internet (Wired)
- The Man Keeping Musk, Zuckerberg and Big Tech in Line in Europe (Bloomberg)