Brazil's Supreme Court clears way to hold social media liable for user content

For my take on those news, check here. Including context. Here I'll solely talk about the comments in that cesspool of idiocy.

[1]All this does if make things worse. [2] Things like banning the sale of personal information would be a step in the right direction.

1: It's too early to know what'll happen. It might make things better, worse, or the same.

2: I agree that the sale of personal info should be outright banned; one's control over their own data should be seen as an inalienable right.

Note currently there's an ongoing law project seeking to assign property rights to individuals over their personal data. IMO a side-step - on one hand it means you'd have an easier time suing megacorpos for stealing your data, on another it means they can still press you to share it.

A big issue here would be defining social media. // Are forums social media? What about reddit? What about YouTube? // I think what we really need is a ban on algorithmic recommendations that seek to encourage engagement or total time spent on the app.

The article 19 of the Marco Civil da Internet - that the STF is getting rid of - does not talk about "social media", but rather "provedor de aplicações de internet" (lit. internet application provider). It's basically anyone providing internet services to a third party.

As such, "ackshyually wut teh definishun of sacial meria" is not a relevant concern.

US Social Media should just cancel service to that territory.

I kind of low-key wish that that happened, those megacorpos are cancer. But it won't - no megacorpos would unnecessarily restrict its own market.

But let's roll with that. The impact of that would be hilariously small: a single month of disruption, then business as usual. For reference check what happened when ~~the dickhead~~ Alexandre de Moraes banned Twitter, almost everybody and their caramel-coloured dog migrated to Bluesky. Once a platform is gone so is the network effect associated with it.

2 comments

Can't hold corporations accountable for their own actions — ecocide, manslaughter, fraud, wage theft — but we can hold them liable for user actions?
For my take on those news, check here. Including context. Here I'll solely talk about the comments in that cesspool of idiocy.
[1]All this does if make things worse. [2] Things like banning the sale of personal information would be a step in the right direction.
1: It's too early to know what'll happen. It might make things better, worse, or the same.
2: I agree that the sale of personal info should be outright banned; one's control over their own data should be seen as an inalienable right.
Note currently there's an ongoing law project seeking to assign property rights to individuals over their personal data. IMO a side-step - on one hand it means you'd have an easier time suing megacorpos for stealing your data, on another it means they can still press you to share it.
A big issue here would be defining social media. // Are forums social media? What about reddit? What about YouTube? // I think what we really need is a ban on algorithmic recommendations that seek to encourage engagement or total time spent on the app.
The article 19 of the Marco Civil da Internet - that the STF is getting rid of - does not talk about "social media", but rather "provedor de aplicações de internet" (lit. internet application provider). It's basically anyone providing internet services to a third party.
As such, "ackshyually wut teh definishun of sacial meria" is not a relevant concern.
US Social Media should just cancel service to that territory.
I kind of low-key wish that that happened, those megacorpos are cancer. But it won't - no megacorpos would unnecessarily restrict its own market.
But let's roll with that. The impact of that would be hilariously small: a single month of disruption, then business as usual. For reference check what happened when ~~the dickhead~~ Alexandre de Moraes banned Twitter, almost everybody and their caramel-coloured dog migrated to Bluesky. Once a platform is gone so is the network effect associated with it.