The Law That Made the Internet

A quick primer on Section 230.

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[colonelb]

Years ago, Oracle sued Google over 9 lines of code. Judge William Alsup didn't understand what the lawsuit was about, and so HE FAMOUSLY TAUGHT HIMSELF TO CODE so that he could be informed in the lawsuit. We need more lawmakers to take that approach when dealing with subject matter they aren't experts in.

[forxstsombodi]

hearing our government say 'we aren't exactly the right people to make this decision' is the most inspiring thing i think I've heard them say in my entire life.

[connorchristensen]

I think it's also important to note that Section 230 actually allows platforms to moderate their content. Before Section 230, deleting harmful or illegal content from your platform proved that you knew that it was there. The legal standard before 230 only punished companies if they knew about the illegal content, so the companies would turn a blind eye and not moderate anything. Weirdly, not making the companies liable for illegal content led to reductions in illegal and harmful content due to allowing moderation.

[japita]

I am sorry but after P4A it’s hard to reconcile that the thoughtful analysis in the video is by the same person who thinks bean filled twinkie is good

[Mohsin]

And people say hank is a science guy even when he explains laws in such a great way. An absolutely remarkable thing.😅

[sam-the-moomin]

I just finished a class on media law and we talked about Section 230 A LOT, and I talked about “we don’t know how to do this” in most of my discussions on the topic

[gbprime]

Nothing should stop Hank from recruiting us to his charitable cell!

[untappedinkwell]

I find it helpful to remind myself and others that we're still in the "this is new technology" stage. Like, this year, YouTube (if they were a person) would have just become eligible to vote. It's wild that something so (comparatively) young has had such a profound impact on the world, and that is well worth celebrating--but it's also well worth acknowledging that at 18, you're still dealing with a lot of growing pains.

[nechma]

It's been a rough week and I'm thankful vlogbrothers exists

[TheKrispyfort]

I'd argue there's a fundamental difference between requesting recommendation results after engaging with a search engine as opposed to the receiving of unsolicited recommendations.

Using a search engine is getting a sample pack you ordered in the post, while the unsolicited recommendations are the unaddressed advertising flyers - the junk mail - that are just put in there to drum up business

[yuvalne]

Honestly, this is the best most nuanced take I've seen about this and it's incredible it fits in 4 minutes.

[PeregrinWho]

LegalEagle had a great video explaining this, and I'm proud to see so many people help bring awareness and speak to the court. It is indeed very complicated, but at least we're trying.

[abdullahenani]

I love that vlogbrothers exist, thanks for mentioning this hank!

[elizajj]

Australia has infamously strict defamation laws, and recently our high court ruled that social media sites ARE liable if someone on them says something defamatory. I believe it was a gross misunderstanding of the way the internet works by our judges.

[silverandexact]

Wow, I didn't even know this was being heard by the Supreme Court. Thanks for the update/mini analysis/opinion, Hank!

[hannahk.]

“We Don’t Know How To Do This” is the title of the collection I’ve been building about exactly this and related things. Love the video!

[DeltaRA]

I always love vlogbrothers videos for having nuanced opinions. I am in the same boat as Hank; holding youtube responsible for ther recommendations seems like the right thing to do... but I don't know how we can do that or what would happen if we try. Real people are being harmed when "the algorithm" recommends certain types of content. We should be trying to stop that from happening. I really think that the structure of the internet and the way people use it needs to change. When I look at what's considered acceptable on sites like Twitter and Reddit it just blows my mind. I just don't know what to do.

[cynhanrahan]

Even before the internet (I'm old, I remember), we didn't know how to do the many communicating with many thing. Everything was on paper, written down by a human. Misquotation was really common, out of context was really common, it was just slower. Say by a day rather than seconds. I was the media contact for an organization on the local level. Which meant I wrote or at least proofread any content we submitted for publication, and also I was the one who got a microphone stuck in my face (or more than one microphone), and had to be able to give a 5 second, 10 second, or 15 second sound bite. Once spoken, it was up to whatever media platform recording my words to edit. Sometimes for content and intent, which really ticked me off because they printed retractions is seriously innocuous spots, or if tv/radio, sometimes not at all.

[bloomfilms]

Sent this to my journalism professor, who not only talked about ChatGPT in it's relation to classes, but also Section 230 with our body of students. This feels like the TLDR or trying to explain it- if you can in under 4 minutes

[a_Just_Nichole]

With technology so new, ofc we don't know how to do it! At least you're asking insightful questions and caring about the possibilities that could come from it. Thanks Hank!!