In the span of just 48 hours this week, two separate juries in two different US states delivered verdicts that could reshape the entire social media industry — not because of the dollar amounts involved, but because of what those verdicts legally establish for the first time. On Tuesday, March 24, a jury in Santa Fe, New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $375 million for failing to protect children from sexual exploitation on Facebook and Instagram. Less than 24 hours later, on Wednesday, March 25, a jury in Los Angeles found both Meta and Google (YouTube) liable for engineering addiction in young users — finding them negligent in the design of their platforms and awarding a further $6 million in damages. Two days. Two states. Two juries. Both pointing at the same conclusion: that Big Tech can no longer hide behind the legal shields it has relied on for nearly three decades. This is the story of what happened, why it matters far beyond the headline numbers, and what comes next for the s...
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| Image Credit: DigitialTrends |
After the SOPA fiasco where the internet stood still for a day the US congress now wants to push ahead with a bill Called CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act). This bill like SOPA is causing quiet a stir online. With techdirt stating that 'With this bill the Government is saying that the 4th amendment does not exist for people online. And as long as the US Government can claim that an individual committed a cyber security crime they can do whatever they want with information collected from an someone's online activity.
In a Q&A article Cnet goes on to describe this bill as a way for the US government to spy on its own citizens. it would give the Gov the right to monitor Social Networks and more than that even Internet Service providers. Which would essentially give them the power to monitor all activity of everyone online in the US.
The national.ae also goes on to report that the bill has the support of Facebook and Google - two giants of the internet. Does this mean that even though these companies have Privacy Policies it will go up in smoke if this bill is passed?. People join these services and trust their internet service providers to protect them and their rights. Large companies however seems to be willing to share user data with the Government. The US Gov also claims that this bill is to help them stall threats from Russian and China and online hackers who plan to attack essential US systems online.
Reddit has a post called 'A quick note on CISPA and related bills'
It’s the weekend and and many of us admins are away, but we wanted to come together and say something aboutCISPA (and the equivalent cyber security bills in the Senate — S. 2105 and S. 2151). We will be sharing more about these issues in the coming days as well as trying to recruit experts for IAMAs and other discussions on reddit.
There’s been much discussion, anger, confusion, and conflicting information about CISPA as well as reddit's position on it. Thank you for rising to the front lines, getting the word out, gathering information, and holding our legislators and finally us accountable. That’s the reddit that we’re proud to be a part of, and it’s our responsibility as citizens and a community to identify, rally against, and take action against legislation that impacts our internet freedoms.
We’ve got your back, and we do care deeply about these issues, but *your* voice is the one that matters here. To effectively approach CISPA, the Senate cyber security bills, and anything else that may threaten the internet, we must focus on how the reddit community as a whole can make the most positive impact communicating and advocating against such bills, and how we can help.
Our goal is to figure out how all of us can help protect a free, private, and open internet, now, and in the future. As with the SOPA debate, we have a huge opportunity to make an impact here. Let’s make the most of it.
Reddit was very successful in their 'Stop SOPA' blackout but there is another draconian law about to be passed and Reddit seems to be rising again to protect the internet and the freedom it empowers. The privacy of people who use the internet is always under threat from various government around the world and the US seems to keep relentlessly trying to policy its citizens online. Leave a note or comment below with your thoughts on the same.
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