The actions reflected how the platforms have increasingly cracked down over the years on material that hates or threatens groups based on race, religion and other factors.
But a change in ownership and the legal landscape for the industry could soon change that.
Instagram, owned by Facebook parent company Meta, suspended Ye on Friday after he suggested another rapper was controlled by Jewish people, a common anti-Semitic trope.
Shortly after, Ye was shut down from his Twitter account for separately tweeting that he would be doing “3 deaths on JEWISH PEOPLE.”
Like my colleague Will Oremus and I has written last night, “a conservative-led movement to curb what some see as ‘censorship’ by Silicon Valley giants is poised to change the way they approach such decisions.”
Under a tough Texas law signed last year, social media companies cannot “censor a user” based on their “viewpoint,” a safeguard that could shield posts like Ye’s from social media rules against material that widely condemned as hateful or threatening.
The law exempts cases where the content “directly incites criminal activity or consists of specific threats of violence aimed at a person or group” based on characteristics, including race or religion. But it is unclear whether Ye’s remarks on Twitter would meet the legal standard for incitement, given that it has not yet been “directly” linked to any criminal activity.
Platforms may also not see the remarks as a “specific” enough threat of violence, given that Ye used a euphemism and spoke broadly about a protected religious class.
Ye’s earlier Instagram post, which relied on anti-Semitic tropes, appears less likely to be protected by the law’s exemption, as it did not contain any overt threats or calls for violence.
Under Texas law, users like Ye can argue that such comments qualify as a legally protected point of view that social media platforms are prohibited from “censoring.”
Twitter and Instagram declined to say which specific rules Ye’s posts violated.
“Texas law denies websites the choice to decide whether this content is appropriate for their users or not.” Carl Szabovice president of technology trade group NetChoice, said of Ye’s post.
Netchoice, which counts Facebook, Twitter and Amazon as members, is pushing to have the Texas law struck down in court. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
Uncertainty about whether a vague but threateningly anti-Semitic post will be protected under Texas law may prompt platforms to make it safe and leave it up, fearing legal ramifications if they remove it.
“Illustrates the extreme difficulty of knowing what to do at all as a platform operating in Texas.” Daphne Keller, who directs Stanford University’s Program on Platform Regulation, told Will. “Certainly the safest thing to do is to leave it, and it may be that that is what the law really requires.”
Legal experts have warned that the dynamic could have a chilling effect on companies’ efforts at moderation and lead to a proliferation of online hate speech.
Elon Musk, who recently renewed his push to buy Twitter, has also hinted that he is likely to scale back the platform’s content moderation practices, albeit in vague terms.
Musk has called himself a “free speech absolutist” and has slammed some of Twitter’s most high-profile decisions, including the former president’s suspension. Donald Trump.
Musk initially declined to comment on Ye’s post, while offering the rapper a warm welcome upon his return to the site, tweeting Saturday, “Welcome back to Twitter my friend!” But on Monday, Musk posted on Twitter“I spoke to you today and expressed my concerns about his latest tweet, which I think you took to heart.”
A host of conservative leaders have called for Musk to take the reins on Twitter and crack down on the platform’s “censorship,” saying it would be a victory for “free speech.”
Some Republican lawmakers have openly called for Musk to scale back the company’s efforts to combat hate speech in particular. Here is Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.):
If Elon Musk @elonmusk buys twitter, it should reinstate any account banned for so-called ‘hate speech’, ‘disinformation’ or any other made-up term used by the left to silence their opposition.
Restore them ALL!
— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) October 4, 2022
Twitter expands Birdwatch and Covid-19 topics are most frequently checked
The crowd-sourced platform’s fact-checking tool last week expanded to all users, Verge’s Corinne Fife reports. Twitter executives have suggested the tool would be stronger at moderating posts that aren’t covered by Twitter’s misinformation policies or don’t receive fact-checking resources from the company, but the topics that dominate the tool are already covered by the company’s misinformation policies. . Faife reports.
“Birdwatch data released by Twitter shows that Covid-related topics are by far the most common topic addressed in Birdwatch notes,” Faife writes. “Furthermore, many of the accounts that posted the tweets that were flagged have since been suspended, suggesting that Twitter’s internal review process is catching content violations and taking action.”
Shares of China’s major technology firms and chipmakers fall after US restrictions
A Chinese semiconductor index fell nearly 7 percent and some chipmakers saw an even worse trading day, Reuters reports. The backlash from Chinese markets came days after the US government announced sweeping restrictions to limit Chinese access to chips.
“The measures will hamper China’s chip sector and cancel numerous growth plans and potentially stifle innovation in both East and West,” AJ Bell analyst Danni Hewson told Reuters. “There will be many boardrooms hosting high-level meetings over the next few days considering the implications of US export controls.”
The billionaire tech investor says he has officially renounced his Russian citizenship
Yuri Milnerwho was born in Russia, posted on Twitter Monday that his family “formally completed the process of renouncing Russian citizenship” this summer, but he did not elaborate on the timing of the tweet, and a spokeswoman declined to comment, the Wall Street Journal said. Joseph Pisani reports.
Milner’s tech investment firm, DST Global, has invested in Facebook, Twitter, Snap and Airbnb, among others. On his website, he says he has no assets in Russia and hasn’t been there since 2014.
Microsoft insiders describe a leadership vacuum at the metaverse unit (Business Insider)
Workers say Meta canceled job offers weeks before engineers planned moves to London (Business Insider)
Chinese state tries to manipulate technology for global influence, warns GCHQ chief (The Independent)
Fat Bear Week Hits With Big Scandal – Fake Votes (Bloomberg News)
- Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and President of MIT L. Rafael Reif discuss American innovation at a Washington Post Live event today at 1:30 p.m
- Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and Indiana Gov. Eric J. Holcomb (R) discuss the French Fries Act and science at a Washington Post Live event Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
that‘That’s all for today – thank you so much for joining us! Be sure to tell others to subscribe of technology 202 here. Get in touch with tips, comments or greetings I tweet or email.
