The Supreme Court could fundamentally reshape the law that determines whether and when tech companies can face legal liability for content posted on their sites. If you’re reading this column, chances are these changes could affect you.
Under our current legal framework, established over a quarter century ago (that’s about 200 years in internet-age years), huge technology companies such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are largely immune from being sued for content that users post on those sites. That means if you want to pop over to Facebook and post some defamatory statements about me, I can, with very few exceptions, sue you — but not Facebook.
If you’re reading this column, chances are these changes could affect you.
But the Supreme Court should not be the body to balance those interests. This week, the court is hearing oral arguments in two cases which ask when, under federal law, tech companies can face legal consequences for content on their sites. But, as a number of the justices repeatedly discussed during oral arguments in one of the cases, the court shouldn’t be the institution fashioning new rules for a new internet age. The court shouldn’t be the one creating new rules to balance the desire to protect tech companies, and prevent a floodgate of litigation, with the potential need to impose some liability on these giants. The court is interpreting federal statutes, not the Constitution, and therefore it is well within Congress’ purview to enact these changes. In fact, our representatives’ responsibility is to update our laws to reflect changing technology.
But because Congress appears mired in indecision, the court may be the one to reshape the rules for social media giants.
The issue in the first case, Gonzalez v. Google LLC, is whether a federal law protects social media companies from liability when those companies make recommendations to users about other users’ content or amplify certain content. Imagine that based on…
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