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Comment by _dain_ | Hacker News Reader

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_dain_·

>unchecked social media

Passive voice. Who exactly is supposed to do the "checking" and why should we trust them?

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Citizens. Through lawsuits. Currently we can't because of Section 230.

The "editorializing" may possibly be applied i think (not a lawyer) when the platform's manipulation of what a user sees is based on content. And the Youtube's banning of specific Covid and election content may be such an "editorializing", and thus Youtube may not have Section 230 protection at least in those cases.

Have you even read Section 230? Editorializing is irrelevant.

Nonsense. If social media users engage in fraud, slander, or libel then you can still hold them accountable through a civil lawsuit. Section 230 doesn't prevent this.

Will/can Facebook tell you the real identity of the user? If no then Facebook has to take responsibility for the fraud/slander/libel. Currently Section 230 means they can't be held responsible.

Yes. A plaintiff can file a civil lawsuit in a US court against a "John Doe" defendant and ask the court to order Facebook (or any online service) to turn over any data they have on the user's real identity. If the court agrees and issues the order then Facebook will comply: this is quite routine and happens all the time. The plaintiff can then amend the lawsuit to name specific defendants.

Section 230 is largely irrelevant to this process so I don't know why you'd bring it up. Have you ever even read the Communications Decency Act of 1996?

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