i think we still have a vestigial sense of social media as democratic/for the little guy, where anyone can post and precipitate change. not only is it not that, but the algorithms have turned it into the opposite, where algorithms float up the little guys to give them a virality-fueled beatdown https://www.shesabeast.co/gym-creep-tiktok-joeyswoll-social-media-justice/

related to this, i would love to have someone explain to me how the editorial choices that algorithms are don't exempt facebook tiktok instagram et al from section 230. i don't even remotely understand how section 230 is still at risk based on how they operate now

@caseyjohnston it’s a risk because there’s at least two “justices” who want to rewrite the law to favor conservatives, regardless of the real world.

@NoahDeuce fair

@caseyjohnston i listened to the arguments today and it was way more interesting (and cogent) than i expected!! i heard two claims, one was that literally any method of surfacing content, either “related” to the video you just watched or just related to the content you’re searching for or even just last ten uploaded videos represents “an algorithm” qed you can’t treat an algorithm as a deciding factor for whether somebody is a Publisher. claim 2 was that all recommended content should be interpreted as an extension of your search results that (surprise!) you influence by your very engagement with the site, and search results are known to be protected under existing law (i guess?) and by themselves don’t qualify a site for the responsibilities of being a Publisher (at least as far as the lawyers were concerned?!). i feel like the “everything is a search result” argument was a pretty radical position though. honestly an interesting listen.

@nsfmc hmm both of these feel to me like "what tech companies would like everyone to believe", what content they serve me based on "my search results" is still such a matter of interpretation!! the fact that such a definition doesn't seem like to would have an enforceable, practical, objective limit of "stuff i'd like to see "points that way, to me

@caseyjohnston agree 100%