Florida Social Media Law Prioritizes Politicians Over the Public
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From conspiracy theories to anti-Semitic claims to doxing and AR-15 giveaways, political candidates can post a variety of questionable content to social media. Platforms commonly remove, make less visible, or label posts like these that violate their terms of service or other content rules.
But an unconstitutional new Florida law, S.B. 7072, would restrict platforms' ability to moderate this content, or permanently ban the posters, when the posters are political candidates. The law is part of a disturbing trend of politicians trying to either control social media platforms' content moderation practices or browbeat them into ending such practices altogether.
The effects of the law are concerning: it will let candidates post disinformation, incitement to violence, and harassing content without facing the same serious repercussions as other users. What's more, the bar for becoming a political candidate in Florida is low, allowing almost anyone to exploit the law and violate social media platforms' rules. Overall, key provisions of the law will lead to a drastic increase in this sort of content, making social media platforms less useful and more dangerous for users, and make running such platforms much more difficult and expensive.
As the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) recently highlighted in an amicus brief led by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Florida law violates the First Amendment rights of online services, puts press freedoms at risk, and is disastrous or social media users and the public. We called for the court to prohibit Florida officials from enforcing the law, and to ultimately strike it down.
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CDT's 2020 Annual Report is here! Its title, Bridging the Divide, underscores our mission of tackling the tensions between democracy and technology and working to center civil rights and civil liberties in the digital age. Read on for more about CDT's most important advocacy of 2020, including our work fighting for human rights in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, advancing equity in technology policy, and protecting the future of public discourse as the problem of mis- and disinformation grows around the globe.
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CDT was joined by Tech Freedom and the Brennan Center in an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to determine whether border officials can search cell phones, computers, and other digital devices of travelers who cross the U.S. border, even when those officials have no suspicion that the device contains digital contraband. We argue that a warrant should be required, because such searches can reveal a wealth of information about the traveler and the traveler's activities and associations.
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CDT in the PressCDT Director of Policy Samir Jain discussed new online intermediary rules in India with Voice of America: "Absent a change in direction, the future of free speech in the world's largest democracy is increasingly imperiled. Users will have less freedom of expression and less access to news and entertainment that is unapproved by the government. the rules will thereby undermine Indian democracy."
CDT Policy Consultant Namrata Maheshwari explored the privacy implications of the new Indian rules with NPR: "At present, these platforms are not in a position to discern who is sending which message to whom. But the moment they have to comply with a traceability requirement, they have to change that, which means every message that every user sends on the platform now has some kind of identifier tracing it back to the sender."
Samir also discussed the federal government's failure to pass a federal privacy law with Axios: "The administration and some of the relevant leaders in Congress, and chairs in the relevant committees, are going to need to make it a priority for it to happen."
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CDT "in Person"
Have you listened to the latest episode of CDT's podcast, Tech Talk? Join host Jamal Magby in a discussion on some of the impacts of mis- and disinformation on communities of color, and across gender identity. Featuring Maria Rodriguez, Assistant Professor at SUNY Buffalo and CDT Fellow, and DeVan Hankerson Madrigal, CDT's Research Manager, you don't want to miss this!
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CDT is pleased to announce our 2021 Tech Prom on Wednesday October 20, 2021, from 5:30PM—10:00PM at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. Tech Prom is an invitation-only evening bringing together guests from across the tech policy community. We are currently in the early stages of sponsor outreach. If you are interested in sponsoring Tech Prom, you can learn more here.
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Partner Spotlight
CDT is proud to partner with Upturn on our equity and justice work. Together, we continually advocate at the federal and state levels against discriminatory data-driven practices used from benefits determinations to employment, including the creation of a set of civil rights principles on the use of AI in hiring. Upturn is a civil society group dedicated to advancing equity and justice in the design, governance, and use of technology. You can learn more about Upturn and their work on their website.
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Staff SpotlightEmma Llansó, Director, Free Expression Project
How long have you been working in digital rights? Since the summer of 2008 — when I was an intern at CDT!
What is your proudest moment while here at CDT? Over nearly 12 years on staff at CDT, there are too many to count. But my most recent pride and joy is definitely our new paper on automated content analysis, Do You See What I See? For the past five years or so, we've been working at CDT to demystify machine learning tools, as applied to content analysis, and I'm so proud to see our latest effort come out under the new CDT Research insignia!
What is the best book you've read recently? I really enjoyed Kim Stanley Robinson's Ministry of the Future, a long, extremely wonky examination of where the science, economics, and politics of climate change may be headed—if you're into his style. (Some of the chapters are notes from a fictive UN agency's committee meeting!) But for beautiful prose, I'd have to go with our recent CDT Book Club entry, How Much of These Hills Is Gold? by C. Pam Zhang.
Cats or dogs? I truly love 'em both, but I've been a cat aficionado since I was a toddler. I started fostering for the first time during the pandemic, foster-failed pretty much immediately ("What do you mean, I have to send them home with someone else?"), and am now the delighted owner of an opinionated little creamsicle named Nala. Catch her interrupting the next CDT Working Group call!
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