Facebook Gives Self More Room for Censorship in New Service Terms

CYBERSPACE—Beginning October 1,  the social media platform Facebook will grant itself new rights to censor user content, especially in cases where that content may cause Facebook to get sued. The internet giant made the announcement earlier this week, according to a report by the technology news magazine Fast Company.  “Effective October 1, 2020, section 3.2 of our Terms of Service will be updated to include: ‘We also can remove or restrict access to your content, services or information if we determine that doing so is reasonably necessary to avoid or mitigate adverse legal or regulatory impacts to Facebook,’” the company wrote in the announcement, which popped up in Facebook user timelines in the United States, India and Australia. In an indication that the move may be in anticipation of upcoming changes to Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, the law widely known as the “First Amendment of the Internet,” Facebook also issued a preemptive disclaimer, announcing that the company is not responsible for user content, including advertisements. “We also don’t control what people and others do and say, and we aren’t responsible for their (or your) actions or conduct (whether online or offline) or content (including unlawful or objectionable content),” the company said in the statement.  Section 230 protects platforms from facing lawsuits or criminal proceedings over content posted by users. But legislative efforts to roll back Section 230 protections have come from both sides of the political aisle. The Donald Trump administration has also issued an order to the Federal Communications Commission to “review” the 24-year-old law, with an eye to weakening the law, and holding platforms more responsible for third-party content. According to the Fast Company analysis, however, the new Terms of Service provision may be a response to a proposed law in Australia, which would require Facebook to make payments to the publishers of news content and other copyrighted material posted by users. Facebook fears that the if successful in Australia, other countries may also adopt the payment demands. In a blog post on August 31, Facebook said that if the Australian law took effect, it would “reluctantly” ban users in that country from sharing any news articles at all on the social media site. In the post, Facebook called the possible ban on news posts “the only way to protect against an outcome that defies logic and will hurt, not help, the long-term vibrancy of Australia’s news and media sector.” Photo By Thomas Ulrich / Pixabay