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A South Carolina lawmaker is suing Instagram after his son died by suicide

cnn.com

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Re: A South Carolina lawmaker is suing Instagram after his son died by suicide

#41

Post by auggierose »

andy99 wrote: post #3
giantg2 wrote: post #2

Maybe if we weren't so puritanical, this would be less of an issue. So you have a picture of my junk? Ok... nobody wants it and it isn't worth anything. Should I be embarrassed that I have something 50% of other humans have? It'd be interesting to see the differences int his sort of crime in more open cultures.

There have been some high profile cases of people standing up to similar scams, including Bezos. It (standing up to bullies - edit: extortionists is a better characterization than bully) is commendable behvaior and needs to be better publicized as such, hopefully it will make some people feel more comfortable doing the same.

Somebody like Bezos probably just sends out hitmen after anybody trying this with him.

Re: A South Carolina lawmaker is suing Instagram after his son died by suicide

#42

Post by devoutsalsa »

giantg2 wrote: post #2

Maybe if we weren't so puritanical, this would be less of an issue. So you have a picture of my junk? Ok... nobody wants it and it isn't worth anything. Should I be embarrassed that I have something 50% of other humans have? It'd be interesting to see the differences int his sort of crime in more open cultures.

Now I'm wondering if 1-800-GOT-JUNK has a secret list of services.

Re: A South Carolina lawmaker is suing Instagram after his son died by suicide

#43

Post by whatshisface »

MeImCounting wrote: post #33
watt wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does not necessarily need to be picture of anyone's junk. It does not need even to be a picture. So let's focus on the real issue here. Puritanism or whatever, extortion needs to be impossible.

How does someone make extortion impossible? What does that look like?

We could all agree that you get forgiven for anything publicized by a blackmailer.

Re: A South Carolina lawmaker is suing Instagram after his son died by suicide

#45

Post by thex10 »

I recently watched a documentary[0] about the social media dangers for children. It mostly centers around narratives & interviews from a variety of people young and old, and in my opinion decently avoids trite pearl-clutching over vague assumptions about 'technology' or any particular company. Among other things, I am a bit floored by how much child suicide has increased over the past decades.

[0] "Childhood 2.0" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He3IJJhFy-I

Re: A South Carolina lawmaker is suing Instagram after his son died by suicide

#46

Post by idontpost »

cybrox wrote: post #34
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #4

I think the bad guy extortionist should be held accountable but if Instagram cannot identify them then Instagram should be held accountable. These platforms need more traceability. If Instagram were liable for anon bad actors illegal behavior then Instagram would clean up their act with a quickness. There is no incentive to fix anything on these platforms with the current rules.

I see where this is coming from but making platforms fully liable for user content will make it impossible to start a business that includes (semi-) public user interaction at all. Only FAANG-size companies will be able to afford the legal fees attached to that idea.

> I see where this is coming from but making platforms fully liable for user content will make it impossible to start a business that includes (semi-) public user interaction at all

So? What value have these platforms provided that justifies their existence?

Re: A South Carolina lawmaker is suing Instagram after his son died by suicide

#47

Post by cafard »

auggierose wrote: post #41
andy99 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There have been some high profile cases of people standing up to similar scams, including Bezos. It (standing up to bullies - edit: extortionists is a better characterization than bully) is commendable behvaior and needs to be better publicized as such, hopefully it will make some people feel more comfortable doing the same.

Somebody like Bezos probably just sends out hitmen after anybody trying this with him.

Not so effective when they guy trying it is the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, and has demonstrated that he has quite efficient hitmen of his own.

Re: A South Carolina lawmaker is suing Instagram after his son died by suicide

#48

Post by MeImCounting »

whatshisface wrote: post #43
MeImCounting wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does someone make extortion impossible? What does that look like?

We could all agree that you get forgiven for anything publicized by a blackmailer.

So kind of like getting rid of puritanical moral standards across society? There are some things people deserve to feel shame for (basically anything you intentionally do that hurts other people). Having junk between your legs is not one of those things. Ditto for 99% of the other things people get blackmailed for.

Re: A South Carolina lawmaker is suing Instagram after his son died by suicide

#49

Post by gnfargbl »

ImPostingOnHN wrote: post #35

I hope this will encourage the lawmaker to ask more of law enforcement. It's their job to track this down. I'm sure Instagram would comply with whatever warrants were issued to them, even ones I'd personally prefer they not. It's unfortunate that it took this happening to a congresscritter, in their privilege of perfect law enforcement preference, otherwise blind to how LEOs aren't doing their job, to do something .…

[flagged]

Re: A South Carolina lawmaker is suing Instagram after his son died by suicide

#50

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

cybrox wrote: post #34
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #4

I think the bad guy extortionist should be held accountable but if Instagram cannot identify them then Instagram should be held accountable. These platforms need more traceability. If Instagram were liable for anon bad actors illegal behavior then Instagram would clean up their act with a quickness. There is no incentive to fix anything on these platforms with the current rules.

I see where this is coming from but making platforms fully liable for user content will make it impossible to start a business that includes (semi-) public user interaction at all. Only FAANG-size companies will be able to afford the legal fees attached to that idea.

I don't think this is true at all. I think that in an alternate reality where Section 230 never happened then standards would have been created by the industry to tackle the problem.

I'm not sure they should be fully liable but being fully immune is ridiculous. I don't know what the answer is but the current incentives are not working.

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