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Jury finds Meta liable in case over child sexual exploitation on its platforms

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Re: Jury finds Meta liable in case over child sexual exploitation on its platforms

#241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Millennial, I'm sad to say that it wasn't even older generations' fault, but our own (+Gen X). The tipping point was letting in normies who traded in photos and money instead of text and art.

Elitism and selectivity were actually features of the early Internet. High barriers to entry (tech savvy, literacy) ensured that there was a high signal to noise ratio, and thus you had, let's say, upper quartile participants concentrated in one (forum of) fora. LLMs are now heralding the Eternal September of even software engineering, and now I am wondering where to hang up my Techpriest robes in search of more elit…

I mean, one can always get an older machine and code everything as holy binary chant not only impress the youngsters, but also impose level of distance from the 'limited by llms'.

FWIW, I like the analogy despite seeing a benefit to knowing the original languages to studying scripture.

Re: Jury finds Meta liable in case over child sexual exploitation on its platforms

#242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually. Meta is spending millions to push the age verification requirement off to the app store providers, such as Google and Apple. It's an attempt to shield Meta from liability, transfer it to the app providers.

>to push the age verification requirement off to the app store providers, and makes more sense, Apple and Google have your credit card , or if you are a parent that bought soem phone for you child then at first boot up as a parent should be your job to setup a child account.

> Apple and Google have your credit card

They don't have mine.

Even if they did, having a credit card is not proof of age.

> if you are a parent that bought soem phone for you child then at first boot up as a parent should be your job to setup a child account

Setting up a "child account" shouldn't involve setting some age field. Setting up a "child account" should involve restricting permissions.

Why leave it to the OS or a company to decide what is "age appropriate"? Leave it to the parent to decide what the child should or should not have access to. Extra bonus: that same "child account" can then also be used for other restricted purposes. Want a guest account which limits activity? Want an incognito account? Want a sandbox account? None of these should require setting some age.

Re: Jury finds Meta liable in case over child sexual exploitation on its platforms

#243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The state of New Mexico presumably as they brought the suit.

...so, not only the EU does this kind of thing.

Sues companies breaking the law? I’m glad we still do some of that here.

Re: Jury finds Meta liable in case over child sexual exploitation on its platforms

#244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ask is to treat users differently based on age. How can they do that without verifying their users age?

we should be removing the harmful aspects of modern social, which are harmful for everyone not just minors, by making them unprofitable or even outright illegal. Instead we are saying "only adults should use this" which, while technically regulating the industry, places the restriction on users. We're treating it like tobacco or alcohol (2 industries who have similarly spent millions upon millions of dollars in lobby…

OK, so what would be in the text of this law making it enforceable and not easily game-able by the social media companies and without severe unintended consequences?

Re: Jury finds Meta liable in case over child sexual exploitation on its platforms

#245
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The general public is being told they are faced with a crisis. This has been a problem for at least a decade, yet suddenly it's at the forefront and conveniently ties into ID verification for everyone to use general purpose computing. I'm sorry but if you don't think there's a conspiracy I have a bridge to sell you. It was already unveiled that Meta has lobbied billions towards promoting this legislative change

You're arguing there's a conspiracy, but even if there is, what is the best action for governments to take given the devastating impact social media has been demonstrated to have on young people especially?

I don’t know what the solution is, but introducing mass surveillance of ALL users on their own devices hurts the general population - do you think it will solve the problem?

Re: Jury finds Meta liable in case over child sexual exploitation on its platforms

#246
post #239

We used to believe in freedom of speech and freedom of association. Since the dawn of the Internet era, we've had a legal principle that platforms are relatively shielded from liability for what their users do. It's the Internet. There's sexual content and sketchy characters on it. Occasionally people will encounter them -- even if they're under 18. Anyone who grew up in the mid-1990s or later, think back to your own…

>we've had a legal principle that platforms are relatively shielded from liability for what their users do.

...when they've made a good faith effort to address harms.

Re: Jury finds Meta liable in case over child sexual exploitation on its platforms

#247

Regulate and fine social media and adtech companies until its no longer economically feasible to generate the massive profits and stock valuations that is prompting this garbage.

Just have to read the quarterly conference calls between Zuck and Wall Street. Both groups are in total denial. And will be till we never hear from Zuck ever again.

Re: Jury finds Meta liable in case over child sexual exploitation on its platforms

#248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook was the Eternal September of the Web. Netiquette died when it was made generally available, as did the culture that spawned it.

I think you can tell approximately how old someone is by when they believe Eternal September started on the internet. Nobody believes it was when they started enjoying the internet. It was always when some other generation or service arrived after them. The internet was not a calm and well behaved place before Facebook arrived. The original “Eternal September” was in the early 90s. Usenet, forums, Reddit, comment sec…

So many words and you missed the most important one: "netiquette"

That's the whole point: the word exists precisely as a testament to something that used to exist but now doesn't.

Anybody old enough to remember the word when it was common use should realize that it would have been impossible for the term to be coined in 2026.

If you missed that part of the Internet (maybe you were too young or maybe you were focused on other things, like the vast majority of people in the 90s), that's totally fine, but plenty of us did experience it and remember it pretty clearly.

> Usenet, forums, Reddit, comment sections, and every other social part of the internet have been full of bad behavior long before Facebook came along.

You can tell approximately how old someone is by whether they have reached the "everything sucks" part of life yet or not.

Re: Jury finds Meta liable in case over child sexual exploitation on its platforms

#249

The same company intentionally driving minors towards this content (despite claiming to care about them) is also lobbying in secrecy for requiring all of us to scan our ID and face in order to use our phones and computers. Their stated reason? Child safety. Their actual reason? You can figure that out.

Actually. Meta is spending millions to push the age verification requirement off to the app store providers, such as Google and Apple. It's an attempt to shield Meta from liability, transfer it to the app providers.

They are winning.

In the UK, you cannot use App Store and iPhone (your own phone) without verifying your identity:

https://x.com/WindsorDebs/status/2036727466597712008

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