Julian Sarafian
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California Assembly Bill 587 regulating social media companies is now law in California.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA, October 26, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Julian Sarafian, creator, attorney, and advocate, announces his support for Governor Gavin Newsom signing California Assembly Bill 587 into law.
He tells us:
“It’s great because content moderation is a huge problem on social media. Specifically, inconsistently applied principles, failure of platforms to adequately regulate their content, and social media companies failure to give their content moderation teams enough resources to do their job effectively.”
“More transparency would force these companies to be more consistent when they moderate content. Creators complain of inconsistent and unpredictable standards for content – some creators get banned for something that others are free to post.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom says:
“California will not stand by as social media is weaponized to spread hate and disinformation that threaten our communities and foundational values as a country. Californians deserve to know how these platforms are impacting our public discourse, and this action brings much-needed transparency and accountability to the policies that shape the social media content we consume every day. I thank Assembly member Gabriel for championing this important measure to protect Californians from hate, harassment and lies spread online.”
Some would counter the devil is in the details. A reading of AB 587 reveals social media companies are now required to report their definitions of:
(A) Hate speech or racism.
(B) Extremism or radicalization.
(C) Disinformation or misinformation.
(D) Harassment.
(E) Foreign political interference.
Who decides, for example, what ‘hate speech’ is?
What if the definition doesn’t match up with the whims of government regulators?
What is ‘extremism’?
Who decides?
Social media is not just a place for cute kitten pictures. It’s where ideas are communicated with the world. Social media is the modern equivalent of the town square. Freedom of Speech should be among the most hallowed priorities of social media companies.
As Sarafian celebrates, few would argue against greater transparency from social media companies. They’ve proven themselves opaque on every level on every subject. It’s almost as if secrecy is key to their control over what they allow to be published.
Sarafian is also correct in stating courts will be busy for many years sorting out whether or not government can regulate social media without running afoul of the First Amendment.
Julian Sarafian is a graduate of UC Berkeley (BA, economics) and Harvard Law, former biglaw associate turned content creator and lawyer for creators, influencers, and small businesses with his law firm For Creators by Creators, PC.
He can be reached at his website:
https://www.juliansarafian.com
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