News Update 6/25: We're Supposed to be the Good Guys

Moderated Content

Stanford’s Evelyn Douek and Alex Stamos weigh in on the latest online trust and safety news and developments:

• The attention grabbing 404 Media headline “Has Facebook Stopped Trying?” could be on to something. Alex discusses significant disinvestment in trust and safety at Facebook with lots of junk spreading (such as AI-generated Shrimp Jesus) and a sextortion challenge. - Jason Koebler/ 404 Media
• YouTube announced it is testing a feature for users to add notes under videos with context or fact checks. - YouTube
• The U.S. military ran a covert anti-vaccine influence operation on social media intended to discredit China’s COVID vaccine in the Philippines. - Chris Bing, Joel Schectman. Reuters
• U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for a warning label on social media platforms in a New York Times opinion essay. - Vivek Murthy/ The New York Times, “The Daily”, Erin Burnett/ CNN
  • Not everyone agrees with his recommendation (not to mention the First Amendment or existing evidence). - Clay Calvert/ AEI, Deidre McPhillips/ CNN, J. Nathan Matias, Janet Haven/ Tech Policy Press, Mike Masnick/ The Daily Beast, Caroline Mimbs Nyce/ The Atlantic
  • They reference this report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine - National Academies
    • And this one pager
• New York state lawmakers passed and Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act prohibiting social media companies from using “addictive” algorithmic feeds for minors under 18 without parental consent. - Anthony Izaguirre/ Associated Press, Carolyn Thompson/ Associated Press, Mark Wilson/ Fast Company, Kat Tenbarge/ NBC News, Austin Jenkins/ Pluribus News, Anthony Ha/ TechCrunch, Common Sense Media, Governor of New York
  • Negotiations at the end of the state legislative session on June 6 limited a restriction on overnight notifications and removed the right to take private legal action against social media companies for alleged violations.
  • Tech trade associations oppose the legislation arguing it is unconstitutional with free speech restrictions that make children less safe with less curation of social media feeds. - Chamber of Progress, NetChoice

Join the conversation and connect with Evelyn and Alex on Twitter at @evelyndouek and @alexstamos.

Moderated Content is produced in partnership by Stanford Law School and the Cyber Policy Center. Special thanks to John Perrino for research and editorial assistance.

Like what you heard? Don’t forget to subscribe and share the podcast with friends!