The US Supreme Court has the opportunity this week to all but reset the Internet, stripping away protections crafted in the earliest days of the World Wide Web, when the height of search was Alta Vista, 640x480 was considered acceptable video quality, and it was still cool to have an AOL email address.
However, the highest court in the US could find against YouTube/Google and officially change the rules of the game.Back when the law was written, online service providers and information services had a lot more in common with telecommunication companies than they did publishers and media companies. At times, it could be a passing interest like hiking or spinning clay pots. Or you could be having a bad day and start looking up angry, violent videos. The system identifies that interest, no matter how fleeting, and in an effort to keep you on-site and seeing more ads it feeds you more of the same.
When I look back at Section 230, I see it’s built on the premise that a free and unfettered Internet is a net-positive thing and online companies cannot be held responsible for what other people put on their platforms.