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Scott M. Stolz

Entrepreneur & Author

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2024-02-15 18:37:58

molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

if you know me you know i love a good takedown of shoddy, irresponsible journalism. this one from @mmasnick is a banger.

https://www.techdirt.com/2024/02/15/has-wired-given-up-on-fact-checking-publishes-facts-optional-screed-against-section-230-that-gets-almost-everything-wrong/

show all 39 comments

2024-03-08 08:16:30

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

@DeanBaker13

You have something posted on your site by a 3rd party. Someone sends you a takedown request that explains exactly what is defamatory and why. How can it be so hard to either take the material down or make a judgement that it can be safely ignored?

First of all, how will I know which one of you is telling the truth? I don't have a private investigator on staff that can research you and the other person to figure out which one of you is lying.

You claim that person is defaming you. That person says you are filing a false report and harassing them. Who exactly am I supposed to believe? Even if both sides provided evidence, how do I know that it wasn't fabricated?

And, what is worse, is that if I pick sides and am wrong, I could be held liable myself.

If the post violates our Terms of Service, we will remove it. For example, harassment, threats, etc. will be taken down. But since we don't know which one of you is lying, we will wait for a court order that tells us what to do. And we will comply with that court order.

2024-03-09 08:58:43

DeanBaker13

DeanBaker13@econtwitter.net

@scott Your call, print and broadcast outlets make this determination ALL THE TIME. I wouldn't think that people running Internet platforms are so much less competent.

2024-03-11 13:03:57

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

@DeanBaker13

Your call, print and broadcast outlets make this determination ALL THE TIME. I wouldn't think that people running Internet platforms are so much less competent.

I am surprised you would bring up the media as an example of someone making decisions on what is defamation or not. They don't make that determination at all. In fact, they regularly use the word "allegedly" so they can say what they want and not be liable for defamation. Because saying that a person "allegedly" did something is not legally the same as saying someone did something.

And you also have to factor in the difference between large media outlets and small players. The major media outlets have a legal department and small businesses usually don't. So, once again, you are harming small players that don't have lawyers on standby by going after the big guys.

And I am a bit shocked that you would think that the mainstream media is accurate and that they don't spread disinformation. Allegedly, they are the worse offenders.

Besides that, media outlets write their own materials or hire people to write materials and have full editorial control. Social media apps, forums, and mobile phone companies do NOT have the same control over what people say on their platform. You are comparing applies with oranges.

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