Today’s social media apps are no strangers to lawsuits as they are constantly up against one or the other, but this time the case went to the Supreme Court. A large number of people, from businesses to Internet users to academics and even human rights experts, have come to the defense of Big Tech in a case brought before the Supreme Court on Thursday involving YouTube’s algorithms. This has led some to say that removing AI-based algorithms from eligibility under federal copyright laws will bring about changes that will completely shake up the world of the open internet.
The group lobbying for the court includes very big names in the tech market like Meta, Microsoft and Twitter, as well as some of Big Tech’s most vocal critics, including Yelp and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. At the same time, Reddit and some of its volunteer moderators also got involved.
The law that could potentially tip the tide in Big Tech’s favor is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which states that all websites are protected by this law and cannot be held liable for third-party content. which have been shared on their website and therefore they cannot be prosecuted for these messages.
But the main question in this case is whether Google can be sued for its YouTube algorithm that recommends pro-ISIS content to users. As we have already said, section 230 can remedy this. But the plaintiffs, who are relatives of someone killed in an ISIS attack in Paris in 2015, argued that recommending such content made them liable for prosecution under a statute.U.S. Counterterrorism. But the problem is that the algorithm only shows recommendations based on what the user has previously looked at, and the algorithm is generated by AI, which technically does not know the rights and wrongs of society.
Reddit, which has also become involved in this case, said in its filing that this case, if found in favor of the plaintiff, would pave the way for future lawsuits against non-algorithmic forms of recommendations and could lead to a lawsuit . aimed at individual Internet users.
It should be mentioned that Reddit is a platform built entirely around users recommending things to each other for mutual benefit, which can lead to propaganda cases against certain individuals.
Source: Supreme Court
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