[frikskit]

Social media companies don’t want any kind of regulation because it adds cost to them. Their PR bangs the drum of free speech and people economically tied to the industry gobble it up while trying to ignore the self serving nature of their new beliefs.

[MiddleEndian]

>Social media companies don’t want any kind of regulation because it adds cost to them. Their PR bangs the drum of free speech and people economically tied to the industry gobble it up while trying to ignore the self serving nature of their new beliefs.

Disagree here. If it is legally onerous for me to start a forum, I am more inclined to use a large social media site like Facebook, since they will handle the legal part for me. They are fine with that, they already have legal teams.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51518773 "Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook boss urges tighter regulation"

[frikskit]

Are you suggesting I and all governments should take him at his word?

I bet Zuckerberg also wants to pay more taxes too?

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51497961.amp “ Facebook boss 'happy to pay more tax in Europe'” 2020

But I guess the tax avoidance lawyers that he keeps hiring keep on tricking him. Gotta feel bad for the guy, but take everything he says, like “there should be more regulation” seriously and ignore the blatantly self serving nature of his statements.

https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/08/facebook-cu...

Facebook reduces tax bill 2024

[MiddleEndian]

Sure, I don't take him at his word as to WHY he would support this legislation. And I think there's likely a reason why he might suggest legislation at all: something more "broadly accepted" like paying more taxes suggests "we are a good company," while supporting legislation normalizes the idea of legislation that doesn't yet broadly exist.

Regardless, I think that it's likely that any legislation will be influenced by big players who act as "experts" so that the resulting laws are more easily followed by them than their (presumably smaller) competitors. And the evidence is in the results. If I were starting an online community in the UK, I'd feel much safer legally using Facebook (or Reddit or Discord) than I would starting my own forum.

Looks like people who already run online communities agree: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42433044