Dancing to algorhythm

The European Union Commission published on December 15, 2020, its Proposal for a Regulation on a Single Market For Digital Services (Digital Services Act, or DSA).… This new regulation is likely to dramatically change how online platforms, particularly social media platforms, moderate user content.

Very large platforms, defined by the DSA as ones providing monthly services on average to 45 million active users in the EU, will face heightened responsibilities, such as assessing and mitigating risks of disseminating illegal content.…

The use of algorithms by social media platforms to control speech and amplify messages suffers from a lack of transparency, and has been credibly accused of fostering bias: is algorithm bias illegal content? The Oversight Board will only examine a few posts among the billions posted each year: the use of algorithms to control speech by amplifying messages likely to trigger reactions, clicks and likes, often monetising hate and preventing minority speech to be heard. As freedom of expression is not only the right to impart, but also to receive, information, are algorithms, striving to keep us in well-delimited echo chambers, the ultimate violation of the freedom of expression?


From ‘Comparing the Powers Given to Users by the EU Digital Services Act and by the Facebook Oversight Board: At the Service of Users or Overseeing Them?’, Stanford Law School