The previously-impenetrable protection that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides to social media publishers has begun to crack in the face of attacks on big tech in general and TikTok in particular. An appeals court has ruled that TikTok can be sued over algorithms that recommended harmful content to a ten-year-old. If it stands, some observers see the ruling as almost entirely gutting Section 230 protections.
Fresh off last month’s loss in its search market anti-trust case, Google yesterday started a federal anti-trust trial related to its digital ad business. The outcome could restructure a major portion of the industry. Adding to the fun, the UK Competition and Markets Authority announced its own anti-trust charges against Google’s ad business. UK fines could reach 10% of Google’s annual worldwide turnover.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has squared off with Elon Musk, upholding its unique ban of X. This follows court accusations Musk’s platform supported the spread of disinformation to illegally influence the country’s presidential election in 2023. While the EU and other countries are also pushing back against disinformation and hate speech on X, none has gone so far as Brazil's outright ban. Now, it's facing Musk pushback on the grounds of free speech. Fine, if you don't mind whether anything said is true.
Scope3 Media Reporting has raised $25 million in new funding to support its mission to measure media and advertising carbon emissions and suggest optimizations that will reduce them. Brands that use Scope3 to reduce their emissions include Coca-Cola, General Motors and Mastercard. It now plans to address the growing threat of emissions caused by the use of AI.