Introduction of New Bill Instructs the Platforms to Implement Ways to Decrease Spread of Harmful Content by Improving Algorithms

A new bill passed on Wednesday could force social media platforms to change how the news feed works for algorithmic amplification of harmful content.

In the bill, researchers are directed to identify content-neutral ways to decrease the spread of harmful content and false information. The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and the National Science Foundation are expected to work on several ways to add friction to content-sharing online. The safety measures could request users to read the news or articles before publishing them or avoid sharing misinformation without any authentic source. After that, the Federal Trade Commission would codify the suggestion to command the social media platforms to use.

The companies have kept saying to trust them as they have this situation under our control. Still, on Thursday, Klobuchar noted that we know that these social media platforms and tech companies have prioritized profits over the people. Furthermore, he added that these social media platforms used algorithms that push harmful content that draws people in and spreads false information.

When Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen gave a speech in 2020, people from both parties started working together to figure out how to regulate algorithms so that both children's issues and misinformation are taken care of at the same time.

Lummis' support for the bill is a big step forward in this process. In his statement, he addressed that by empowering NSF and NASEM, we will fully understand how these platforms and their algorithms work, and we will be able to see how they affect us and our world. They study the strength and activeness of social media platforms.

A law called Protecting Americans from Dangerous Algorithm Act was put forward. This law mainly concentrated on algorithmic amplification.The House measure would change Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to any legal immunity platforms have when they spread content that is harmful to civil rights. This is different from Klobuchar's bill, which would only change Section 230. It has been the biggest problem for lawmakers who want to stop harmful algorithmic amplification from happening. They have had to get rid of Section 230 liability protection. Tech and public interest groups like Public Knowledge have already said that the Klobuchar measure is an excellent example of regulating algorithms because it doesn't change 230 things. This makes it one of the best models.

Congress has just a limited amount of time left to approve technology legislation before the midterm elections heat up later in the year. In the interview held last month, Klobuchar addressed that lawmakers would be able to pass a lot of big, bipartisan bills before the end of the year. Moreover, it is time to pass reforms that address the harms of social media platforms. This bill will be beneficial for implementing changes that will improve the user's experience.


H/T: TV.

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