Republican FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak issued a statement Thursday expressing concern that big tech companies are promoting content that is harmful to children, but also warned that a Biden-Harris FTC could take action that could lead to censorship of Americans' online speech.
“How social media companies view and treat their users will increasingly shape civic debate and determine the extent of Americans' freedom to participate in the modern public sphere,” Holyoak said. said.
In 2020, under the Trump administration, the FTC Issued an order The company has asked nine technology companies – Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, WhatsApp, Snap, Discord, Reddit, Twitter and Amazon – to investigate their data practices and operations.
Key findings in the FTC report include the revelation that “companies' deletion practices vary and may not reflect consumer expectations,” meaning some companies claim to delete data but don't actually do so.
While users might think that “delete” means that social media platforms will permanently erase their data, it turns out that the companies are instead “de-identifying” the data, or making it anonymous. However, that data could potentially be subject to “re-identification,” the report noted.
Another problem was that the companies treated teenagers as adults, even though they had the technical ability to detect users under the age of 13.
Additionally, children's and teens' data is rarely distinguished from that of adults when it is shared, and most companies report not complying with parental or legal guardian requests to delete teen users' data.
Other key findings included companies having difficulty explaining the extent of their data collection and sharing data with foreign organizations, potentially exposing users' data to foreign governments.
The report also found that companies commonly use automated systems (or, increasingly, AI) to improve user experiences on social media, and that their revenues are heavily reliant on advertising, meaning consumers are likely using their data and information to pay for free services.
Holyoak stressed that he does not support the administration's analysis because he believes it could lead to censorship and stifling online speech by Americans.
“I am concerned that these proposals and recommendations could further restrict free speech online, even if they are not intended to directly suppress free speech,” the FTC Commissioner said. stated Among the arguments for and against published Thursday.
“Some of the report's analyses and recommendations could lead to further censorship or the unintended suppression of certain content,” Holyoak added. “Other federal officials have shown no hesitation in directly pressuring social media companies to moderate content online.”
Holyoak goes on to list three major concerns:
The report could lead to the suppression of freedom of speech online.
The report seeks to regulate through the guidance of committee approved officials, which is a mistake.
Further analysis of the report’s unconditional recommendations is essential.
The FTC commissioner said he was “deeply sympathetic” to the report's “issues about protecting children and teens online or about clearly harmful content,” such as “encouraging self-harm,” but explained that he had serious concerns about online censorship.
Holyoak also expressed concern about the possibility of “trying to dictate or change private sector behaviour” as a result of the report's recommendations, noting that “there remain very important factual and policy issues that need to be considered”.
“Further analysis is essential to avoid circumventing and potentially destroying the public comment process before concluding that the report's unqualified recommendations will ultimately lead to good outcomes for consumers and competition,” the FTC commissioners wrote.
Alana Mastangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her at Facebook And X is Follow,and Instagram.
