From 909f59763d9871061bc757666567fdab42255885 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: =?UTF-8?q?=C3=89ibhear=20=C3=93=20hAnluain?= Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2019 15:28:59 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Progress --- HarmfulCommunications201908.org | 124 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--- 1 file changed, 115 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-) diff --git a/HarmfulCommunications201908.org b/HarmfulCommunications201908.org index dbd8690..588190f 100644 --- a/HarmfulCommunications201908.org +++ b/HarmfulCommunications201908.org @@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ #+TITLE: Submission to the Committee on Justice and Equality on /issues of online harassment, harmful communications and related offences/. #+AUTHOR: Éibhear Ó hAnluain #+EMAIL: eibhear.geo@gmail.com, 086 8565 666, http://www.gibiris.org/eo-blog/ -#+OPTIONS: ^:{} toc:2 H:4 num:t author:t email:t +#+OPTIONS: ^:{} toc:2 H:4 num:t author:t email:nil #+TODO: CONSTODO CONSNOTES | CONSDONE * Planning :noexport: @@ -245,16 +245,122 @@ * Abuse, child sexual exploitation, hateful conduct, private information, Sensitive media, voilent threats * => 60,000 account reported/day * => 0.02% of accounts reported -* CONSTODO Introduction +* CONSDONE Introduction - In this submission I am seeking to highlight 2 core concerns with - respect to /issues of online harassment, harmful communications and - related offences/. - - How new laws could affect small or hobbyist services - - How regulations can be abused by bad-faith actors + My name is Éibhear Ó hAnluain and I have been working in software + engineering and IT systems design since 1994. I thank you for the + opportunity to submit this contribution to your analysis of /issues + of online harassment, harmful communications and related offences/. - I would like to outline some initial thoughts on these matters first - before addressing the specific questions of the consultation. + In this submission I am seeking to highlight 3 core concerns: + - The distinction between user behaviours and online services. + - The nature of the online services from the perspective of small + operators + - The potential damage legislative measures can have on small + operators of online services + + + However, prior to addressing these topics, I would like to raise + some ambiguities that this wider discussion will encounter. + - The first is the meaning of the term /self-regulation/. If a + measure of self-regulation to address these concerns is + acceptable, then it would be necessary for public-perception + reasons, to be clear on what that means. /Self-regulation/ could + mean either where each service operator manages matters of + harassment and harmful communications according to their own rules + and processes. This is currently how the large service providers + we're most familiar with operate. However, /self-regulation/ may + also refer to regulation by a non-governmental industry-funded + body, following the model of the press council or the advertising + standards authority, where rules and processes are agreed among + the operators as a set of standards, and where decisions of + compliance to these are made by this body. + + In order to avoid this ambiguity, I will use the term + "self-moderation" to refer to the former, and the term + "industry-regulation" for the latter. + +* CONSTODO The distinction between user behaviours and online services + + The internet is awash with online harassment and harmful + communications, and responsible governments and legislators have + been trying for decades to do something about it. + + However, it's no less true in this sphere than in any other that + "doing something" is not necessarily enough to address the problem: + doing only the /right thing/ it what's required. + + In the first of his 6 Laws of + Technology[fn:6laws:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvin_Kranzberg#Kranzberg's_laws_of_technology], + Dr. Melvin Kranzberg determined that "Technology is neither good nor + bad; nor is it neutral." The tempation on observers is to decide + that the extent of online harassment, abuse and harmful + communications is because of the existence of online services, and + that if only we could force the services to implement their + technologies in a particular manner, all the problems will be + solved. + + For instance, the United States of America recently enacted a law + known as the "Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act", or + /FOSTA-SESTA/[fn:FOSTA-SESTA:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Enabling_Sex_Traffickers_Act]. This + was a law to show that the U.S. Congress was doing something to stop + sex-trafficking. The law made it an offence for online services to + "knowingly [assist], [support], or [facilitate]" sex-trafficking, + and it removed from online services speech-related protections that + had been previously provided under another U.S. law known as the + "Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act". + + Accounts show, however, that doing *this* was not effective, and has + been counter-productive. As expected, a number of websites that had + been used to legally advertise sex services in the United States + either shut down that section of their service (e.g. Craigslists' + "Erotic Services"), or shutdown completely[fn:SOSTAEffect:Lura + Chamberlain, FOSTA: A Hostile Law with a Human Cost, 87 Fordham + L. Rev. 2171 (2019). Available at: + https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol87/iss5/13]. If the goal of the + law was to protect sex workers, and women in particular, it has had + the opposite effect: + - Independent sex workers now have no online means to promote their + services, forcing them to turn to pimps for this. + - There has been a notable increase in the number of sex workers who + have gone missing. + - Some sex-workers have died by suicide. + - Assault and rape of sex workers has increased, and many fear that + murders of sex workers are also + increasing[fn:craigslisthomicide:http://www.econlib.org/archives/2018/01/craigslist_redu.html]. + - Sex workers have no means to learn about their potential clients + prior to the client knowing about them: where they could vet + people who made contact with them over these services before + identifying themselves, this is not possible anymore, and + dramatically increases their risk. + - Ironically, one of the negative effects of /FOSTA-SESTA/ is that + it is now much harder for the police to investigate rapes, + assaults and murders of sex workers than before, because a + critical trail of evidence -- the online communications between + offenders and sex-workers -- now can no longer be + laid[fn:FOSTAPolice:https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180705/01033440176/more-police-admitting-that-fosta-sesta-has-made-it-much-more-difficult-to-catch-pimps-traffickers.shtml]. This + is not least because the websites are no longer there, but because + when they were (e.g. Backpage), they assisted the police + investigating these crimes against sex workers; advertising was + legal back then, and now it's not, the police won't get the help + from web sites when they need + it[fn:SESTAPolice:https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180509/13450339810/police-realizing-that-sesta-fosta-made-their-jobs-harder-sex-traffickers-realizing-made-their-job-easier.shtml]. + + + This was predicted, but by advocates for sex workers and for free + speech, and legislators failed to heed the warnings. In fact, when + considering this law, legislators were presented with statistics + that were false, and misrepresented the landscape prior to enacting + /FOSTA-SESTA/[fn:buzzfeed:https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jennyheineman/sex-trafficking-myths-sesta-fosta]. + + I highlight this law in particular because it is both recent + (early 2018) and relevant. However it's not alone, and as we look at + pending legislation coming to us both domestically and from the EU, + it's hard not to see the same failures repeating: + - Pat Rabbitte's and + - The EU Terrorism Content Directive... + - The new Copyright Directive... + - ** CONSTODO The nature of the internet from the perspective of the technology