99 lines
5.1 KiB
Org Mode
99 lines
5.1 KiB
Org Mode
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#+latex_class: article
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#+latex_class_options:
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#+latex_header:
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#+latex_header_extra:
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#+description:
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#+subtitle:
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#+latex_compiler: pdflatex
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#+date: \today
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#+TITLE: /FOSTA/SESTA/ Rant
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#+AUTHOR: Éibhear Ó hAnluain
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#+EMAIL: eibhear.geo@gmail.com, 086 8565 666, http://www.gibiris.org/eo-blog/
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#+OPTIONS: ^:{} toc:nil H:4 num:t author:t email:nil
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#+TODO: CONSTODO CONSNOTES | CONSDONE CONSDONTDO
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* CONSTODO The distinction between user behaviours and online services :noexport:
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The internet is awash with online harassment and harmful
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communications, and responsible governments and legislators have
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been trying for decades to do something about it.
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However, it's no less true in this sphere than in any other that
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"doing something" is not necessarily enough to address the problem:
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doing only the /right thing/ it what's required.
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In the first of his 6 Laws of
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Technology[fn:6laws:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvin_Kranzberg#Kranzberg's_laws_of_technology],
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Dr. Melvin Kranzberg determined that "Technology is neither good nor
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bad; nor is it neutral." The tempation on observers is to decide
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that the extent of online harassment, abuse and harmful
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communications is because of the existence of online services, and
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that if only we could force the services to implement their
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technologies in a particular manner, all the problems will be
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solved.
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For instance, the United States of America recently enacted a law
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known as the "Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act", or
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/FOSTA-SESTA/[fn:FOSTA-SESTA:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Enabling_Sex_Traffickers_Act]. This
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was a law to show that the U.S. Congress was doing something to stop
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sex-trafficking. The law made it an offence for online services to
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"knowingly [assist], [support], or [facilitate]" sex-trafficking,
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and it removed from online services speech-related protections that
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had been previously provided under another U.S. law known as the
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"Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act".
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Accounts show, however, that doing *this* was not effective, and has
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been counter-productive. As expected, a number of websites that had
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been used to legally advertise sex services in the United States
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either shut down that section of their service (e.g. Craigslists'
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"Erotic Services"), or shutdown completely[fn:SOSTAEffect:Lura
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Chamberlain, FOSTA: A Hostile Law with a Human Cost, 87 Fordham
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L. Rev. 2171 (2019). Available at:
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https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol87/iss5/13]. If the goal of the
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law was to protect sex workers, and women in particular, it has had
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the opposite effect:
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- Independent sex workers now have no online means to promote their
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services, forcing them to turn to pimps for this.
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- There has been a notable increase in the number of sex workers who
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have gone missing.
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- Some sex-workers have died by suicide.
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- Assault and rape of sex workers has increased, and many fear that
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murders of sex workers are also
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increasing[fn:craigslisthomicide:http://www.econlib.org/archives/2018/01/craigslist_redu.html].
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- Sex workers have no means to learn about their potential clients
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prior to the client knowing about them: where they could vet
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people who made contact with them over these services before
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identifying themselves, this is not possible anymore, and
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dramatically increases their risk.
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- Ironically, one of the negative effects of /FOSTA-SESTA/ is that
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it is now much harder for the police to investigate rapes,
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assaults and murders of sex workers than before, because a
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critical trail of evidence -- the online communications between
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offenders and sex-workers -- now can no longer be
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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
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is not least because the websites are no longer there, but because
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when they were (e.g. Backpage), they assisted the police
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investigating these crimes against sex workers; advertising was
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legal back then, and now it's not, the police won't get the help
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from web sites when they need
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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].
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This was predicted, but by advocates for sex workers and for free
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speech, and legislators failed to heed the warnings. In fact, when
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considering this law, legislators were presented with statistics
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that were false, and misrepresented the landscape prior to enacting
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/FOSTA-SESTA/[fn:buzzfeed:https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jennyheineman/sex-trafficking-myths-sesta-fosta].
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I highlight this law in particular because it is both recent
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(early 2018) and relevant. However it's not alone, and as we look at
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pending legislation coming to us both domestically and from the EU,
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it's hard not to see the same failures repeating:
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- Pat Rabbitte's and Lorraine Higgins' bills, since withdrawn
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- The EU Terrorism Content Directive...
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- The new Copyright Directive...
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-
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