The tragedy that unfolded in Buffalo, New York might be the catalyst that gives more responsibility and legal liability to social media platforms. The shooter allegedly livestream on twitch. As of the writing of this document, Twitch issued a statement that they stopped the streaming within 2 minutes of broadcast. Was this enough? Are there technological implementations that could stop such a broadcast within 15 seconds? What about the unintentional effects on broadcasts that are non violative but may be stopped in error?
A lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 against TikTok for the death of a ten year old that died performing the “blackout” challenge. The lawsuit alleges that tiktok was marketing to children and using the algorithms more to make profit and not protect all on the platform. While this lawsuit was specific to minors, it might set the legal stage for some legislation with regard to balancing social media usage and the constitution.
The Buffalo case herein and the tiktok lawsuit are matters to watch in conjunction.
As our society goes forward in these unprecedented times, our mindset, family and community will take center stage to power us through.
I look forward to your comments below.
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