Supremes showing sanity!

Via DailyMail, the Supreme demons are hearing arguments on a case involving the infamous Section 230, which gives Google and Facebook a level of protection that real-world publishers don’t receive. Amazingly, all of the demons agreed that this is NOT A CASE FOR COURTS, and appear ready to throw it back to Congress for fixing.

This is a rare display of sanity, and an even more rare recognition of what the original “constitution” intended. Legislatures were meant to legislate, and courts were meant to decide punishments for crimes or payments for lawsuits.

In 1803 the Supremes snatched the legislative power, and Congress was happy to let it go. Does this case signal an intention to return the stolen property?

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Later after hearing more: Some of the Supremes are having trouble understanding what social media algorithms do. It’s not hard and it’s not new. Algorithms perform EXACTLY the same function as human editors in old-fashioned newspapers. They decide which articles go on the front page, which articles get a 48-point headline (thumbnail) and which stories to leave out. This is called PUBLISHING, and old laws handle it nicely. “Freedom of the press” means that editors can make those decisions without being questioned in court, unless they cross well-defined lines like libel or inciting riots. These specific cases are about inciting riots, so the old laws would definitely punish Google and Facebook.