How to fix social media (and not hurt creators)
We get it: social media, basically, sucks.
So many platforms abuse your data and sell it to third-parties so you’ll get ads, facilitate the growth of conspiracy theories, and host algorithms that promote hateful and offensive content. This is what we came up with nenos and the simple idea that content creators should be valued, supported, and respected. This idea shouldn’t be groundbreaking, and yet it is.
There’s a lot of opportunity for improvement in the industry and holding platforms accountable, and so far we’ve seen little appetite among the leading platforms in self-regulating themselves. We don’t blame policymakers for feeling compelled to enact legislation to rein in social media, but we think this must be done in a responsible and targeted manner that does not negatively impact private business. With that being said, we are objecting to a bill approved by the Florida Legislature that would impose potentially unconstitutional and overreaching regulations on similar companies operating in the state.
Senate Bill 7072 would prevent social media platforms, such as nenos, from banning candidates for elected office who violate their Terms of Service (ToS)—among other restrictions and regulations—undermining our capacity to promote the safety, security, and general welfare of our content creators.
Absolutely no individual should be above our Terms of Service, and this includes candidates for elected office. The Florida legislature is attempting to potentially and unconstitutionally penalize companies into supporting violations of the First Amendment if they can’t regulate obscene, inflammatory, or potentially illegal content created by candidates.
This disturbing bill—passed by essentially party-line votes in the legislature—is unacceptable as it is currently written and a clear deterrent for technology companies who may be interested in moving operations to Florida, a state that has also recently been marketing itself as an emerging technological hub. Consequently, we encourage Governor DeSantis to veto the bill.
We do think that there is opportunity for a collaborative relationship with legislators and other policymaking partners. Regulation should be created and enforced in a targeted, thoughtful, and effective manner — and not through the lens of partisanship or the advancement of political goals. There are a few areas of improvement that could help in the pursuit of fixing social media while also not hurting content creators:
Equal enforcement of moderation regardless of political identity and status of elected official or candidate for office, ensuring that everyone is treated fairly and equally
Community standards, Terms of Service, and moderation policies should be all publicly accessible and available for content creators—there shouldn’t be any hidden practices or policies for removing content or restricting access to the platform
Require pre-approval of all significant corporate acquisitions by social media companies to prevent monopolization, unfair business practices, and harm to the free market
Platforms should not create or maintain algorithms that promote hateful, offensive, or illegal content and become more cognizant of the role that algorithms play in the dissemination of this content
These are common-sense, nonpartisan and positive solutions to building better social media platforms that work for everyone. If we continue down the path of social media regulation as a form of political retribution, then we transform this broader conversation into a partisan one and it becomes so much harder to make effective change. It’s important that discussions about reform are always based around what is best for content creators, not for political agendas.
While social media needs a lot of work right now, legislation like Senate Bill 7072 and attempting to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act are not suitable venues for fixing these platforms and may ultimately hurt content creators. Instead, we should pursue actions such as promoting equal moderation enforcement, requiring publicly accessible information on platform policies and rules, regulating marketplace acquisitions that may harm consumers, and restricting aggressive algorithms that ultimately create more hostile communities.
A lot of social media may suck, but it doesn’t have to; together, we can address these concerns and create consensus on policy changes that will have real, positive results.
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nenos is an emerging social media company that is built for the people and places you love. We believe in providing a localized experience that protects, respects, and supports all content creators while also abiding by fair and ethical business practices.