Public
- Public
- Network
- Groups
- Featured
- Popular
- People

Conversation

Notices

Embed this notice
Casey Newton (casey@theforkiverse.com)'s status on Thursday, 09-Apr-2026 02:25:14 JST Casey Newton

Can you have child safety and Section 230, too? I think so. But it requires acknowledging the distinction between speech and design: https://www.platformer.news/social-media-trials-230-content-design/
In conversation about 3 months ago from theforkiverse.com permalink
Attachments
1. On the other hand, I reject the argument of the 230 diehards that every design decision is a content decision. The contents of YouTube go unchanged if the videos in your feed do not play by default. Snapchat messages will read the same even if Snap is prevented from incentivizing teens to go to extreme lengths to preserve their streaks. TikTok will still be TikTok if it is prevented from sending teenagers push notifications after midnight. By identifying and restricting mechanical design features like these, we can preserve the core of Section 230 while also limiting at least some of the harm that platforms can cause. I’m under no illusion that we can solve the teen mental health crisis simply by disabling push notifications on Instagram. But given the complexity of the problem, the least we can do is to attempt some harm reduction: and that should begin with features like those above, which have close to no value outside boosting the valuations of the world’s richest companies.
  https://cdn.masto.host/theforkiversecom/media_attachments/files/116/326/917/358/207/497/original/10d24ad1f5d7b12e.png
2. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: www.platformer.news
  
  Can you have child safety and Section 230, too?
  
  from @CaseyNewton
  
  The verdicts in last week’s social media trials have alarmed open-internet advocates. But it’s possible to regulate platform design while also protecting speech

Public

Conversation

Notices

Feeds