Technical companies in CA must be responsible for harm in real words

By Jim Berk, special for Calmatters

This comment was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

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Whether by design or a quiet passing of a fast-growing digital landscape, the world’s largest social media companies have allowed their platforms to become factories for division, dehumanization and increasingly violence in the real world.

What started as a contact tools became the engines of rage. This is no accident. This is a business.

At the heart of this transformation lies the engagement algorithm: a seemingly neutral mechanism that heals what billions of people see by sharing and believing.

The algorithms are not neutral. They are designed for one purpose – to keep us on the platform, to click, to comment and scroll. In the race to attract attention, an emotional trigger superior others: anger.

Outrage spreads faster than the facts. Publications that inflammation generate more commitment than those who inform. The algorithm is not interested in whether the publication is separating or harmful – but you can’t look. The result is an economy of attention in which the most baked content is often the most toxic.

This is not theoretical care. We see the consequences every day, as online harassment and hate speech metastasize in offline attacks.

A measure that is now waiting for the signature of the Gavin News government, Senate Bill 771It is a vital step to a more festive and more civil digital arena. The bill will enable the Californians to hold the largest corporations for social media responsible when their algorithms significantly contribute to violations of civil rights under the California Act.

Social media companies may protest that they have never thought of radicalizing consumers or profit from polarization. This can be true. But the intention is not the measure of accountability. And their refusal actively prevents these results is complicity.

Think of a few examples: Facebook internal studies have confirmed that this The algorithm encourages separation content As outrage also causes clicks in Myanmar his negligence in moderating incitement against the minority of Rokhinggia helped nourish a campaign for ethnic cleansingS X, known as Twitter, admitted that Hate speech jumped after changes in the moderation of its content. In Los Angeles and New York, Anti -Semite Hashtegs In Trend Online Preceded attacks against Jewish institutions.

The points are no longer difficult to connect. Online hatred nourishes offline harm.

If signed, the SB 771 will not establish speech codes. This will not punish the free expression. This would ensure that platforms face consequences when their business practices enhance harassment, threats or discrimination that is already illegal under state law.

This is a narrow but significant intervention. Just as the laws of the products of the products hold car manufacturers responsible for defective airbags and pharmaceutical companies responsible for dangerous drugs, so we also have to hold social media companies responsible for predictable damages caused by defects embedded in their main business models.

California leads the nation in creating industries for industries that shape our lives, from the safety of consumer products to environmental protection. This bill will follow this tradition.

The bets are high. In Los Angeles County, Anti -Semitic crimes have grown With 91% last year, while hatred crimes aimed at LGBTQ+ and immigrant communities reach record maximums. Teachers report that rumors and harassment are spread through the classrooms at the speed of a tendentious meme. And parents find their children, radicalized by extremist content that algorithms press in their emissions.

This is not about politics. Hate protection must go beyond ideology. It is a question of whether the Californians resort when hatred becomes harm. Teachers, parents, leaders of faith – Californi of any origin have a share in this battle.

Imagine that you enter digital spaces tomorrow, where hatred is away from the design, not the reward with a range where the algorithms are aligned with human dignity instead of inhuman rage.

With SB 771 California can set this precedent. NEWSOM may send a clear message: Californians’ safety and civil rights take precedence over the bottom line of the Silicon Valley.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.