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A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate on Wednesday could put an added barrier between you and your old high school teacher’s conspiratorial anti-vaccine posts.
And doesn’t that sound delightful?
Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., wrote the proposed legislation, which is designed to stem the tide of harmful content being pushed to Americans on social media.
Were it to pass, the Social Media NUDGE Act would direct the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to develop “content neutral” ways to discourage the spread of false or offensive posts. Those methods could include asking users if they want to read an article before sharing it, according to a press release Thursday.
“For too long, tech companies have said ‘Trust us, we’ve got this.’ But we know that social media platforms have repeatedly put profits over people, with algorithms pushing dangerous content that hooks users and spreads misinformation,” Klobuchar said in a statement.
Lummis said the bill will help officials “understand the impact the designs of these platforms and their algorithms have on our society” and “build guardrails" to protect children from the "negative effects of social media.”
The legislation calls for the two government agencies to conduct a study to "identify content-neutral interventions" and present recommendations to Congress. Social media companies will then be required to implement the recommendations, as well as record and publicly disclose their impact.
The proposal follows disturbing revelations from whistleblower and former Facebook employee Frances Haugen, who last year came forward with allegations detailing how the company — now known as Meta — manipulates users and pumps harmful content to young girls on its platforms.
“Facebook knows that content that elicits an extreme reaction from you is more likely to get a click, a comment or a reshare,” Haugen testified before Congress. She also claimed the company was well aware its Instagram platform was “leading young users to anorexia content.” (Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has denied Haugen's allegation that his company prioritizes profits over user safety.)
The bill introduced Wednesday would undoubtedly improve the social media experience. However, there is one glaring omission: It wouldn’t make changes to Section 230, the law protecting social media platforms from legal accountability for content posted on their sites.
Section 230 has been opposed by both Republicans and Democrats — albeit for differing reasons — yet Klobuchar and Lummis’ bill wouldn’t make any changes to it.
That decision is a concession to social media companies, and potentially a carrot incentivizing them to take whatever recommendations arise without making too much of a fuss.