Project Liberty is an international impact organization founded by Frank McCourt to build a new civic architecture for a safer, healthier internet. They have a recent article on regulating technology in this new world of AI and concerns about social media. The topics have never seen less futuristic than now as I track bills in the Minnesota Legislature (MN HF3488 compensation for kids’ content online and MN4400: Prohibiting Social Media Manipulation Act ) and watch the federal courts (Supreme Court looks at online speech). I thought I’d share some of Project Liberty’s recent newsletter…

Growing concern

From the discrimination of algorithms, to AI-generated deepfakes and disinformation, to content on social media platforms that’s harmful for children’s mental health, there is a growing consciousness worldwide about the problems caused by today’s technology.

• Last week, a report issued by the US State Department was published, with the conclusion that the most advanced AI systems could “pose an extinction-level threat to the human species.”
• Last month, Project Liberty Foundation released research finding that the majority of adults globally believe that social media companies bear “a great deal” of responsibility for making the internet safe.
• Last year, a poll done by Project Liberty Alliance member Issue One found that 87% of the US electorate want government action to combat the harms being caused by social media platforms.

Tech is fast, passing laws is slow

Lawmakers are beginning to take action.

• Last week, the European Union adopted the world’s first set of laws to broadly regulate AI.
• In the US, no federal law to regulate AI or safely moderate social media content exists, but there have been Congressional hearings on social media harms, the US House passed a bill last week that would ban TikTok, and the Supreme Court has been forced to weigh in on prickly cases balancing safety online with free speech rights.

While the US lags behind Europe in comprehensive regulations around tech (the EU has been the world’s leader in passing laws to regulate big tech for years), Europe’s speed in passing laws has not translated into ease of enforcing them.

The era of DIY regulation

In the absence of comprehensive laws and sound enforcement, there’s a patchwork of solutions emerging at every level.

• States: Filling the void left by inaction at the US federal level, US states are taking action. Nearly 200 bills were introduced in local state legislatures in 2023 aimed at regulating AI (only 12 of which became law), and this year states across the US will debate over 400 AI-related bills. To limit the harms caused by social media, US states have taken a variety of approaches, leading to a lack of consistency and a patchwork of directives, according to a report by Brookings last year.

• Companies: Pressured by lawmakers and whistleblowers to self-regulate their own platforms, tech companies are launching internal initiatives with trust & safety at the center, conducting their own audits, and issuing voluntary commitments. Bluesky, the X alternative, launched Ozone last week, a tool that lets users create and run their own independent moderation services.

• Schools: School districts are taking matters into their own hands in the face of greater awareness about the harms of social media to students. Schools across the US are banning phones in classrooms. New York Public Schools, the largest public school system in the US, has issued social media guidelines for students and for staff.

• Individuals: Individuals are leaving big tech platforms for shared server co-ops and “the fediverse,” the decentralized network of social media alternatives. Teens are giving advice to fellow teens, creating processes to fact-check information online, and launching organizations like Log Off, a youth-led organization committed to helping young people build healthy relationships with social media and online platforms.

• Research & Civil Society: Last year, the Stanford Internet Observatory launched a pilot program to support researchers studying issues of online trust and safety. Dozens of organizations in Project Liberty’s Alliance are doing everything from educating parents to fighting disinformation to protecting elections to archiving the internet.