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A new law intended to curb sex trafficking threatens the future of the internet as we know it
The controversial bill package FOSTA-SESTA has already impacted sites like Reddit, Craigslist, and Google — and that’s just the start.
This week, President Trump signed into law a set of controversial bills intended to make it easier to cut down on illegal sex trafficking online. Both bills — the House bill known as FOSTA, the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, and the Senate bill, SESTA, the Stop Enabling Sex-Trafficking Act — have been hailed by advocates as a victory for sex trafficking victims.
But the bills also poke a huge hole in a famous and longstanding “safe harbor” rule of the internet: Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. Usually shorthanded as “Section 230” and generally seen as one of the most important pieces of internet legislation ever created, it holds that “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” In other words, Section 230 has allowed the internet to thrive on user-generated content without holding platforms and ISPs responsible for whatever those users might create.
But FOSTA-SESTA creates an exception to Section 230 that means website publishers would be responsible if third parties are found to be posting ads for prostitution — including consensual sex work — on their platforms. The goal of this is supposed to be that policing online prostitution rings gets easier. What FOSTA-SESTA has actually done, however, is create confusion and immediate repercussions among a range of internet sites as they grapple with the ruling’s sweeping language.
Lawmakers rip Trump for not seeking congressional approval for Syria strikes
Several lawmakers reacted quickly on Friday to President Trump’s decision to launch a military strike on Syria by criticizing him for failing to obtain congressional authorization for the move.
At least one GOP representative, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) immediately joined a chorus of Democrats, that included House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), in blasting Trump for not consulting the constitution.
“While Bashar al-Assad must be held accountable for his unlawful use of chemical weapons against civilians, the strikes that are being carried out are being done without an authorization from Congress, which is unacceptable,” Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) tweeted, in one of the first reactions to Trump’s announcement.
“A NEW PATH FORWARD HAS OPENED”: HOW MY SON’S MURDER INSPIRED ME TO RUN FOR CONGRESS
After her son was killed in a shooting, Lucy McBath dedicated her life to ending gun violence. Now, as a candidate in Georgia’s 6th District, she hopes to move the needle in Washington.
We think of ourselves in different stages of life using many different adjectives. I have been a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a friend. Candidate for Congress was never really part of the lexicon. Years ago, as a flight attendant with Delta Air Lines, my goals in life were much like anyone else’s in America: to be a good mother, to teach my son to be a compassionate man who would share his worth with the world, and perhaps to walk him down the aisle on his wedding day. Those simple dreams ended the day after Thanksgiving of 2012. My son, Jordan Davis, was shot and killed while sitting in the back seat of a friend’s car at a gas station, listening to music. The man who killed my son opened fire on four unarmed teenagers because he said the music was too loud. That man felt empowered by the stand-your-ground statute.
Overnight, I went from suburban mom to activist seeking justice for Jordan. I had witnessed what happened to Trayvon Martin and how, bit by bit, the defense in George Zimmerman’s case worked to dehumanize the young man who was walking home from a convenience store. While Jordan’s shooter was initially found guilty on three counts of attempted murder, the first-degree murder charge ended in a mistrial. In an October 2014 re-trial, however, the shooter was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
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