MESSAGE
| DATE | 2024-02-23 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Just can not get right and wrong straigt
|
story
Snapchat Isn't Liable For Connecting 12-Year-Old To Convicted Sex
Offenders (arstechnica.com) 26
Posted by BeauHD on Thursday February 22, 2024 -at-07:02PM from the
limited-by-legislative-action dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica:
A judge has dismissed (PDF) a complaint from a parent and guardian of a
girl, now 15, who was sexually assaulted when she was 12 years old after
Snapchat recommended that she connect with convicted sex offenders.
According to the court filing, the abuse that the girl, C.O.,
experienced on Snapchat happened soon after she signed up for the app in
2019. Through its "Quick Add" feature, Snapchat "directed her" to
connect with "a registered sex offender using the profile name
JASONMORGAN5660." After a little more than a week on the app, C.O. was
bombarded with inappropriate images and subjected to sextortion and
threats before the adult user pressured her to meet up, then raped her.
Cops arrested the adult user the next day, resulting in his
incarceration, but his Snapchat account remained active for three years
despite reports of harassment, the complaint alleged.
Two years later, at 14, C.O. connected with another convicted sex
offender on Snapchat, a former police officer who offered to give C.O. a
ride to school and then sexually assaulted her. The second offender is
also currently incarcerated, the judge's opinion noted. The lawsuit
painted a picture of Snapchat's ongoing neglect of minors it knows are
being targeted by sexual predators. Prior to C.O.'s attacks, both adult
users sent and requested sexually explicit photos, seemingly without the
app detecting any child sexual abuse materials exchanged on the
platform. C.O. had previously reported other adult accounts sending her
photos of male genitals, but Snapchat allegedly "did nothing to block
these individuals from sending her inappropriate photographs."
Among other complaints, C.O.'s lawsuit alleged that Snapchat's algorithm
for its "Quick Add" feature was the problem. It allegedly recklessly
works to detect when adult accounts are seeking to connect with young
girls and, by design, sends more young girls their way -- continually
directing sexual predators toward vulnerable targets. Snapchat is
allegedly aware of these abuses and, therefore, should be held liable
for harm caused to C.O., the lawsuit argued. Although C.O.'s case raised
difficult questions, Judge Barbara Bellis ultimately agreed with
Snapchat that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act barred all
claims and shielded Snap because "the allegations of this case fall
squarely within the ambit of the immunity afforded to" platforms
publishing third-party content. According to Bellis, C.O.'s family had
"clearly alleged" that Snap had failed to design its recommendations
systems to block young girls from receiving messages from sexual
predators. Specifically, Section 230 immunity shields Snap from
liability in this case because Bellis considered the messages exchanged
to be third-party content. Snapchat designing its recommendation systems
to deliver content is a protected activity, Bellis ruled.
Despite a seemingly conflicting ruling in Los Angeles that found that
"Section 230 didn't protect Snapchat from liability for allegedly
connecting teens with drug dealers," Bellis didn't appear to consider it
persuasive. She did, however, critique Section 230's broad application,
suggesting courts are limited without legislative changes, despite the
morally challenging nature of some cases.
:wq
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www2.mrbrklyn.com/resources - Unpublished Archive
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http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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