1) The intentional use of online platforms to abuse both adults and children causes vastly more measurable harm to others than the nebulous privacy harms EU regulators obsess over.

2) 99% of the reduction of harm comes from proactive platform measures, not law enforcement. https://twitter.com/gabrieldance/status/1334728043890311169

3) Preventing such harm is almost always voluntary. Platforms that do not take voluntary, proactive steps often become horrible cesspools.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/02/parler-pornography-problem/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/opinion/sunday/pornhub-rape-trafficking.html

4) The US discussion of these issues also lacks awareness of the hard trade-offs necessary in platform regulation. I saw this firsthand this week during a discussion moderated by @andrewrsorkin, where the same fuzzy, nebulous definition of harm dominated.

5) The worst thing that happens online every day is the grooming and sextortion of children. Politicians who have (often correctly) decried the irresponsibility of big tech but, later, eliminate the few protections against this crime forfeit the moral high ground indefinitely.

After twenty years of dealing with the massive privacy violations caused by the horrible state of cybersecurity and the tragic human impacts of poor safety protections, the media/political obsession with online ads and section 230 gives me an out-of-body experience.

Kudos to @gabrieldance, @NickKristof, @craigtimberg, @drewharwell and @rachelerman for breaking out of the conventional wisdom and doing stories on truly impactful online speech issues.