Microsoft's Brad Smith says tech companies won't wait for US to act on social media laws
- Technology companies should have a “new level of responsibility” for what is said on their sites: Microsoft President Brad Smith
Microsoft Corp President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said on Friday that US tech companies will change how they moderate online platforms in response to new laws from foreign governments, regardless of whether US lawmakers take action.
In an interview with Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler at a Reuters Newsmaker event in New York, Smith said that other countries such as New Zealand were passing laws in the wake of events like the mass murder in Christchurch earlier this year.
The murder of 51 people at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand was streamed on major online platforms including Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube. The companies raced to take down the videos, but they were still available for more than a day.
“The laws around the world are going to change, and because technology is so global, American companies will adopt a new approach even if the United States Congress does nothing,” he said. Smith spoke to Reuters as part of a tour to promote his recently released book, “Tools and Weapons.”
Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act of 1996, protects tech companies from being sued for what users of their online platforms upload. But Smith said the law, critical to enabling the expansion of internet services and social media, should now be revisited.