A/2 AFF BLOCKFILE
A/2 Moderation (Topshelf)
2
A/2 Hate Crime/Speech
2
A/2 Extremism
4
A/2 Algorithms
7
A/2 Polarization
7
A/2 Terrorism
7
A/2 Smoking
11
A/2 Deep Fakes
11
A/2 Trafficking (Topshelf)
12
A/2 Drugs
12
A/2 Illegal Weapons
14
A/2 Wildlife
16
A/2 Sex Trafficking
19
A/2 Misinformation (Topshelf)
23
A/2 Vaccines
23
A/2 Elections
24
A/2 Bank Runs
24
A/2 PACT Act
24
A/2 Populism
25
A/2 Cartels
25
A/2 Moderation (Topshelf)
A/2 Hate Crime/Speech
1. [Turn] Rodriguez and Brody ‘23 contextualize limiting Section 230 immunity could lead
to greater censorship of diverse voices. Thats why Rodriguez and Brody ‘23 furthers
content moderation systems disproportionately silence black voices and other
historically marginalized populations
a. Silencing black voices will only increase hate crime and hate speech, speaking out
and protesting is key as Melenciano ‘20 finds social media was key in helping
publicizing the police brutality and creating support for BLM supporters making it
easier to organize social movements.
2. [Non-Unique] Jacob ‘23 writes social media companies have regulations in place to ban
hate speech, and these efforts have only been increasing. That’s why Jacob ‘23 furthers
in 2014 only 38% of platforms prohibited “hate-speech”, by 2018 that number rose to
88%
Dariely Rodriguez and David Brody, 2/21/23, "Section 230 Requires a Balanced Approach that
Protects Civil Rights and Free Expression," American Constitution Society,
https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/section-230-requires-a-balanced-approach-that-protects-civi
l-right s-and-free-expression///EEdoa12/15/23
Our brief cautioned that limiting Section 230 immunity could lead to greater censorship of
diverse voices online. Without Section 230, online platforms would minimize the risk of liability
for illegal content by engaging in heavy-handed cost-effective censorship instead of carefully
reviewing every piece of content. Current content moderation systems already
disproportionately silence Black people and other historically marginalized populations, even
when they do not violate platform rules. Increased censorship by platforms seeking to evade
liability would further silence diverse perspectives on important issues like racial and gender
justice. We also noted that as we conduct more and more of our daily lives online, automated
decision-making systems risk reproducing discrimination at scale. Our brief discussed how
providing overbroad immunity to platforms would jeopardize enforcement of decades-old anti
discrimination laws like the Fair Housing Act, the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act.
Ari Melenciano, 6-18-2020, "How Social Media Has Changed Civil Rights Protests,"
archive.ph, https://archive.ph/GLIEI//EEdoa12/15/23
Omar Wasow is steeped in both social media and the civil rights movement of the 1960s. And
he marvels at how the two have melded in the current demonstrations against racial injustice
and police brutality. Wasow, a professor at Princeton University and co-founder of the
pioneering social network BlackPlanet.com, said social media was helping publicize
police brutality and galvanizing public support for protesters’ goals — a role that his
research found conventional media played a half century ago. And he said he believed
that the internet was making it easier to organize social movements today, for good
and for ill. Here are excerpts from our conversation. How has social media changed,
or not, civil rights protests today compared with the 1960s? The 1960s civil rights
leaders figured out that images in national media that showed the brutality of Jim
Crow forced an often indifferent white America to take seriously the concerns of black
citizens. There’s a through line today. The video of George Floyd taken by Darnella
Frazier is an echo of the bearing witness of the beating of Rodney King, and before
that the images of Bloody Sunday in Selma [in 1965]. Part of what social media does
is allow us to see a reality that has been entirely visible to some people and invisible to
others. As those injustices become visible, meaningful change follows. But racial
inequality or police brutality didn’t end with Selma or Rodney King. Does the internet
change that? It’s obviously depressing how often excess force by police against
African-Americans resulted in protest movements that didn’t ultimately fix the
problem. But after Selma, public opinion on concerns for civil rights spiked
dramatically. The Voting Rights Act was passed in five months. The legal scholar
Thomas Stoddard talked about cultural shifts leading to durable social change. I think
you’re seeing that now with broad public support for the goals of the Black Lives
Matter movement.
A/2 Extremism
1. [Turn] McHangama ‘22 writes freedom of expression is associated with less violent
extremism, terrorism, and social conflict in democracies. That's why McHangama ‘22
furthers far-right extremism was worsened by repression of right-wing opinions and that
people are more likely to view violence as justified when governments repress free
expression.
a. Countries such as Norway, New Zealand, and Germany who have policies in place
that regulate platforms to prevent hate speech saw the highest levels of violent
right-wing extremism
2. [Turn] - Moderation increases bad content. Hui ‘22 the removal of content from the
original poster increases reuploaders through the utilization of digital manipulation
techniques, spreading harmful content.
a. Prefer us on past Precedent as the Brooklyn shooter uploaded violent content
which was removed soon, but the same content was uploaded again by
re-uploaders through various techniques, spreading harmful content without
moderation.
3. [Turn] - Moderation increases attacks. Hui ‘22 the removal of content from the original
poster increases reuploaders through the utilization of digital manipulation techniques,
spreading harmful content. This increases the number of future violent attacks because
vulnerable individuals view such content
4. [De-Link] Fishman ‘23 finds that terrorist and extremists have pushed their agendas
even before the internet was made and that they are adaptive and resilient to to any
change
a. The implication is that even by affirming you are not solving the root problem as
these extremists will still find a way to push their agendas due to their adaptive
nature
5. [Non-Unique] Feeney ‘21 contextualizes social media firms as being within their right to
remove extremist speech and they have been doing that. Feeney furthers after the
attack on the Capitol, AWS severed ties with Parler, a social media site used by many of
the Capitol insurgents. Apple and Google ceased hosting Parler on the Android and iOS
app store most popular social media firms took action against content associated with
the incident and claim of election fraud
Mchangama, Jacob (June 6, 2022), "Banning Hate Speech Won’t End Extremist Violence",
Persuasion,
https://www.persuasion.community/p/banning-hate-speech-wont-end-extremist. Accessed on
December 24, 2023.
On the contrary, studies suggest that freedom of expression is associated with less rather
than more violent extremism, terrorism, and social conflict in democracies. A 2017 study
concluded that in Western Europe, violent far-right extremism was accelerated by “extensive
public repression of radical right actors and opinions.” Other research has come to similar
conclusions, suggesting that free speech is more likely to serve as a safety valve than a lightning
rod for extremist violence and that people are more likely to view violence as justified when
governments repress free expression.
Hui, Christie (April 23, 2022), "The Impact Of High-Profile Media On Online Content
Moderation", CTG, The Counterterrorism Group,
https://www.counterterrorismgroup.com/post/the-impact-of-high-profile-media-on-online-conten
t-moderation. Accessed on December 30, 2023.
As seen with the Brooklyn shooter, the original poster (OP) is often the attacker whose
content remains online before the attack while they are relatively anonymous.[4] The
removal of OP content by moderators drives a second group, re-uploaders, to race against
social media sites to scrape profile content before it is removed from view.[5] It is almost
certain that through the utilization of digital manipulation techniques, re-uploaders can
avoid automatic detection technology and continue to spread the harmful content free from
moderation. The motivation of the vast majority of re-uploaders is very likely to profit,
monetarily or exposure-wise, from the high degree of interest. These re-uploaders are likely
taking advantage of high-traffic keywords and hashtags to drive impressions to their profiles via
re-uploaded terrorist content. A very small minority of re-uploaders likely stand in ideological
support of the attack. It is unlikely that ideological re-uploaders will utilize the same techniques
to maximize impressions as they often prefer to keep a lower profile to avoid content removal.
Hui, Christie (April 23, 2022), "The Impact Of High-Profile Media On Online Content
Moderation", CTG, The Counterterrorism Group,
https://www.counterterrorismgroup.com/post/the-impact-of-high-profile-media-on-online-conten
t-moderation. Accessed on December 30, 2023.
Video-sharing platforms like YouTube have implemented countermeasures to detect and remove
terrorist and violent extremist content that violates their policies, especially in cases of high
public interest.[2] The attention from high-profile media cases in the event of a terrorist or
violent extremist attack increases the likelihood of violent and harmful content being
downloaded and re-uploaded online. As moderators remove content from online platforms, it
is almost certain that some users archive and re-upload the content to the same or different
platforms. Despite initial content moderation efforts, re-uploaders likely use digital
manipulation techniques, such as mirroring, filters, retiming, and pitching to avoid
automatic content detection. Prioritizing content removal based on the content itself rather than
the users who post it is likely a better strategy to combat violent content across the board. The
increasing media attention surrounding such content likely motivates users to continue
re-uploading the content to maximize impressions, promote principles of free speech, and even
glorify the violent actor. The prominence of content from terrorist and violent extremist
actors, both original and re-uploaded, is highly likely to increase the probability of
vulnerable individuals viewing such content, leading to increased risk of future violent
attacks.
Fishman, Brian (March 14, 2023), "Dual-Use Regulation: Managing Hate And Terrorism Online
Before And After Section 230 Reform", Brookings, The Brookings Institution,
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/dual-use-regulation-managing-hate-and-terrorism-online-bef
ore-and-after-section-230-reform/. Accessed on December 29, 2023.
First, the abuse of the internet by terrorists and hate organizations is persistent and
longstanding. The issue is not hypothetical, as inaccurately claimed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in its September
2022 decision upholding the constitutionality of a Texas law restricting platforms’ freedom to moderate content. To the contrary, this abuse has
been a ubiquitous and consistent reality for nearly 40 years. Indeed, such abuse long predates the modern search,
recommendation systems, and ad-based businesses models often blamed for current digital
dysfunction. The 5th Circuit’s head-in-the-sand decision is deeply problematic, but the longevity of those digital harms also suggest that
conventional wisdom now ascribes too much responsibility for these harms to a narrow set of design features. Such systems do pose unique
challenges for managing hate and terrorism—and especially misinformation and disinformation at scale—but a narrow focus on those features
encourages an unhealthy naivete about product risks tied to a wider set of risky features. It also tends to ignore the agency of
the extremists themselves, who have proven to be adaptive and resilient. They have, do, and will abuse
a wide range of products. Policymakers, civil society, and Silicon Valley should encourage product development and legislative remedies with
that dynamism in mind. Terrorism and hate are not an intentional feature of digital
communications, but they are an inevitable bug and should be treated as such by all
responsible platforms.
Feeney, Matthew (January 29, 2021), "Biden, Section 230, And The Response To Political
Extremism", Cato Institute,
https://www.cato.org/blog/biden-section-230-response-political-extremism. Accessed on
December 31, 2023.
Social media firms are well within their right to remove extremist speech, and Section 230
prevents them from being sued when they choose to do so. In addition, social media firms can
host conspiracy theories as well as extremist content. Not long after the attack on the Capitol,
AWS severed ties with Parler, a social media site used by many of the Capitol insurgents.
Apple and Google ceased hosting Parler on the Android and iOS app stores. Shortly after
the Capitol attack the most popular social media firms took action against content associated
with the incident and claim of election fraud. This content moderation and the action AWS,
Google, and Apple took against Parler prompted encrypted chat services Signal and Telegram to
experience a surge in new users.
A/2 Algorithms
A/2 Polarization
A/2 Terrorism
1. [Turn] - Moderation increases bad content. Hui ‘22 the removal of content from the
original poster increases reuploaders through the utilization of digital manipulation
techniques, spreading harmful content.
a. Prefer us on past Precedent as the Brooklyn shooter uploaded violent content
which was removed soon, but the same content was uploaded again by
re-uploaders through various techniques, sperading harmful content without
moderation.
2. [Turn] - Moderation increases attacks. Hui ‘22 the removal of content from the original
poster increases reuploaders through the utilization of digital manipulation techniques,
spreading harmful content. This increases the number of future violent attacks because
vulnerable individuals view such content.
3. [Turn] McHangama ‘22 writes freedom of expression is associated with less violent
extremism, terrorism, and social conflict in democracies. That's why McHangama ‘22
furthers far-right extremism was worsened by repression of right-wing opinions and that
people are more likely to view violence as justified when governments repress free
expression.
a) Countries such as Norway, New Zealand, and Germany who have some of the
strictest policies in place that regulate platforms to prevent hate speech saw the
highest levels of violent right-wing extremism
4. [De-Link] Kosseff ‘22 writes Section 230 still allows platforms to be held accountable for
legal violations, including terrorism laws violations and the content they create. Kosseff
‘22 furthers Section 230 never immunized platforms from federal criminal law
enforcement, including any actions that the US Justice Department could bring under
terrorism laws if it believed the companies were violating them.
a. Prefer us on past precedent as Rozenshtein ‘23 finds, in the Taamneh case, it
held that the plaintiff’s claim that the platforms had violated the Anti-Terrorism
Act was flawed because it did not allege that the platforms intentionally aided
terrorist groups
5. [De-Link] - Fishman ‘23 finds that terrorist and extremists have pushed their agendas
even before the internet was made and that they are adaptive and resilient to to any
change
a. The implication is that even by affirming you are not solving the root problem as
these terrorists will still find a way to push their agendas due to their adaptive
nature
T - moderation increases bad content
Christie Hui (April 23, 2022), "The Impact Of High-Profile Media On Online Content
Moderation", CTG, The Counterterrorism Group,
https://www.counterterrorismgroup.com/post/the-impact-of-high-profile-media-on-online-con
tent-moderation. Accessed on December 30, 2023.
As seen with the Brooklyn shooter, the original poster (OP) is often the attacker whose
content remains online before the attack while they are relatively anonymous.[4] The removal
of OP content by moderators drives a second group, re-uploaders, to race against social media
sites to scrape profile content before it is removed from view.[5] It is almost certain that
through the utilization of digital manipulation techniques, re-uploaders can avoid automatic
detection technology and continue to spread the harmful content free from moderation. The
motivation of the vast majority of re-uploaders is very likely to profit, monetarily or
exposure-wise, from the high degree of interest. These re-uploaders are likely taking advantage
of high-traffic keywords and hashtags to drive impressions to their profiles via re-uploaded
terrorist content. A very small minority of re-uploaders likely stand in ideological support of the
attack. It is unlikely that ideological re-uploaders will utilize the same techniques to maximize
impressions as they often prefer to keep a lower profile to avoid content removal.
T - Moderation not effective
Christie Hui (April 23, 2022), "The Impact Of High-Profile Media On Online Content
Moderation", CTG, The Counterterrorism Group,
https://www.counterterrorismgroup.com/post/the-impact-of-high-profile-media-on-online-con
tent-moderation. Accessed on December 30, 2023.
Video-sharing platforms like YouTube have implemented countermeasures to detect and
remove terrorist and violent extremist content that violates their policies, especially in cases of
high public interest.[2] The attention from high-profile media cases in the event of a terrorist or
violent extremist attack increases the likelihood of violent and harmful content being
downloaded and re-uploaded online. As moderators remove content from online platforms, it
is almost certain that some users archive and re-upload the content to the same or different
platforms. Despite initial content moderation efforts, re-uploaders likely use digital
manipulation techniques, such as mirroring, filters, retiming, and pitching to avoid automatic
content detection. Prioritizing content removal based on the content itself rather than the users
who post it is likely a better strategy to combat violent content across the board. The increasing
media attention surrounding such content likely motivates users to continue re-uploading the
content to maximize impressions, promote principles of free speech, and even glorify the
violent actor. The prominence of content from terrorist and violent extremist actors, both
original and re-uploaded, is highly likely to increase the probability of vulnerable individuals
viewing such content, leading to increased risk of future violent attacks.
terrorists and extremist are adaptive
Fishman, Brian (March 14, 2023), "Dual-Use Regulation: Managing Hate And Terrorism Online
Before And After Section 230 Reform", Brookings, The Brookings Institution,
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/dual-use-regulation-managing-hate-and-terrorism-online-b
efore-and-after-section-230-reform/. Accessed on December 29, 2023.
First, the abuse of the internet by terrorists and hate organizations is persistent and
longstanding. The issue is not hypothetical, as inaccurately claimed by the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 5th Circuit in its September 2022 decision upholding the constitutionality of a Texas law
restricting platforms’ freedom to moderate content. To the contrary, this abuse has been a
ubiquitous and consistent reality for nearly 40 years. Indeed, such abuse long predates the
modern search, recommendation systems, and ad-based businesses models often blamed for
current digital dysfunction. The 5th Circuit’s head-in-the-sand decision is deeply problematic,
but the longevity of those digital harms also suggest that conventional wisdom now ascribes too
much responsibility for these harms to a narrow set of design features. Such systems do pose
unique challenges for managing hate and terrorism—and especially misinformation and
disinformation at scale—but a narrow focus on those features encourages an unhealthy naivete
about product risks tied to a wider set of risky features. It also tends to ignore the agency of
the extremists themselves, who have proven to be adaptive and resilient. They have, do, and
will abuse a wide range of products. Policymakers, civil society, and Silicon Valley should
encourage product development and legislative remedies with that dynamism in mind.
Terrorism and hate are not an intentional feature of digital communications, but they are an
inevitable bug and should be treated as such by all responsible platforms.
Kosseff, Jeff (October 18, 2022), "Section 230’S Fate Belongs With Congress—Not The US
Supreme Court", WIRED, Condé Nast,
https://www.wired.com/story/section-230-scotus-gonzalez-google/. Accessed on December 25,
2023.
That is not to say that Section 230 is impermeable. Section 230 never has immunized platforms
from federal criminal law enforcement, including any actions that the US Justice Department
could bring under terrorism laws if it believed the companies were violating them.
Precedent
Rozenshtein, Alan Z. (October 26, 2023), "Interpreting The Ambiguities Of Section 230",
Brookings, The Brookings Institution,
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/interpreting-the-ambiguities-of-section-230/. Accessed on
December 29, 2023.
This distinction is a subtle one, and it’s hard to say that either side had a knock-down argument
regarding Section 230’s textual meaning. Nor does legislative history provide much insight.
Although recommendation algorithms were not unknown when Section 230 was enacted in
1996, they played nothing like the central role that they do today, and so it is unsurprising that
neither the text of Section 230 nor the legislative history address the question of liability for
recommendation algorithms. As Justice Kagan noted during oral arguments, “everyone is trying
their best to figure out how [Section 230] . . . , which was a pre-algorithm statute[,] applies in a
post-algorithm world.” Ultimately, the Court did not decide the Section 230 issue in Gonzalez.
Instead, in the companion Taamneh case, it held that the plaintiff’s substantive tort
claim—that the platforms had violated the Anti-Terrorism Act—was flawed because it did not
allege that the platforms intentionally aided terrorist groups. Since Taamneh held that the
plaintiffs would lose the substance of their claim, there was no reason to address the platforms’
Section 230 defense, and so the Court was able to duck the issues in Gonzalez.
Mchangama, Jacob (June 6, 2022), "Banning Hate Speech Won’t End Extremist Violence",
Persuasion,
https://www.persuasion.community/p/banning-hate-speech-wont-end-extremist. Accessed on
December 24, 2023.
On the contrary, studies suggest that freedom of expression is associated with less rather
than more violent extremism, terrorism, and social conflict in democracies. A 2017 study
concluded that in Western Europe, violent far-right extremism was accelerated by “extensive
public repression of radical right actors and opinions.” Other research has come to similar
conclusions, suggesting that free speech is more likely to serve as a safety valve than a lightning
rod for extremist violence and that people are more likely to view violence as justified when
governments repress free expression.
A/2 Smoking
A/2 Deepfakes
1. [De-Link] - Meta cracking down on election related deepfakes. Kelly ‘23 writes, Meta
announced it would require advertisers to disclose when potentially misleading
AI-generated or altered content is featured in political, electoral, or social issue ads on
Facebook and Instagram.
2. [De-Link] - Microsoft is offering help to combat deepfakes for elections. David ‘22 finds,
Microsoft is offering its services, including a digital watermark identifying AI content, to
help crack down on deepfakes and enhance cybersecurity ahead of several worldwide
elections.
3. [De-Link] - Swenson ‘23 writes, The Federal Election Commission has begun a process to
potentially regulate AI-generated deepfakes in political ads ahead of the 2024 election.
a. The implication is that even if you don’t affirm the resolution, you’ll still see the
deepfake problem being solved by the government
4. [De-Link] - O’Sullivan ‘23 writes Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign has assembled a special task
force to ready its responses to misleading AI-generated images and videos. The effort
aims to produce a “legal toolkit” that can allow the campaign to quickly respond to
virtually any scenario involving political misinformation and particularly AI-created
deepfakes — convincing audio, video or images made using artificial intelligence tools.
5. [De-Link] - Schoen ‘22 writes, a presidential candidate can sue the creator of a confusing
deepfake.
6. [Non-Unique] - Evin ‘21 finds, Blockchain systems use a ledger that’s continuously
verified making it nearly impossible to change information after it’s been created, which
can be uses to detect deepfakes
Meta cracking down on election related deepfakes
Kelly, Makena (November 8, 2023), "Meta To Require Political Advertisers Disclose AI-Generated
Content", The Verge, V Media,
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/8/23951346/meta-political-ads-ai-artificial-intelligence-ad
vertising. Accessed on January 1, 2024.
Meta announced Wednesday that it would require advertisers to disclose when potentially
misleading AI-generated or altered content is featured in political, electoral, or social issue
ads. The new rule applies to advertisements on Facebook and Instagram that contain
“realistic” images, videos, or audio falsely showing someone doing something they never did
or imagining a real event playing out differently than it did in reality. Content depicting
realistic-looking fake people or events would also need to be disclosed. The policy is expected
to go into effect next year. “In the New Year, advertisers who run ads about social issues,
elections & politics with Meta will have to disclose if image or sound has been created or
altered digitally, including with AI, to show real people doing or saying things they haven’t
done or said,” Nick Clegg, Meta president of global affairs, said in a Threads post Wednesday.
Content that’s been edited in ways “that are inconsequential or immaterial to the claim,
assertion, or issue raised in the ad,” like cropping or color correcting, does not need to be
disclosed, according to Meta’s Wednesday blog post. For ads containing digitally altered
content, Meta says it will flag the information to users and log it in Meta’s ads database.
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Meta was banning political campaigns and groups
from using its new slate of generative AI advertising products. The tools allow advertisers to
create multiple versions of ads, including different backgrounds, text, and image and video
sizing.
Microsoft offering help to combat deepfakes elections
David, Emilia (November 8, 2023), "Microsoft Offers Politicians Protection Against Deepfakes",
The Verge, V Media,
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/8/23951955/microsoft-elections-generative-ai-content-wa
termarks. Accessed on January 1, 2024.
Amid growing concern that AI can make it easier to spread misinformation, Microsoft is offering
its services, including a digital watermark identifying AI content, to help crack down on
deepfakes and enhance cybersecurity ahead of several worldwide elections. In a blog post
co-authored by Microsoft president Brad Smith and Microsoft’s corporate vice president,
Technology for Fundamental Rights Teresa Hutson, the company said it will offer several
services to protect election integrity, including the launch of a new tool that harnesses the
Content Credentials watermarking system developed by the Coalition for Content Provenance
Authenticity’s (C2PA). The goal of the service is to help candidates protect the use of their
content and likeness, and prevent deceiving information from being shared. Called Content
Credentials as a Service, users like electoral campaigns can use the tool to attach information
to an image or video’s metadata. The information could include provenance of when, how,
when, and who created the content. It will also say if AI was involved in creating the content.
This information becomes a permanent part of the image or video. C2PA, a group of companies
founded in 2019 that works to develop technical standards to certify content provenance,
launched Content Credentials this year. Adobe, a member of C2PA, released a Content
Credentials symbol to be attached to photos and videos in October. Content Credentials as a
Servic
FEC already trying to solve for election deepfakes
Swenson, Ali (August 10, 2023), "FEC Moves Toward Potentially Regulating AI Deepfakes In
Campaign Ads", AP News, The Associated Press,
https://apnews.com/article/fec-artificial-intelligence-deepfakes-election-2024-95399e640bd1e
41182f6c631717cc826. Accessed on January 1, 2024.
The Federal Election Commission has begun a process to potentially regulate AI-generated
deepfakes in political ads ahead of the 2024 election, a move advocates say would safeguard
voters against a particularly insidious form of election disinformation. The FEC’s unanimous
procedural vote on Thursday advances a petition asking it to regulate ads that use artificial
intelligence to misrepresent political opponents as saying or doing something they didn’t — a
stark issue that is already being highlighted in the current 2024 GOP presidential primary.
Though the circulation of convincing fake images, videos or audio clips is not new, innovative
generative AI tools are making them cheaper, easier to use, and more likely to manipulate
public perception. As a result, some presidential campaigns in the 2024 race — including that of
Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis — already are using them to persuade voters.
Biden fighting against deepfakes
O'Sullivan, Donie (November 30, 2023), "First On CNN: Biden Campaign Prepares Legal Fight
Against Election Deepfakes", CNN, Cable News Network,
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/30/politics/biden-campaign-prepares-against-deepfakes/index.
html. Accessed on January 1, 2024.
President Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign has assembled a special task force to ready its responses
to misleading AI-generated images and videos, drafting court filings and preparing novel legal
theories it could deploy to counter potential disinformation efforts that technology experts have
warned could disrupt the vote. The task force, which is composed of the campaign’s top
lawyers and outside experts such as a former senior legal advisor to the Department of
Homeland Security, is exploring what steps Biden could take if, for example, a fake video
emerged of a state election official falsely claiming that polls are closed, or if an AI-generated
image falsely portrayed Biden as urging non-citizens to cross the US border to cast ballots
illegally. The effort aims to produce a “legal toolkit” that can allow the campaign to quickly
respond to virtually any scenario involving political misinformation and particularly AI-created
deepfakes — convincing audio, video or images made using artificial intelligence tools.
Advanced systems are already fighting against these deep fakes. Kellner 22
finds:
https://www.bioid.com/blog/2022/03/deepfakes-in-biometrics/ //yash
Face liveness detection is an anti-spoofing method for facial biometrics. Scientifically, it is called presentation attack detection (PAD).
The core function of a PAD mechanism is to determine whether a biometric feature (e.g., a picture), was captured from a live
person. State-of-the art ISO/IEC 30107-3 compliant liveness detection from BioID prevents
biometric fraud through printed photos, cutouts, prints on cloth, 3D paper masks, videos
on displays, video projections and more. Deepfakes presented at the sensor level (e.g. on
displays) can be rejected through the same BioID methods, e.g. texture analysis and
artificial intelligence.
Blockchain fights against deep fakes. Evin 21 finds:
Evin Cheikosman, et al. “Blockchain Can Help Combat Threat of Deepfakes. Here’s How.” World Economic Forum, 12 Oct. 2021,
www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/10/how-blockchain-can-help-combat-threat-of-deepfakes/. Accessed 23 Dec. 2023.
Blockchain systems use a decentralized, immutable ledger to record information in a way that’s
continuously verified and re-verified by every entity that uses it, making it nearly impossible to change
information after it’s been created. One of the most well-known applications of blockchain is to manage the transfer
of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. But blockchain’s ability to provide decentralized validation of authenticity and a clear chain of
custody makes it potentially effective as a tool to track and verify not just financial resources, but all sorts of forms of content.
Together with conventional technologies such as digital signatures and standard encryption to ensure
nonrepudiation, timestamping on the blockchain can serve to inform on items useful in identifying
deepfakes, such as to confirm the date of the item’s origin or to show that the content has been in someone’s possession at a
particular time. Such timestamping is already in use in specific applications today across a variety
of industries, including for provenance in supply chain goods, notaries verifying signatures in contracts and others.
NU - Major companies already solving in SQUO
Schoen, Arthur (January 18, 2022), "", jlsp, ,
https://jlsp.law.columbia.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/213/files/2022/01/Vol55-Ullrich.pdf.
Accessed on December 31, 2023.
It is October of an election year, and there is an inflammatory video circulating of one of the
presidential candidates criticizing voters in key swing states.1 Is it real, or is it a deepfake?
Deepfakes are digitally manipulated videos that substitute the likeness of one individual with
that of another, or otherwise alter someone’s likeness.2 These videos, often uploaded to the
internet anonymously, can appear highly realistic due to advances in video editing techniques,
machine learning, and artificial intelligence. As a result, deepfakes have a high propensity to
mislead their viewers. Although prominent social media sites such as Twitter have
implemented policies forbidding misleading deepfakes,3 other, more fringe, websites may
either willfully ignore pernicious deepfakes or encourage their circulation. Even if a video is
identified as fake, some websites may refuse to take the video down, and the target of the
video—such as the hypothetical presidential candidate discussed above—may choose to resort
to the courts for compensation, an injunction, or greater public recognition of the fakery.
People can sue for defamation
Schoen, Arthur (January 18, 2022), "", jlsp, ,
https://jlsp.law.columbia.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/213/files/2022/01/Vol55-Ullrich.pdf.
Accessed on December 31, 2023.
This Note argues the hypothetical presidential candidate described above, or a similarly
harmed individual, can sue the creator of a confusing deepfake using a theory of false
association under Section 43(a)(1)(A). Additionally, and crucially, because the individual who
posted the deepfake may be unidentifiable and therefore incapable of providing relief, this Note
argues a plaintiff could pursue a claim of contributory false association against the owner of a
website hosting confusing deepfakes. Unlike defamation claims, which are barred by Section
230 of the Communications Decency Act, injured parties may bring false association claims
not only against direct actors, but also against intermediary website operators who knowingly
host the misleading content.6
A/2 Trafficking (Topshelf)
A/2 Drugs
1. [Logical De-Link] - Drug Trafficking on the dark web would still continue as it is hard to
trackdown due mich of the dark web users utilizing encryption methods
2. [De-Link] - Johnson ‘21 writes, if an online service engages in illegal activity, federal law
enforcement can take action against the service. But online services are not legally
responsible for criminals misusing their platform.
3. [De-Link] - Police ‘23 finds, Smuggling and Trafficking networks exploit the gap in law
enforcement capabilities through encrypted communication channels where illicit
activities such as drug trafficking take place.
a. The implication is that affirming does not solve the root of the problem of drug
trafficking but rather gives a temporary solution to lessen it
4. [Non-Unique] - CRS ‘22 finds that companies like Meta are solving for drug trafficking.
Meta took action against 4.1 million violations against its policies related to drugs
DL - Trafficking happens through encrypted channels
Police (August 15, 2023), "How Decision Intelligence And Data-Driven Approaches Can Combat
Drug Smuggling, Trafficking Networks", Police1, Lexipol,
https://www.police1.com/police-products/intelligence-led-policing/articles/how-decision-intelli
gence-and-data-driven-approaches-can-combat-drug-smuggling-trafficking-networks-FEr9i1xmz
jLIEzMI/. Accessed on December 31, 2023.
Smuggling and trafficking networks have evolved beyond traditional methods to exploit gaps
in law enforcement capabilities. They now employ sophisticated technologies, decentralized
structures and encrypted communication channels. These networks engage in illicit activities,
including drug trafficking, human smuggling, contraband trade and financial fraud. Recognizing
these dynamic challenges, law enforcement agencies must adapt and innovate.
NU - Companies taking action against drug trafficking in SQUO
CRS (January 30, 1206), "", ,
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN12062. Accessed on December 31, 2023.
There are efforts on the part of social media companies and law enforcement to halt drug
trafficking on social media. Social media companies generally have policies prohibiting content
relating to buying, selling, or using illicit drugs and policies prohibiting ads that promote these
activities. Their ability to enforce these policies depends on various factors including evolving
means to conceal illicit behavior online and companies’ resources for content moderation.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, notes that, in the third quarter of 2022,
it took action against 4.1 million violations of Facebook’s policies related to drugs—up from
3.9 million actions in the second quarter of 2022. It also notes that 98.3% of this content was
flagged by Facebook before it was reported by users. Meta also has similar reports about
content violations on Instagram, as do Snap Inc. and others for content violations on their
platforms.
DL - Over moderation could lead to increase in Use of encypted communication
Feeney, Matthew (January 29, 2021), "Biden, Section 230, And The Response To Political
Extremism", Cato Institute, ,
https://www.cato.org/blog/biden-section-230-response-political-extremism. Accessed on
December 31, 2023.
Shortly after the Capitol attack the most popular social media firms took action against
content associated with the incident and claim of election fraud. This content moderation and
the action AWS, Google, and Apple took against Parler prompted encrypted chat services
Signal and Telegram to experience a surge in new users.The move to encrypted services is not a
surprise. Encrypted services allow for users to communicate with one another without the
service or law enforcement being privy to the communications. These services are not ideal
social media replacements. Social media platforms are designed such that users can express
themselves to a wide audience. Encrypted services do allow for group chats, but they cannot
replicate the social media experience of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
section 230 does
Johnson, Ashley (February 22, 2021), "Fact-Checking The Critiques Of Section 230: What Are The
Real Problems?", Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, ,
https://itif.org/publications/2021/02/22/fact-checking-critiques-section-230-what-are-real-prob
lems/. Accessed on December 29, 2023.
Section 230’s supporters call this line of reasoning into question. Nothing in the law prevents
victims of crime and terrorism from taking civil action against their attackers. It only prevents
them from taking civil action against the websites and online platforms their attackers used to
commit acts of crime or terrorism. If an online service plays any part in the development of
illegal content, or induces illegal behavior, it cannot claim Section 230 protection. The online
services the section does protect are the websites and platforms that act as passive
intermediaries: social media platforms on which criminals and terrorists recruit, online
messaging services on which criminals and terrorists communicate, and websites on which
criminals and terrorists post illegal content. In other words, Section 230 “holds individuals
responsible for their actions online, not the tools that they use.”22 In practice, this means that
if an online service engages in illegal activity—such as knowingly aiding and abetting
terrorists—federal law enforcement can take action against the service. But online services
are not legally responsible for criminals misusing their platform. Some countries’ intermediary
liability laws include a provision that holds online services responsible if they were aware or
reasonably should have been aware of criminal conduct on their platforms, but once again the
danger of such a provision is that it could make it more difficult for online services to dismiss
frivolous lawsuits, dramatically raising the costs of operating an online service that relies on
third-party content, or motivate online services to engage in less monitoring to reduce their
potential liability.
A/2 Illegal Weapons
1. [De-Link] - Johnson ‘21 writes, if an online service engages in illegal activity, federal law
enforcement can take action against the service. But online services are not legally
responsible for criminals misusing their platform
2. [De-Link] - Police ‘23 finds, Smuggling and Trafficking networks exploit the gap in law
enforcement capabilities through encrypted communication channels where illicit
activities such as drug trafficking take place.
a. The implication is that affirming does not solve the root of the prohblem of drug
traffficking but rather gives a temporary solution to lessen it
3. [Logical De-Link] - Weapons Trafficking on the dark web would still continue as it is hard
to trackdown due mich of the dark web users utlizing encryption methods
DL - Trafficking happens through encrypted channels
Police (August 15, 2023), "How Decision Intelligence And Data-Driven Approaches Can Combat
Drug Smuggling, Trafficking Networks", Police1, Lexipol,
https://www.police1.com/police-products/intelligence-led-policing/articles/how-decision-intelli
gence-and-data-driven-approaches-can-combat-drug-smuggling-trafficking-networks-FEr9i1xmz
jLIEzMI/. Accessed on December 31, 2023.
Smuggling and trafficking networks have evolved beyond traditional methods to exploit gaps
in law enforcement capabilities. They now employ sophisticated technologies, decentralized
structures and encrypted communication channels. These networks engage in illicit activities,
including drug trafficking, human smuggling, contraband trade and financial fraud. Recognizing
these dynamic challenges, law enforcement agencies must adapt and innovate.
NU - Companies taking action against drug trafficking in SQUO
CRS (January 30, 1206), "", ,
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN12062. Accessed on December 31, 2023.
There are efforts on the part of social media companies and law enforcement to halt drug
trafficking on social media. Social media companies generally have policies prohibiting content
relating to buying, selling, or using illicit drugs and policies prohibiting ads that promote these
activities. Their ability to enforce these policies depends on various factors including evolving
means to conceal illicit behavior online and companies’ resources for content moderation.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, notes that, in the third quarter of 2022,
it took action against 4.1 million violations of Facebook’s policies related to drugs—up from
3.9 million actions in the second quarter of 2022. It also notes that 98.3% of this content was
flagged by Facebook before it was reported by users. Meta also has similar reports about
content violations on Instagram, as do Snap Inc. and others for content violations on their
platforms.
T - Over moderation could lead to increase in Use of encypted communication
Feeney, Matthew (January 29, 2021), "Biden, Section 230, And The Response To Political
Extremism", Cato Institute, ,
https://www.cato.org/blog/biden-section-230-response-political-extremism. Accessed on
December 31, 2023.
Shortly after the Capitol attack the most popular social media firms took action against
content associated with the incident and claim of election fraud. This content moderation and
the action AWS, Google, and Apple took against Parler prompted encrypted chat services
Signal and Telegram to experience a surge in new users.The move to encrypted services is not a
surprise. Encrypted services allow for users to communicate with one another without the
service or law enforcement being privy to the communications. These services are not ideal
social media replacements. Social media platforms are designed such that users can express
themselves to a wide audience. Encrypted services do allow for group chats, but they cannot
replicate the social media experience of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
section 230 does
Johnson, Ashley (February 22, 2021), "Fact-Checking The Critiques Of Section 230: What Are The
Real Problems?", Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, ,
https://itif.org/publications/2021/02/22/fact-checking-critiques-section-230-what-are-real-prob
lems/. Accessed on December 29, 2023.
Section 230’s supporters call this line of reasoning into question. Nothing in the law prevents
victims of crime and terrorism from taking civil action against their attackers. It only prevents
them from taking civil action against the websites and online platforms their attackers used to
commit acts of crime or terrorism. If an online service plays any part in the development of
illegal content, or induces illegal behavior, it cannot claim Section 230 protection. The online
services the section does protect are the websites and platforms that act as passive
intermediaries: social media platforms on which criminals and terrorists recruit, online
messaging services on which criminals and terrorists communicate, and websites on which
criminals and terrorists post illegal content. In other words, Section 230 “holds individuals
responsible for their actions online, not the tools that they use.”22 In practice, this means that
if an online service engages in illegal activity—such as knowingly aiding and abetting
terrorists—federal law enforcement can take action against the service. But online services
are not legally responsible for criminals misusing their platform. Some countries’ intermediary
liability laws include a provision that holds online services responsible if they were aware or
reasonably should have been aware of criminal conduct on their platforms, but once again the
danger of such a provision is that it could make it more difficult for online services to dismiss
frivolous lawsuits, dramatically raising the costs of operating an online service that relies on
third-party content, or motivate online services to engage in less monitoring to reduce their
potential liability.
A/2 Wildlife
1. [De-Link] - Irish ‘23 writes, AI represents a potential game changer in the fight against
wildlife trafficking by facilitating species identification, verification of shipping
contents/documentation, online sales detection and identifying trafficking patterns.
2. [Logical De-Link] - Wildlife Trafficking on the dark web would still continue as it is hard
to trackdown due mich of the dark web users utilizing encryption methods
DL - Trafficking happens through encrypted channels
Police (August 15, 2023), "How Decision Intelligence And Data-Driven Approaches Can Combat
Drug Smuggling, Trafficking Networks", Police1, Lexipol,
https://www.police1.com/police-products/intelligence-led-policing/articles/how-decision-intelli
gence-and-data-driven-approaches-can-combat-drug-smuggling-trafficking-networks-FEr9i1xmz
jLIEzMI/. Accessed on December 31, 2023.
Smuggling and trafficking networks have evolved beyond traditional methods to exploit gaps
in law enforcement capabilities. They now employ sophisticated technologies, decentralized
structures and encrypted communication channels. These networks engage in illicit activities,
including drug trafficking, human smuggling, contraband trade and financial fraud. Recognizing
these dynamic challenges, law enforcement agencies must adapt and innovate.
NU - Companies taking action against drug trafficking in SQUO
CRS (January 30, 1206), "", ,
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN12062. Accessed on December 31, 2023.
There are efforts on the part of social media companies and law enforcement to halt drug
trafficking on social media. Social media companies generally have policies prohibiting content
relating to buying, selling, or using illicit drugs and policies prohibiting ads that promote these
activities. Their ability to enforce these policies depends on various factors including evolving
means to conceal illicit behavior online and companies’ resources for content moderation.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, notes that, in the third quarter of 2022,
it took action against 4.1 million violations of Facebook’s policies related to drugs—up from
3.9 million actions in the second quarter of 2022. It also notes that 98.3% of this content was
flagged by Facebook before it was reported by users. Meta also has similar reports about
content violations on Instagram, as do Snap Inc. and others for content violations on their
platforms.
T - Over moderation could lead to increase in Use of encypted communication
Feeney, Matthew (January 29, 2021), "Biden, Section 230, And The Response To Political
Extremism", Cato Institute, ,
https://www.cato.org/blog/biden-section-230-response-political-extremism. Accessed on
December 31, 2023.
Shortly after the Capitol attack the most popular social media firms took action against
content associated with the incident and claim of election fraud. This content moderation and
the action AWS, Google, and Apple took against Parler prompted encrypted chat services
Signal and Telegram to experience a surge in new users.The move to encrypted services is not a
surprise. Encrypted services allow for users to communicate with one another without the
service or law enforcement being privy to the communications. These services are not ideal
social media replacements. Social media platforms are designed such that users can express
themselves to a wide audience. Encrypted services do allow for group chats, but they cannot
replicate the social media experience of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
section 230 does
Johnson, Ashley (February 22, 2021), "Fact-Checking The Critiques Of Section 230: What Are The
Real Problems?", Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, ,
https://itif.org/publications/2021/02/22/fact-checking-critiques-section-230-what-are-real-prob
lems/. Accessed on December 29, 2023.
Section 230’s supporters call this line of reasoning into question. Nothing in the law prevents
victims of crime and terrorism from taking civil action against their attackers. It only prevents
them from taking civil action against the websites and online platforms their attackers used to
commit acts of crime or terrorism. If an online service plays any part in the development of
illegal content, or induces illegal behavior, it cannot claim Section 230 protection. The online
services the section does protect are the websites and platforms that act as passive
intermediaries: social media platforms on which criminals and terrorists recruit, online
messaging services on which criminals and terrorists communicate, and websites on which
criminals and terrorists post illegal content. In other words, Section 230 “holds individuals
responsible for their actions online, not the tools that they use.”22 In practice, this means that
if an online service engages in illegal activity—such as knowingly aiding and abetting
terrorists—federal law enforcement can take action against the service. But online services
are not legally responsible for criminals misusing their platform. Some countries’ intermediary
liability laws include a provision that holds online services responsible if they were aware or
reasonably should have been aware of criminal conduct on their platforms, but once again the
danger of such a provision is that it could make it more difficult for online services to dismiss
frivolous lawsuits, dramatically raising the costs of operating an online service that relies on
third-party content, or motivate online services to engage in less monitoring to reduce their
potential liability.
AI can solve wildlife trafficking
Irish, © Jonathan (January 1, 2023), "REPORT- Detection Tools to Combat Wildlife Trafficking",
Detection Tools to Combat Wildlife Trafficking, Conservation International,
https://www.conservation.org/research/report-detection-tools-to-combat-wildlife-trafficking.
Accessed on December 25, 2023.
The newest tool, AI represents a potential game changer in the fight against wildlife
trafficking. Using computer vision and machine learning, AI can facilitate species identification,
verification of shipping contents/documentation, online sales detection and identify
trafficking patterns.
A/2 Sex Trafficking
1. [De-Link] - Section 230 does not protect sex traffickers. CDT ‘18 finds a website operator
may be held liable to the extent that it “materially contributed” to the unlawfulness of a
sex trafficking advertisement.
2. [De-Link] - Police ‘23 finds, Smuggling and Trafficking networks exploit the gap in law
enforcement capabilities through encrypted communication channels where illicit
activities such as drug trafficking take place.
a. The implication is that affirming does not solve the root of the prohblem of drug
traffficking but rather gives a temporary solution to lessen it
3. [De-Link] - Sex trafficking is decreasing right now. Kim ‘22 writes, there was a decrease
in trafficking by 22 percent in 2021 itself.
a. This proves that efforts are being done to counter trafficking and affirming is
unnecessary
4. [Logical De-Link] Sex trafficking is an international issue, which means it would be
covered in foreign surveillance, not domestic surveillance. Affirming the resolution
doesn’t help stop trafficking in any way.
5. [De-Link] Repealing section 230 isn’t essential to counter-trafficking anyway. Both the
FBI and the CIA explain on their websites that they participate in counter-trafficking
efforts. Additionally, The Crime Report in 2019 reports, the DHS boosted its
counter-trafficking efforts and intelligence by 70 percent, and the DOJ helps as well.
6. [Non-Unique] - Sex trafficking is already being solved. NCOSE ‘21 writes, FOSTA-SESTA is
now a law that makes websites liable for facilitating sex trafficking. NCOSE furthers, after
the law was passed there was a reduction in the number of people being bought and
sold.
a. Prefer us on past precedence as the Department of Justice ‘20 explains that the
government took down a popular website that promoted sex trafficking and will
continue to do so.
The Crime Report
The Crime Report, "Human Trafficking Prosecutions Decline Under Trump Administration | The Crime Report", September 9,
2019, https://thecrimereport.org/2019/09/09/human-trafficking-prosecutions-decline-under-trump-administration/
Federal efforts to combat human trafficking in the U.S. have slowed under the Trump administration,
according to government data and human trafficking advocates, Axios reports. There are thousands of
trafficking victims in the U.S., including children trafficked into prostitution and agricultural and domestic
workers who are paid little or nothing. The Trump administration has cut back on prosecutions of these
crimes and assistance to victims. Still, the Department of Homeland Security increased the number of
specialists working with human trafficking investigators by 70 percent last year, says the TIP report. DOJ
“continues to prioritize fighting violent crime, including human trafficking,” and remains “deeply
committed to securing restitution for victims and survivors of human trafficking,” said spokesman Peter
Carr.
Human trafficking decreased
Kim, Jee (May 10, 2022), "Has Human Trafficking Increased Or Decreased In The US?",
DeliverFund,
https://deliverfund.org/blog/has-human-trafficking-increased-or-decreased-in-the-us/.
Accessed on December 30, 2023.
The Human Trafficking Insitutute releases a yearly document called the Federal Human
Trafficking Report. This report serves as a tool for justice sector professionals, government
agencies, and everyday advocates to better be aware of the U.S. federal response to human
trafficking. It is also designed to highlight areas for improvement and to evaluate the actual
status of the problem. It is worth noting that the Human Trafficking Institute is the only
organization to compile statistics from every criminal case since 2000, at which time the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act was established, formally making human trafficking a federal
crime. According to the 2021 report, There were 140 new criminal human trafficking cases filed
in the Federal Court System in 2021, which is a 22 percent decrease from the year before. The
total number of new victims declined by 25 percent from the year before as well. Additionally,
compared to 2020, there was a 5 percent decrease in the number of new defendants charged in
2021. And since 2017, the number of defendants charged has decreased by 37 percent.
section 230 does
Johnson, Ashley (February 22, 2021), "Fact-Checking The Critiques Of Section 230: What Are The
Real Problems?", Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, ,
https://itif.org/publications/2021/02/22/fact-checking-critiques-section-230-what-are-real-prob
lems/. Accessed on December 29, 2023.
Section 230’s supporters call this line of reasoning into question. Nothing in the law prevents
victims of crime and terrorism from taking civil action against their attackers. It only prevents
them from taking civil action against the websites and online platforms their attackers used to
commit acts of crime or terrorism. If an online service plays any part in the development of
illegal content, or induces illegal behavior, it cannot claim Section 230 protection. The online
services the section does protect are the websites and platforms that act as passive
intermediaries: social media platforms on which criminals and terrorists recruit, online
messaging services on which criminals and terrorists communicate, and websites on which
criminals and terrorists post illegal content. In other words, Section 230 “holds individuals
responsible for their actions online, not the tools that they use.”22 In practice, this means that
if an online service engages in illegal activity—such as knowingly aiding and abetting
terrorists—federal law enforcement can take action against the service. But online services
are not legally responsible for criminals misusing their platform. Some countries’ intermediary
liability laws include a provision that holds online services responsible if they were aware or
reasonably should have been aware of criminal conduct on their platforms, but once again the
danger of such a provision is that it could make it more difficult for online services to dismiss
frivolous lawsuits, dramatically raising the costs of operating an online service that relies on
third-party content, or motivate online services to engage in less monitoring to reduce their
potential liability.
sec 230 does not protect sex traffickers
by nclud., . Created (January 22, 2018), "Frequently Asked Questions: Section 230, Sex
Trafficking, and Current Legislation", Center for Democracy and Technology,
https://cdt.org/insights/frequently-asked-questions-section-230-sex-trafficking-and-current-legi
slation/. Accessed on December 29, 2023.
A website operator may be held liable to the extent that it “materially contributed” to the
unlawfulness of a sex trafficking advertisement. Under current law, this would include website
operators that, for example, wrote ads themselves, or compelled or induced their users to
upload unlawful content.
Sex Trafficking already solved
NCOSE (August 3, 2021), "Communications Decency Act (CDA) - NCOSE", NCOSE, ,
https://endsexualexploitation.org/cda/. Accessed on December 25, 2023.
FOSTA-SESTA is now law. The legislation, a combination of the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act
(FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA), makes websites liable for knowingly
facilitating sex trafficking or intentionally promoting the prostitution of others (pimping).
Since its passage (and the closure of Backpage.com by federal authorities on charges not
related to FOSTA-SESTA), according to ChildSafe.AI, one major market showed that sex buyer
responses to ads on web-based platforms that promote prostitution and facilitate sex
trafficking declined nearly 60% from February 2018 to March 2019. This translates into fewer
people being bought and sold in the online prostitution market.
Precedent
Investigations, Homeland Security (June 19, 2020), "U.S. Attorney’s Office Shuts Down Website
Promoting Prostitution And Sex Trafficking, Indicts Owner", United States Department of
Justice,
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/us-attorney-s-office-shuts-down-website-promoting-pro
stitution-and-sex-trafficking. Accessed on December 25, 2023.
The website CityXGuide.com — a leading source of online advertisements for prostitution and
sex trafficking that users described as “taking over from where Backpage left off” — has been
seized and its owner charged in a 28-count federal indictment, announced United States
Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox. Wilhan Martono, 46, was indicted on
June 2 on one count of promotion of prostitution and reckless disregard of sex trafficking, one
count of interstate racketeering conspiracy (facilitating prostitution), nine counts of interstate
transportation in aid of racketeering (facilitating prostitution), and 17 counts of money
laundering. He was arrested on June 17 in Fremont, California by Homeland Security
Investigations and the United States Secret Service. Shortly after the defendant’s arrest,
CityXGuide was replaced with a splash page notifying users that the website had been seized by
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security pursuant to a warrant. According to the indictment,
Mr. Martono allegedly netted more than $21 million off a suite of illicit websites promoting
prostitution and sex trafficking. He allegedly registered the domain names for several of the
sites just one day after the FBI shut down Backpage.com, then the internet’s leading source of
prostitution and sex trafficking advertisements. Despite Terms of Use purportedly forbidding the
advertisement of illegal sexual services, CityXGuide and its affiliated websites (Backpage.co,
CAPleasures.com, and BodyRubShop.com, among others) allegedly allowed brothels, pimps,
and prostitutes to post hundreds of thousands of advertisements for sexual services, which
users could then filter by geography and preference. In correspondence with Mr. Martono, one
of his CityXGuide advertisers noted that the website was “taking over from where Backpage left
off.” CityXGuide and its companion websites allegedly allowed advertisers to select from a
pre-populated list of “intimate activities,” then add nude photographs, descriptions, work hours,
methods of payment, and contact information for the women being advertised. In order to
secure premium placement, the websites offered paid “upgrades,” which could be purchased in
Bitcoin or in exchange for gift cards from Walmart, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Amazon, and other
retailers. Mr. Martono allegedly used CardCash, a third party gift card reseller, to exchange
these gift cards for U.S. currency. Mr. Martono allegedly took steps to conceal his online activity
by routing website traffic through an IP address in Europe, using a VPN to mask his IP address
while conducting CardCash transactions, and funneling his proceeds through a network of
business and personal bank accounts. (At the time of Mr. Martono’s arrest, the Department of
Homeland Security seized millions of dollars from accounts controlled by Mr. Martono.)
CityXGuide, which served clients across the globe, included a list of 14 “Favorite Cities,”
including Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, and Boston.
Law enforcement has identified numerous minor victims in CityXGuide advertisements,
including a 13-year-old Jane Doe recovered in North Texas in November 2019. “As soon as DOJ
shut down one despicable site, another popped up to take its place,” said U.S. Attorney Erin
Nealy Cox. “Like the owners of Backpage, this defendant made millions facilitating the online
exploitation of women and children. The Justice Department will not rest until these sites are
eliminated and their owners held accountable for their crimes.”
A/2 Misinformation (Topshelf)
Misinformation is being solved in the souq
Feeney 20 finds that
Platforms were put in the unenviable position of developing content moderation policies
related to the pandemic and election season, trying to halt the spread of potentially
life-threatening medical misinformation and political conspiracy theories.
And is it effective, as Saltz 21 finds
We find that encounters with platform misinformation interventions are widespread (49%
overall report some exposure occurring after the 2020 election)
This means that at least half of social media users are being protected from misinformation.
Secondly Content moderation
Goldman 19
Instead, due to Section 230’s immunity, online republishers of third-party content do not
have to deploy industrial-grade content filtering or moderation systems, or hire lots of content
moderation employees, before launching new startups
This is objectively bad as
Dwoskin [45] reported that one of five counselors supporting 450 moderators in Austin, TX
stated the work could cause a form of PTSD known as vicarious trauma.
Or they may stop moderating as a whole
Petricone 19 find
Currently, Section 230 ensures that internet platforms can perform the essential work of
moderat[e]ing harmful content without facing liability. Removing those protections would
disincentivize platforms from removing content, allowing free reign to violent extremists,
Nazis and other repugnant actors.
If they say it's being solved by AI
Steiger 21
Ideally, we could rely on machine learning to automatically detect problematic content.
However, human interpretation is often necessary due to high accuracy requirements and
costs of errors, the subjective nature of the task, and complex, ever-changing
moderation policies and forms of offending content [24, 55, 127, 128].
A/2 Vaccines
DL - Social media already moderating vaccine misinfo. Burki ‘19 writes
Burki, Talha (2019), "Vaccine misinformation and social media", The Lancet Digital Health,
Elsevier BV,
doi:10.1016/S2589-7500(19)30136-0. Accessed on December 25, 2023.
The social media networks have started to take action. In August 2019, Pinterest announced
that searches on its site for vaccine-related topics, such as measles or vaccine safety, will only
turn up links to reputable public health organisations. The results will not be accompanied by
recommendations, comments, or advertisements. The move was welcomed by WHO's
director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “We hope to see other social media platforms
around the world following Pinterest's lead”, he stated. More than 300 million people visit the
Pinterest website or access its app every month. A large number but nowhere near the reach of
Facebook, which has 2·4 billion users every month. Earlier this year, Facebook stated that it
would no longer recommend content that included misinformation about vaccines and it
would reject advertisements that carried misinformation. The platforms have to thread a fine
line between censorship and helping to facilitate the dissemination of dangerous
misinformation. Instagram has blocked hastags that make patently false claims such as
#vaccinescauseaids and has said that it will ban hashtags that become associated with
misleading information in the future, although it will not target those who express
antivaccination opinions. Youtube has removed advertisements from antivaccination videos,
meaning that the posters will not make any money. Twitter ensures that when users search
for vaccine-related topics in the UK, the first result is for the National Health Service. In the
USA, the same search first turns up a link to the Department of Health and Human Services.
But scroll down the page and antivaccination messages abound.
A/2 Elections
Meta cracking down on election related deepfakes
Kelly, Makena (November 8, 2023), "Meta To Require Political Advertisers Disclose AI-Generated
Content", The Verge, V Media,
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/8/23951346/meta-political-ads-ai-artificial-intelligence-ad
vertising. Accessed on January 1, 2024.
Meta announced Wednesday that it would require advertisers to disclose when potentially
misleading AI-generated or altered content is featured in political, electoral, or social issue
ads. The new rule applies to advertisements on Facebook and Instagram that contain
“realistic” images, videos, or audio falsely showing someone doing something they never did
or imagining a real event playing out differently than it did in reality. Content depicting
realistic-looking fake people or events would also need to be disclosed. The policy is expected
to go into effect next year. “In the New Year, advertisers who run ads about social issues,
elections & politics with Meta will have to disclose if image or sound has been created or
altered digitally, including with AI, to show real people doing or saying things they haven’t
done or said,” Nick Clegg, Meta president of global affairs, said in a Threads post Wednesday.
Content that’s been edited in ways “that are inconsequential or immaterial to the claim,
assertion, or issue raised in the ad,” like cropping or color correcting, does not need to be
disclosed, according to Meta’s Wednesday blog post. For ads containing digitally altered
content, Meta says it will flag the information to users and log it in Meta’s ads database.
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Meta was banning political campaigns and groups
from using its new slate of generative AI advertising products. The tools allow advertisers to
create multiple versions of ads, including different backgrounds, text, and image and video
sizing.
Microsoft offering help to combat deepfakes elections
David, Emilia (November 8, 2023), "Microsoft Offers Politicians Protection Against Deepfakes",
The Verge, V Media,
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/8/23951955/microsoft-elections-generative-ai-content-wa
termarks. Accessed on January 1, 2024.
Amid growing concern that AI can make it easier to spread misinformation, Microsoft is offering
its services, including a digital watermark identifying AI content, to help crack down on
deepfakes and enhance cybersecurity ahead of several worldwide elections. In a blog post
co-authored by Microsoft president Brad Smith and Microsoft’s corporate vice president,
Technology for Fundamental Rights Teresa Hutson, the company said it will offer several
services to protect election integrity, including the launch of a new tool that harnesses the
Content Credentials watermarking system developed by the Coalition for Content Provenance
Authenticity’s (C2PA). The goal of the service is to help candidates protect the use of their
content and likeness, and prevent deceiving information from being shared. Called Content
Credentials as a Service, users like electoral campaigns can use the tool to attach information
to an image or video’s metadata. The information could include provenance of when, how,
when, and who created the content. It will also say if AI was involved in creating the content.
This information becomes a permanent part of the image or video. C2PA, a group of companies
founded in 2019 that works to develop technical standards to certify content provenance,
launched Content Credentials this year. Adobe, a member of C2PA, released a Content
Credentials symbol to be attached to photos and videos in October. Content Credentials as a
Servic
FEC already trying to solve for election deepfakes
Swenson, Ali (August 10, 2023), "FEC Moves Toward Potentially Regulating AI Deepfakes In
Campaign Ads", AP News, The Associated Press,
https://apnews.com/article/fec-artificial-intelligence-deepfakes-election-2024-95399e640bd1e
41182f6c631717cc826. Accessed on January 1, 2024.
The Federal Election Commission has begun a process to potentially regulate AI-generated
deepfakes in political ads ahead of the 2024 election, a move advocates say would safeguard
voters against a particularly insidious form of election disinformation. The FEC’s unanimous
procedural vote on Thursday advances a petition asking it to regulate ads that use artificial
intelligence to misrepresent political opponents as saying or doing something they didn’t — a
stark issue that is already being highlighted in the current 2024 GOP presidential primary.
Though the circulation of convincing fake images, videos or audio clips is not new, innovative
generative AI tools are making them cheaper, easier to use, and more likely to manipulate
public perception. As a result, some presidential campaigns in the 2024 race — including that of
Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis — already are using them to persuade voters.
Biden fighting against deepfakes
O'Sullivan, Donie (November 30, 2023), "First On CNN: Biden Campaign Prepares Legal Fight
Against Election Deepfakes", CNN, Cable News Network,
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/30/politics/biden-campaign-prepares-against-deepfakes/index.
html. Accessed on January 1, 2024.
President Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign has assembled a special task force to ready its responses
to misleading AI-generated images and videos, drafting court filings and preparing novel legal
theories it could deploy to counter potential disinformation efforts that technology experts have
warned could disrupt the vote. The task force, which is composed of the campaign’s top
lawyers and outside experts such as a former senior legal advisor to the Department of
Homeland Security, is exploring what steps Biden could take if, for example, a fake video
emerged of a state election official falsely claiming that polls are closed, or if an AI-generated
image falsely portrayed Biden as urging non-citizens to cross the US border to cast ballots
illegally. The effort aims to produce a “legal toolkit” that can allow the campaign to quickly
respond to virtually any scenario involving political misinformation and particularly AI-created
deepfakes — convincing audio, video or images made using artificial intelligence tools.
Advanced systems are already fighting against these deep fakes. Kellner 22
finds:
https://www.bioid.com/blog/2022/03/deepfakes-in-biometrics/ //yash
Face liveness detection is an anti-spoofing method for facial biometrics. Scientifically, it is called presentation attack detection (PAD).
The core function of a PAD mechanism is to determine whether a biometric feature (e.g., a picture), was captured from a live
person. State-of-the art ISO/IEC 30107-3 compliant liveness detection from BioID prevents
biometric fraud through printed photos, cutouts, prints on cloth, 3D paper masks, videos
on displays, video projections and more. Deepfakes presented at the sensor level (e.g. on
displays) can be rejected through the same BioID methods, e.g. texture analysis and
artificial intelligence.
Blockchain fights against deep fakes. Evin 21 finds:
Evin Cheikosman, et al. “Blockchain Can Help Combat Threat of Deepfakes. Here’s How.” World Economic Forum, 12 Oct. 2021,
www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/10/how-blockchain-can-help-combat-threat-of-deepfakes/. Accessed 23 Dec. 2023.
Blockchain systems use a decentralized, immutable ledger to record information in a way that’s
continuously verified and re-verified by every entity that uses it, making it nearly impossible to change
information after it’s been created. One of the most well-known applications of blockchain is to manage the transfer
of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. But blockchain’s ability to provide decentralized validation of authenticity and a clear chain of
custody makes it potentially effective as a tool to track and verify not just financial resources, but all sorts of forms of content.
Together with conventional technologies such as digital signatures and standard encryption to ensure
nonrepudiation, timestamping on the blockchain can serve to inform on items useful in identifying
deepfakes, such as to confirm the date of the item’s origin or to show that the content has been in someone’s possession at a
particular time. Such timestamping is already in use in specific applications today across a variety
of industries, including for provenance in supply chain goods, notaries verifying signatures in contracts and others.
NU - Major companies already solving in SQUO
Schoen, Arthur (January 18, 2022), "", jlsp, ,
https://jlsp.law.columbia.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/213/files/2022/01/Vol55-Ullrich.pdf.
Accessed on December 31, 2023.
It is October of an election year, and there is an inflammatory video circulating of one of the
presidential candidates criticizing voters in key swing states.1 Is it real, or is it a deepfake?
Deepfakes are digitally manipulated videos that substitute the likeness of one individual with
that of another, or otherwise alter someone’s likeness.2 These videos, often uploaded to the
internet anonymously, can appear highly realistic due to advances in video editing techniques,
machine learning, and artificial intelligence. As a result, deepfakes have a high propensity to
mislead their viewers. Although prominent social media sites such as Twitter have
implemented policies forbidding misleading deepfakes,3 other, more fringe, websites may
either willfully ignore pernicious deepfakes or encourage their circulation. Even if a video is
identified as fake, some websites may refuse to take the video down, and the target of the
video—such as the hypothetical presidential candidate discussed above—may choose to resort
to the courts for compensation, an injunction, or greater public recognition of the fakery.
People can sue for defamation
Schoen, Arthur (January 18, 2022), "", jlsp, ,
https://jlsp.law.columbia.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/213/files/2022/01/Vol55-Ullrich.pdf.
Accessed on December 31, 2023.
This Note argues the hypothetical presidential candidate described above, or a similarly harmed
individual, can sue the creator of a confusing deepfake using a theory of false association
under Section 43(a)(1)(A). Additionally, and crucially, because the individual who posted the
deepfake may be unidentifiable and therefore incapable of providing relief, this Note argues a
plaintiff could pursue a claim of contributory false association against the owner of a website
hosting confusing deepfakes. Unlike defamation claims, which are barred by Section 230 of the
Communications Decency Act, injured parties may bring false association claims not only
against direct actors, but also against intermediary website operators who knowingly host the
misleading content.6
A/2 Bank Runs
A/2 PACT Act
1. [De-Link] - Mackey ‘21 writes, the PACT act fails to provide sufficient safeguards to stop
takedowns from being abused by parties who are trying to remove other users’ speech
that they do not like.
Mackey, Aaron (March 26, 2021), "Even With Changes, The Revised PACT Act Will Lead To
More Online", Electronic Frontier Foundation, ,
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/03/even-changes-revised-pact-act-will-lead-more-online-cen
sorship. Accessed on December 29, 2023.
As with its earlier version, the revised PACT Act’s main change to Section 230 involves
conditioning the law’s protections on whether online services remove content when they receive
a judicial order finding that the content is illegal. As we’ve said before, this proposal, on its face,
sounds sensible. There is likely to be little value in hosting user-generated content that a court
has determined is illegal. But the new PACT Act still fails to provide sufficient safeguards to
stop takedowns from being abused by parties who are trying to remove other users’ speech
that they do not like.
A/2 Populism
A/2 Cartels
1. [Logical De-Link] - Trafficking on the dark web would still continue as it is hard to
trackdown due mich of the dark web users utlizing encryption methods
2. [De-Link] - Johnson ‘21 writes, if an online service engages in illegal activity, federal law
enforcement can take action against the service. But online services are not legally
responsible for criminals misusing their platform.
3. [De-Link] - Police ‘23 finds, Smuggling and Trafficking networks exploit the gap in law
enforcement capabilities through encrypted communication channels where illicit
activities such as drug trafficking take place.
a. The implication is that affirming does not solve the root of the prohblem of drug
traffficking but rather gives a temporary solution to lessen it
4. [Non-Unique] - CRS ‘22 finds that companies like Meta are solving for drug trafficking.
Meta took action agasinst 4.1 million violations against its policies related to drugs
Check A/2 Trafficking (Topshelf) for cards