Freedom of thought in an open society

We the People,

Freedom of speech on the Internet is at the very heart of our democratic processes today. However, for corrupt purposes, corporations are extensively manipulating the Internet: from our search-result listings to our individual discussions, feeds, platforms, and communications.

[References: 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyXsAK980vU
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWLzQLmNFlM
3+. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=FL-ndbOCHIiLrdU6E4jSDajA ]

To regain freedom of thought in an open society, we must completely rewrite Section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996, which allows corporations to manipulate the Internet through liability-free “blocking and screening.” This Orwellian section currently reads as follows.

3. PROTECTION FOR `GOOD SAMARITAN' BLOCKING AND SCREENING OF OFFENSIVE MATERIAL-
   1. TREATMENT OF PUBLISHER OR SPEAKER- 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.
   2. CIVIL LIABILITY- No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be held liable on account of--
      1. any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected; or
      2. any action taken to enable or make available to information content providers or others the technical means to restrict access to material described in paragraph (1).

This section needs to be changed to the following.

3. PROTECTION OF FREEDOM ON THE INTERNET-
   1. TREATMENT OF PUBLISHER OR SPEAKER- 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 and thus shall not be held liable for this information unless the provider or user of the interactive computer service censors or bans any such information outside of due process of law.
   2. INTERNET PUBLIC SPACES- All freedoms of speech that apply in public spaces apply on the Internet. Any violation of free speech on the Internet is equivalent to the same violation in a public space. Illegal activity should be prosecuted through the criminal justice system, and slander can be prosecuted through civil legal action. Of course, each user can individually opt-in to label and filter the information that they receive on the Internet.
   3. INTERNET PUBLIC LISTINGS- All Internet search-result listings must be, by default, based upon purely objective, standard measures: usually, the number of hits. Users can individually opt-in to other, filtered listings if they so choose. Search filters must be clearly identified and described.
   4. INTERNET PRIVACY- No information about an Internet user can be obtained, kept, or shared (with a third party) without the explicit consent of the user as to—described to the user in a simple, reasonable, and clear fashion—what the exact information is and how exactly it will be obtained, kept, and/or shared (and with who). The obtaining, keeping, and sharing of user information must be minimized.
   5. CORPORATE AND GOVERNMENTAL PENALTIES- Any violation by a significantly large corporation or by the (local, state, or federal) government of the above items in (c) shall be enforceable through civil legal action by private parties and shall be enforced through the criminal justice system by the government as a felony against the corporate employees and owners, or against the governmental employees, responsible for the violation.

We must spread the word—and defend ourselves!

We the People