The Cyberlaw Podcast is back from August hiatus, and the theme of our first episode is how other countries are using the global success of U.S. technology to impose their priorities on the U.S. Our best evidence is the EU's Digital Services Act, which took effect last month.
Michael Ellis spells out a few of the Act's sweeping changes in how U.S. tech companies must operate – nominally in Europe but as a practical matter in the U.S. as well. The largest social media platforms will be heavily regulated, with restrictions on their content curation algorithms and a requirement that they promote government content when governments declare a crisis. Other social media will also be subject to heavy content regulation, such as a transparency mandate for decisions to demote or ban content and a requirement that they respond promptly to takedown requests from "trusted flaggers" of Bad Speech. Searching for a silver lining, I point out that many of the transparency and due process requirements are things that Texas and Florida have advocated over the objections of Silicon Valley companies. Compliance with the EU Act will undercut the Big Tech claims likely to be made in the Supreme Court this Term, particularly that such transparency isn't possible.
Cristin Flynn Goodwin and I note that China's on-again off-again regulatory enthusiasm is off again. Chinese officials are doing their best to ease Western firms' concerns about China's new data security law requirements. Even more remarkable, China's AI regulatory framework was watered down in August, moving away from the EU model and toward a U.S./U.K. ethical/voluntary approach. For now.
