CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: New York Lawmakers Drafting Bill That Would Allow Social Media Checks Before Gun Purchase.

via wcbs880:

 Two New York lawmakers are working to draft a bill that would propose a social media check before a gun purchase.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and state Sen. Kevin Palmer’s proposal would allow authorities to review three years of social media history and one year of internet search history of any person seeking to purchase a firearm.

“A three-year review of a social media profile would give an easy profile of a person who is not suitable to hold and possess a fire arm,” Adams explains.

The two are hoping to identify any hate speech on social media profiles, which are often revealed only after someone is arrested in a mass shooting.

 

SO WHAT’S THE DOWNSIDE? You Can’t ‘Fix’ Twitter Without Breaking Twitter.

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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey evidently signaled in a company event recently that he plans to do away with the “like” button. Dorsey has hinted at such a move before. “Right now we have a big Like button with a heart on it and we’re incentivizing people to want it to go up…” he said in a conversation with WIRED. “Is that the right thing? Versus contributing to the public conversation or a healthy conversation? How do we incentive healthy conversation?”

The suggestion was mocked across the Twittersphere, with users pointing out the small heart-sharped button to tell someone you liked their message was not exactly the driver of hate and division on the site. But it did prompt a new wave of suggestions to “fix” the site to end the uncivil dialogue and harassment, including getting rid of retweets. Such suggestions fit into the perennial insistence that something must be done to end the toxic culture, harassment, bullying, etc.

It would be better if we were honest with ourselves. There’s nothing that can be done to “fix” Twitter that wouldn’t simultaneously destroy the elements of the site that drew us to it in the first place.

There are three separate things the larger Twitter user base demands from the company:

  • the ability to send messages out to the entire world

  • the ability to interact with fellow users

  • the ability to send messages without the fear of toxic responses

Related: Social Media As Social Disease.

 

h/t SG

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