WASHINGTON: US lawmakers on Tuesday passed legislation aimed at holding website owners liable for human trafficking, but critics say it could undermine free speech on the internet. The bill passed by a large majority in the House of Representatives, but must be reconciled with Senate legislation and approved by that body before heading to the president’s desk to be signed. “We applaud House and Senate legislative efforts to address the use of websites to facilitate sex trafficking and to protect and restore victims who were sold for sex online,” Boyd said in the letter. The measure seeks to reconcile separate legislative efforts in the House and Senate and is aimed at websites such as Backpage, which has been accused of facilitating sexual exploitation. “The ‘moderator’s dilemma’ is bad news because it encourages internet companies to dial down their content moderation efforts, potentially increasing the quantity of ‘bad’ content online – including, counterproductively, the quantity of now-unmoderated sex trafficking promotions,” Goldman said in a blog post.

Source: New Strait Times February 28, 2018 00:33 UTC