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OnlyFans bribed Meta to put porn stars on terror watchlist: lawsuits (nypost.com)

541 points by wishfish · 1492 days ago · 323 comments on HN

Article summary

A group of lawsuits alleges that OnlyFans bribed Meta employees to add thousands of adult performers to a terrorist watchlist, crippling their ability to promote their business on social media platforms. The lawsuits claim that this scheme, which dates back to 2018, allowed OnlyFans to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals. The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), a nonprofit group formed by Meta and other tech companies, maintains a database of terror-linked accounts that can be shared across social media platforms. This database has been used to censor content, including bikini photos wrongly flagged as jihadist propaganda.

Main themes

  • censorship
  • social media regulation
  • competition law
  • freedom of expression
  • terrorist watchlists
  • online content moderation

What commenters say

  • Private companies with significant market share should be treated as public utilities and regulated to protect freedom of expression.
  • The formation of the GIFCT and its information-sharing practices may be a breach of competition law, potentially disadvantaging smaller companies like Snap or TikTok.
  • The censorship of content on social media platforms can have significant consequences, including the destruction of lives and livelihoods.
  • Companies like Meta and Google have a responsibility to protect users from extremist content, but this responsibility should not come at the expense of freedom of expression.
  • The line between private companies and public utilities is blurred, and regulation is needed to ensure that companies do not abuse their power.
  • The ability to create one's own website or use alternative social media platforms does not necessarily mitigate the effects of censorship on major platforms.
  • The use of terrorist watchlists to censor content can be seen as a form of anti-competitive tactics, abusing monopoly positions to harm rivals.
  • The issue of censorship on social media platforms is complex, and companies must balance the need to protect users from harmful content with the need to protect freedom of expression.