| Online Free Speech Advocate Praises SL's Community Standards |
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| News - Virtual World News | |
 Online free speech advocate Adam Thierer joined Cornell's Dr. Robert Bloomfield this week for a discussion on government's proper place in virtual worlds and other online communities, the first of two forums on online freedom hosted by Metanomics.net and cross-broadcast live in Second Life.Thierer, Senior Policy Fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation and Director of the organization's Center for Digital Media Freedom, made a strong case for "parental empowerment and personal responsibility over most regulatory approaches to online free speech or online content and expression," arguing that "the sort of community standards approach that we've taken in America for many, many decades," was far superior to calling in "Uncle Sam to play the role of surrogate parent or national nanny" to "make a lot of these decisions for us." He outlined some of the more "Draconian" approaches taken by Congress over the past decade to limit online speech in attempt to protect children from online predators and adult content -- a risk that several studies have shown to be overblown compared to threats like cyber-bullying. "[I]t's always important to put things into perspective and ask ourselves if the regulations and solutions that are being put forwards as sort of a technological silver bullet solution to concerns make sense if they're not commensurate with the actual harms that are out there." "Should the government mandate that everyone be authenticated before they go online to visit their favorite social network or their favorite Virtual World or even to engage in some online gaming on an XBox or a PS3?" he asked. "There have been many lawmakers who've suggested that that has to be done. But how do you do it? And that's not easy, and it also potentially invades our privacy to do so, so that hasn't passed into law yet, but it's still being considered." Thierer detailed a current effort by the Federal Trade Commission to analyze "not just Second Life, but dozens of other Virtual Worlds, taking a look in real time of what's happening in these [communities], taping it, and then producing a report for the Commissioners." The report may be out as soon as early December, and Thierer believes the FTC will use the report to "recommend a set of best practices or guidelines to various Virtual Worlds or virtual communities about how to address access to certain types of potentially objectionable adult-oriented content or expression." He believes these controls are unnecessary. Most social sites, including Second Life, have shown that online communities voluntarily come together to set standards and put in place tools to monitor potentially objectionable content, an approach he believes to be "preferable to having the government come in and set a 'one-size-fits-all" standard..." Thierer said he's especially excited by Second Life "when I hear about various groups that set up in independent communities with different standards. Yeah, sometimes Linden Lab does come in, steps in, and says "Well, we won't tolerate this or that," but I think eventually Linden Lab has to be a good community steward and listen to the various sub-communities within the larger community." Read the full transcript View the video
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