Season 7, Episode 12: Considering the future of Section 230 (with Ben Sperry)

On this week's episode of the podcast, I am joined by Ben Sperry, a senior scholar at the International Center for Law and Economics, to explore the shifting landscape of social media litigation. We dive deep into recent court rulings in California and New Mexico that challenge the historical protections of Section 230 by focusing on product design rather than hosted content (see a recent piece by Ben, "Treating Speech as a Bug, Not a Feature," for more background). Among other things, we discuss:Why the shift from content-based liability to product design claims might permanently dismantle the protections afforded by Section 230How the threat of punitive damages may force platforms to implement aggressive age-gating and collateral censorship measuresWhether applying product liability standards to algorithmic recommendation features creates friction with First Amendment principlesWhether smaller tech entrants and startups can survive a legal environment defined by constant litigation and high compliance costsWhat the recent jury verdicts against Meta and Google signal for the future of algorithmic curation across the broader internet ecosystemWhen the focus on addictive design features like infinite scroll will begin to impact other services like streaming platformsHow generative AI and large language models will be categorized under speech laws if Section 230 remains inapplicableThanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.Xsolla⁠. With the Xsolla Web Shop, you can create a direct storefront, cut fees down to as low as 5%, and keep players engaged with bundles, rewards, and analytics.⁠Branch⁠. Branch is an AI-powered MMP, connecting every paid, owned, and organic touchpoint so growth teams can see exactly where to put their dollars to bring users in the door and keep them coming backInterested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.