These platforms need to be held accountable if they spread disinformation and misinformation: CEO

Jim Steyer, Which Side of History author and Common Sense Media CEO joins the Yahoo Finance Live panel to discuss YouTube and other tech companies suspending Trump’s account following the Capitol riots.

Video Transcript

ZACK GUZMAN: Let's spotlight the increasing pressure that we are seeing among tech companies here to rein in President Trump's accounts, YouTube following many others, including Twitter, that acted to remove President Trump's accounts, at least in the case of YouTube, temporarily here. To discuss that, I want to bring on Jim Steyer, the author of "Which Side of History," as well as the CEO of Common Sense Media.

And Jim, good to be chatting with you today. I mean, there's a bit of a pro/con here, right, because you want to protect the integrity of these platforms, and obviously don't want to be caught liable spreading speech, problematic speech. What do you make of the moves we're seeing now, as YouTube follows suit?

JIM STEYER: They are absolutely important for the country, and this should have happened a long time ago. I mean, we've been calling on not just YouTube, but particularly Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to take down overt election lie-- the big lie about the election that Trump won, which is a lie, and it basically-- it's that big lie that led to the insurrection at the Capitol last week.

So we're very pleased to see that YouTube has finally suspended Trump, and that Twitter banned him permanently, that Facebook has suspended him, and I hope-- and we hope will ban him permanently. This is core to our democratic norms and institutions. And so this is a very important step forward, and these platforms need to be held accountable if they are spreading not just disinformation and misinformation about the election, but also the extraordinary amount of white supremacy and racism on their platforms, as well.

AKIKO FUJITA: And yet, Jim, these platforms have long resisted being the arbiters of truth, if you will. They have not wanted to step in to regulate content. Now that they have, does that strengthen the case for a repeal of Section 230 for those lawmakers who were already moving forward on that?

JIM STEYER: Absolutely. And by the way, Common Sense Media-- we're the biggest kids media and kids advocacy group in the United States-- we've been calling for the overhaul of Section 230 for three years. And a number of the senators who you're going to see lead, there's going to be a-- there's going to be an overhaul of 230 this year. I will predict that on the show, and come back and discuss that with you, because there are people on both sides of the aisle that realize that 230 is essentially a get out of jail free card for the social media platforms and large internet companies.

And it has to be overhauled and completely revamped to deal with the reality of 2021. I mean, we saw the interference post-election, we saw the big lie that led to the insurrection at the Capitol. I mean, a 9/11 moment in our nation's history. But we've also seen these platforms amplify hate speech, misinformation, racism, white supremacy, other stuff that we could never, by the way, do on other platforms.

So it's critically important that there be a legislative regulatory solution. And there will be in 2021. And I think you're going to see lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, even though they're coming from different perspectives, push for this overhaul. And in the meantime, the companies have to continue their bans, period.

AKIKO FUJITA: Jim, regardless of where people stand on Section 230, if you're predicting a complete overhaul here, that would seem to really change the internet experience itself. While the focus has largely been on companies like Facebook and Twitter, 230 does allow for so many other sites to operate in the way they have. If you look at a site like Yelp, for example, with the comments that users are able to leave behind there, so many other platforms that not necessarily have been included in this larger conversation, what does that internet experience look like on the other side of the repeal?

JIM STEYER: You're making a very good point. I would agree with you. It'll be a more-- it'll be more like a publishing experience. By the way, it'll be very similar to what you would see if you were watching broadcast or cable television or listening to over the air radio or reading newspapers.

I mean, essentially these are the biggest publishers in the world. You cannot forget that. Facebook has more than 2 billion members. They're bigger than Christianity. So they are the biggest publisher in the world. YouTube is one of the biggest publishers in the world. So is Twitter. They need to be treated like publishers.

That said, you're correct that we also need to build in protections for some of the commentary you referred to on Yelp, et cetera. And that will be done. So it's not just going to be a-- it's not that simple to just say we're going to completely overturn it. It will be a thoughtful, common sense approach. But these guys are huge publishers, and they need to be treated that way.

And the public needs to expect them to be treated that way, as well. And Common Sense Media will lead that effort because, at the end of the day, what you see now is-- and this is obviously Yahoo Finance-- is businesses around the country are outraged by the election lie. So these-- this is going to change for the better.

ZACK GUZMAN: Yeah, and we saw the way that advertisers had threatened to pull their advertisements on Facebook's platform the last time we were dealing with hateful speech, as well. But, Jim Steyer--

JIM STEYER: And we led that. We led that.

ZACK GUZMAN: --I'm gonna take you up on that offer. Because, no doubt, the Section 230 debate's not going anywhere, so we'll have you back when we have new developments. The CEO of Common Sense Media, Jim Steyer. Thanks again.