169: Government Control over the Flow of Information: Lord Sumption on the Online Safety Bill
Law Pod UK
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The Problem With Algorithms Is That They Don't Work
This kind of thing is the classic way in which this sort of official control is exercised. What happens when you impose this kind of control regime is that you end up by privileging things that are anodyne and controversial. I don't think that that is a par which should be conferred on any public official. The scale and speed at which material is added to the internet every minute of our lives is simply breathtaking. Algorithms work by recognizing trigger passages of text. They are relatively indiscriminate. They are incapable of detecting nuance. They are essentially blunt instruments. And this isn't the way that it's almost bound to work.
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