Taking a break from AI, That TikTok hearing, and more!
This is Creator Economy Law, a newsletter dedicated to exploring and analyzing the legal issues surrounding the creator economy, creators, and internet platforms. If you enjoy what you’re reading, share with friends, and invite them to subscribe using the button above and share using #CreatorEconomyLaw.
9, 9, 9, 60, 61, 61. Those are the ages of the six children and adults that were killed on Monday morning at the Covenant School in Nashville, TN. As a Nashville native, this one hits hard.
How can you support Nashville?
- The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee started the Caring for Covenant Fund to manage the donations made in response to this tragedy. All donations made to the Fund, minus credit card fees, will be directed to The Covenant School to support the healing of those affected by this tragedy.
- GoFundMe is offering a couple of verified fundraisers for people affected by the shooting.
Gun laws need to change. If you are still unsure of why this is a fact, I highly recommend this recent episode of The Problem with Jon Stewart (Apple TV+).
Here’s what’s been happening in the world of Creator Economy Law.
9, 9, 9, 60, 61, 61. Those are the ages of the six children and adults that were killed on Monday morning at the Covenant School in Nashville, TN. As a Nashville native, this one hits hard.
How can you support Nashville?
- The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee started the Caring for Covenant Fund to manage the donations made in response to this tragedy. All donations made to the Fund, minus credit card fees, will be directed to The Covenant School to support the healing of those affected by this tragedy.
- GoFundMe is offering a couple of verified fundraisers for people affected by the shooting.
Gun laws need to change. If you are still unsure of why this is a fact, I highly recommend this recent episode of The Problem with Jon Stewart (Apple TV+).
Here’s what’s been happening in the world of Creator Economy Law.
That TikTok hearing… 😵💫 plus Section 230
If you’re working with creators, or are a creator yourself, it’s important to know about Section 230 and the potential impact legislation changes may bring.
This week, I wrote a piece for The Daily Dot and their creator economy newsletter Passionfruit that explores the TikTok congressional hearing from the perspective of the creator economy.
Plus, I wrote a second explainer piece for Section 230. Thanks to Jess Miers of Chamber of Progress and Hannah Poteat of LTK (formerly rewardStyle & LIKEtoKNOW.it) for sharing their thoughts, too!
📖 Read:
- “What creators need to know about TikTok CEO Shou Chew’s congressional testimony”
- “What do creators need to know about Section 230?”
In support of TikTok, AOC went viral with a TikTok video voicing concerns over banning the app, while the CEO has become an internet heartthrob. However, the legislative and political attempts may not be enough, as Axios explores how any actions may ultimately be decided by the courts. But maybe Walmart will come in and save TikTok? Or, at least remove the “strategic issue” it causes for national security?
But, with all the focus on the main TikTok app, will regulators enforce the same on the company’s other apps, such as Lemon8, that that company is actively pushing and growing through partnerships with influencers? What about CapCut, which was actually mentioned at least one time that I heard during the hearing?
Meanwhile, concerns are being voiced over the broadly drafted approach to the RESTRICT Act and DATA Act, and how other apps collecting data may also have Chinese ties.
🎧 Listen: “The RESTRICT Act Isn’t About Banning TikTok, It’s About Expanding Government Powers” by Nathaniel Whittemore via CoinDesk
And then there’s the rising concern among the entertainment and media industries about the impact a ban on TikTok would have when it comes to marketing and promotion and discovery. The Washington Post highlights the potential impact on Hollywood. It will also impact the music industry.
The coming social media regulations
On Thursday, March 23, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed two bills into law that set forth some of the most restrictive requirements for social media platforms aimed at protecting minors. However, the provisions in the bills have a much wider impact on all age groups.
Would you want to scan and upload your state driver’s license or another form of identification to continue social media use? Is the age of 18 the appropriate starting point for restricting access, or should it be 21 similar to tobacco and alcohol? Or, should it be 13 or 15 to align with privacy laws?
SB152 includes:
- Age verification for Utah residents that want to maintain a current, or open a new, social media account.
- Parental consent for anyone under 18, plus access by parent/guardian to the account
- Investigation power given to Division of Consumer Protection, with ability to seek injunctions, civil penalties ($2,500 per), and other judicial relief, with funds from penalties deposited into an education fund for consumer protection
- Provides a private right of action for consumers / users to bring lawsuits for violations and collect damages
If an account is opened for a minor, it must include additional restrictions:
- Disabling direct messaging tools
- Excluding their content from search
- No advertising
- No personal data collection, sharing, or use
- No targeting: ads, account suggestions, or content suggestions
- Limits on use time
Additionally, the house bill, HB311, includes a provision that “prohibits a social media company from using a design or feature that causes a minor
to have an addiction to the company’s social media platform.” The fines could be up to $250,000 for each violating design choice.
The laws are set to go into effect on March 1, 2024, so it may be some time before the challenges begin.
📖 Read:
- The Laws: HB311 and SB152
- “Utah’s social media for kids law could be coming to a state near you” by Sara Morrison via Vox
- “Pushback grows over mental health impacts of social media” by Tina Reed via Axios
📺 Watch: “Utah law could dramatically limit teens’ access to social media” by PBS News Hour via YouTube
🗣 Franklin’s Take: Are they constitutional? It remains to be seen whether or not these types of laws will be upheld when challenged in court, which is very likely to happen as soon as an opportunity to bring claims of harm arises.
Hitting Pause on AI
Nearly 2,000 signatures have been added to the Future of Life Institute’s open letter calling for a pause by all AI labs for 6 months on the development of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4. The list of names is a who’s who of AI and technology innovators, including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, and founders and leaders of companies such as Pinterest, Stability AI, Getty Images, and more.
📖 Read:
- “Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter”
- “300 million jobs could be affected by latest wave of AI, says Goldman Sachs” by Michelle Toh via CNN; A copy of the report is available here, but it doesn’t seem like it’s something that should have been released widely, so it might not be up long.
- “Elon Musk and Others Call for Pause on A.I., Citing ‘Profound Risks to Society’” by Cade Metz and Gregory Schmidt via The New York Times
- “Italian regulators order ChatGPT ban over alleged violation of data privacy laws” by James Vincent via The Verge
- “Google explains why Bard rarely lists citations and links to content creators” by Barry Schwartz via Search Engine Land
📺 Watch: “Elon Musk, Wozniak Call for Pause on AI Systems” by Bloomberg Technology via YouTube
🗣 Franklin’s Take: AI deepfakes are making headlines more often now, so what should we be doing? Content authenticity is becoming more and more of an issue on social media platforms. Especially given the rise in both the availability and capabilities of generative AI tools, and the ease of their use when it’s as easy as crafting a text prompt.
It is starting to beg the question of when should social media platforms step up and start implementing protections, and, equally important, HOW do they start implementing such content moderation?
Adobe’s Firefly is a good case study for where to start. If generative AI tools include metadata that enables other software, like a social media platform, to automatically identify and verify the authenticity of content, then it creates a safer and more transparent platform for all users where sharing and consumption of generative materials may be happening.
Also, platforms can start including product features that allow for user-driven disclosing and flagging of generative AI content when a user chooses to share such content. This would enable clear disclosure to other users, as well as allow for a heightened review process by the platforms before an algorithm allows such content to go viral.
Are they going to do this voluntarily? Or, will it take legislative and policy action? Are some already doing this?
What do you think? I’d love to hear in the comments!
TikTok
TikTok launched Effect House Branded Effects, a new solution that allows brands to work directly with TikTok effect creators to produce custom Branded Effects. For now, brands work with the top effect creators that are already using TikTok’s Effect House, the effect creation platform. “Branded Effects allow brands to boost their content to a wider audience with paid branding traffic solutions, control what brand safe pinned videos appear on the effect detail page, and place their effects in premium placements on the trending tab of the effect panel.”
TikTok is partnering with Cymbio, a company that allows brands the ability to sell on multiple marketplaces and drop ship products, to power the TikTok Shop.
Japan is looking into potentially banning TikTok, as well as other social media platforms that spread disinformation campaigns. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) plans to release a proposal in April. France will soon be doing the same.
Meta
A new lawsuit targets Meta’s executive leadership and directors, including Mark Zuckerburg, alleging they failed to take sufficient action to prevent the spread of sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation across Facebook and Instagram.
Meanwhile, Meta is rolling out an update set to start next week that will allow Facebook and Instagram users in the EU to opt out of sharing first-party data that drives personalized ad experiences.
In the EU, Austria’s data protection authority found that the use of Meta’s tracking technologies violated data transfer rules under GDPR.
Twitter’s got a leaky code problem. Someone went rogue and posted Twitter’s source code to GitHub. Now, Twitter is on the hunt for the person responsible by using the DMCA and other legal methods of forcing GitHub to hand over user information. And, most recently, a court has ordered GitHub to reveal the details of the user that uploaded the code, as well as any accounts that downloaded it.
The New York Times reported that Elon Musk requested a meeting with the FTC’s Lina Khan last year, but was told no. The company is under investigation by the FTC over its data privacy and security efforts (or lack thereof?).
“Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations.” Elon tweeted. The change won’t impact accounts a user follows from still showing up on their “For Your” page.
“On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks,” the company tweeted. Also, Twitter announced $1,000 per month for verified organizer accounts.
Is Twitter worth $20 billion? That’s the valuation at which employees are reportedly receiving their stock grants. The Information reports it amounts to less than half of the $44 billion paid by Musk last year.
Vox reports on the problem Twitter is facing as advertisers are fleeing and not returning. The long-term impact, and response by the company, is going to be something to watch. Meanwhile, the company is facing backlash over its new API tiers and pricing.
Other News
- I’m blown away by the recent 60 Minutes report on eBay and the actions of some of its employees that involved stalking, harassing, and attacking the operators of a website that published the salary information of eBay’s CEO.
- FaZe Clan, one of the first creator-based entertainment companies to go public, is facing a significant crash to its stock price, which Tubefilter reports is bringing criticism from some of its members and MrBeast.
- The UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Office for Artificial Intelligence released a new policy paper “AI regulation: a pro-innovation approach” that sets out the government’s proposals for implementing a proportionate, future-proof and pro-innovation framework for regulating AI.
- Does a $3,000 XR headset make sense for Apple right now? The New York Times reports that some employees think not.
- “Snap is offering its AR tools to enterprise customers” by Ivan Mehta via TechCrunch
- Global early-stage venture capital firm Antler released its 2023 Creator Economy Report.
- “Spotify partners with creator startup Creative Juice on video podcasts” by Amanda Perelli via Insider (Apple News+)
- Lauren Gregory Leipold, an IP partner with Seyfarth Shaw LLP, wrote a great recap of two important trademark law cases that are before the U.S. Supreme Court.
- California is aiming to pass new legislation that is directly targeting Google and Meta. The legislation would require the platforms pay news outlets when content is posted to their platforms.
- “The Spy Law That Big Tech Wants to Limit” by Chris Strohm and Emily Birnbaum via Bloomberg
- WME has signed TikTok star Leo Gonzalez to a 360 representation deal, according to Tubefilter.
- Kristin Snyder published an interesting piece exploring the middle class of the creator economy. Check it out on Dot.LA.
- Disney is shutting down its metaverse division as part of a broader reduction of its workforce by 7,000, but don’t let that mislead you, as Sarah Conley Odenkirk pointed out in her post, “what we’re seeing is the full integration of blockchain technology into a larger business strategy.”
- Fiverr published its Creator Economy Guide that’s available for free. (H/T to Tubefilter)
- “One Way to Actually Make Money on YouTube and TikTok: Get Behind the Camera” by Kailyn Rhone via Wall Street Journal
- “Reddit Shares New Data on User Activity, Content Takedowns and Rule Enforcement” by Andrew Hutchinson via Social Media Today; Access the Reddit 2022 Transparency Report.
- “Leaked Snapchat documents show how its Snap Stars program pays influencers and best practices for posting” by Shriya Bhattacharya and Marta Biino via Insider (Read on Apple News+)
- PostMarket has officially launched a private beta, CEO and Co-Founder Liz Hagelthorn shared on Twitter. PostMarket is an online platform for licensing social and digital content. You can join the waitlist.
We’re two weeks away from the start of the American Bar Association’s Annual IP Conference in Washington, DC!
I’m so excited about the panel I’m moderating (see above picture) plus two additional benefits of attending:
🔥 Stellar programming across a wide range of Intellectual Property law topics (that’s what I LOVE about this conference — I have the opportunity to learn so much that’s outside of my comfort zone)
🔥 Unparalleled networking opportunities with some of the key policymakers, legal minds, and friends across IP (and the world)
Will you be there? Let me know in the comments!
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Not Legal Advice. This newsletter is published solely for educational and entertainment value. Nothing in this newsletter should be considered legal advice. If you need legal assistance or have specific questions, you should consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction. I am not your attorney. Do not share any information in the comments you should keep confidential.
Personal Opinions. The opinions and thoughts shared in this newsletter are my own, and not those of my employer or any of the third parties mentioned or linked to in this newsletter. No affiliation or endorsement is implied or otherwise intended with third parties that are referenced or linked.
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