MEXICO CITY: The party of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador presented for public comment a proposed set of regulations on Twitter, Facebook and other social media companies.
The new law proposed Monday by López Obrador’s Morena party would open the companies to fines of up to $4.4 million for violating users’ right to free speech. The law would apply only to platforms that have over one million users in Mexico, apparently covering only sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or YouTube.
The proposal would allow anyone whose account is blocked or canceled to appeal the decision. The appeals would go first to the company’s own internal committees, which would have 24 hours to affirm or revoke the suspension. Users could then appeal to telecom regulators, and if they don’t like that decision, they could then further appeal cancelations through Mexican courts.
Sen. Ricardo Monreal, the party’s leader in the Senate, hopes to submit the new law for approval in three weeks.
“One of the things that affects freedom of expression occurs through impeding the right to receive information, by blocking content, as has happened in recent cases with Twitter,” according to a draft of the law that Monreal published on his web site.
The law could run afoul of the US-Mexico Canada free trade agreement, which states “no Party shall impose liability on a supplier or user of an interactive computer service on account of ... any action voluntarily taken in good faith by the supplier or user to restrict access to or availability of material that is accessible or available through its supply or use of the interactive computer services and that the supplier or user considers to be harmful or objectionable.”
Monreal argues that, under the agreement, that clause doesn’t apply to Mexico for another 2 1/2 years, though it would presumably invalidate the law in the future.
The proposed bill acknowledges that companies have their own rules of use and online community behavior, but says “it is necessary that these (internal) procedures be regulated by law, so that based on that decision, an administrative or legal appeal can be made, in order to enforce users’ human right to justice.”
The bill says companies cannot resolve disputes over blockings or account cancelations by using algorithms, but rather must use human committees.
In January, López Obrador vowed to lead an international effort to combat what he considers censorship by social media companies that have blocked or suspended the accounts of former US President Donald Trump.
López Obrador was close to Trump and was outraged by the blocking of his accounts. Like Trump, López Obrador thinks traditional media outlets are biased against him, and like Trump, the Mexican president has used the term “fake news,” or Spanish variants of it.
López Obrador said in January that his administration is reaching out to other government to form a common front on the issue.
“I can tell you that at the first G20 meeting we have, I am going to make a proposal on this issue,” López Obrador said. “Yes, social media should not be used to incite violence and all that, but this cannot be used as a pretext to suspend freedom of expression.”
“How can a company act as if it was all-powerful, omnipotent, as a sort of Spanish Inquisition on what is expressed?” he asked.
Mexico to allow appeals on social media account cancelation
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Mexico to allow appeals on social media account cancelation
- A new law proposed in Mexico would open the companies to fines of up to $4.4 million for violating users’ right to free speech
- The proposal would allow anyone whose account is blocked or canceled to appeal the decision
TikTok finalizes a deal to form a new American entity
- The social video platform company signed agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX to form the joint venture
- The company said in a statement that the new version will operate under “defined safeguards” with an emphasis on data protections and software assurances for US users
TikTok has finalized a deal to create a new American entity, avoiding the looming threat of a ban in the United States that has been in discussion for years on the platform now used by more than 200 million Americans.
The social video platform company signed agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX to form the new TikTok US joint venture. The new version will operate under “defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurances for US users,” the company said in a statement Thursday. American TikTok users can continue using the same app.
President Donald Trump praised the deal in a Truth Social post, thanking Chinese leader Xi Jinping specifically “for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal.” Trump add that he hopes “that long into the future I will be remembered by those who use and love TikTok.”
The Chinese government has not yet publicly commented on TikTok’s announcement. Earlier on Thursday and ahead of the statement, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson Chinese embassy in Washington, said “China’s position on TikTok has been consistent and clear.”
Adam Presser, who previously worked as TikTok’s head of operations and trust and safety, will lead the new venture as its CEO. He will work alongside a seven-member, majority-American board of directors that includes TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew.
The deal ends years of uncertainty about the fate of the popular video-sharing platform in the United States. After wide bipartisan majorities in Congress passed — and President Joe Biden signed — a law that would ban TikTok in the US if it did not find a new owner in the place of China’s ByteDance, the platform was set to go dark on the law’s January 2025 deadline. For a several hours, it did. But on his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep it running while his administration sought an agreement for the sale of the company.
Apart from an emphasis on data protection, with US user data being stored locally in a system run by Oracle, the joint venture will also focus on TikTok’s algorithm. The content recommendation formula, which feeds users specific videos tailored to their preferences and interests, will be retrained, tested and updated on US user data, the company said in its announcement.
The algorithm has been a central issue in the security debate over TikTok. China previously maintained the algorithm must remain under Chinese control by law. But the US regulation passed with bipartisan support said any divestment of TikTok must mean the platform cuts ties — specifically the algorithm — with ByteDance. Under the terms of this deal, ByteDance would license the algorithm to the US entity for retraining.
The law prohibits “any cooperation with respect to the operation of a content recommendation algorithm” between ByteDance and a new potential American ownership group, so it is unclear how ByteDance’s continued involvement in this arrangement will play out.
“Who controls TikTok in the US has a lot of sway over what Americans see on the app,” said Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University.
Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX are the three managing investors, each holding a 15 percent share. Other investors include the investment firm of Michael Dell, the billionaire founder of Dell Technologies. ByteDance retains 19.9 percent of the joint venture.
