On today’s NOTICE News Daily: Will the Supreme Court upend the internet as we know it? America’s highest court heard a case this week about a law that protects big companies like Google and Facebook. Plus: How scientists in Washington are trying to save sea stars.
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Top Story: Supreme Court Hears Case That Could ‘Upend’ The Internet
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday expressed uncertainty over whether to overturn a law protecting internet companies from a wide array of lawsuits in a major case involving YouTube and the family of an American student fatally shot in a 2015 rampage by Islamist militants in Paris. >> Full story
Further Reading…
- Go Deeper: How A Family’s Tragedy Led To U.S. Supreme Court Social Media Showdown (Reuters)
- But wait… What is Section 230, the rule that shaped the modern internet? (CBS News)
- Read the actual case: Gonzalez v. Google LLC (Supreme Court of the United States)
- The Basics: How Does the Supreme Court Work? (American Bar Association)
In Other News…
- Massive Snowstorm Closes Schools, Grounds Flights In U.S. Heartland: A major winter storm battered the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest with high winds and heavy snow on Wednesday, forcing hundreds of schools to close, grounding air travel and making road travel difficult – if not impossible – in some U.S. areas. >> Full story
- China’s Top Diplomat Visits Russia, Says Chinese President Xi Will Also Visit: President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that China’s Xi Jinping would visit Russia, saying relations had reached “new frontiers” amid U.S. concerns that Beijing could provide material support to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. >> Full story
- Virginia elects its first ever Black woman to Congress: >> Full story from AP
World’s Largest Four-Day Work Week Trial Finds Few Are Going Back
Marine scientists at University of Washington’s Friday Harbor lab are breeding and studying endangered sunflower sea stars following a massive die-off over the past decade. >> Watch more from Reuters Video
Discussion Questions
- Why do the parents of Nohemi Gonzalez, who was studying abroad in France when she was killed in an ISIS terrorist attack, believe that YouTube–and therefore Google–is responsible for their daughter’s death?
- What controls which videos come up as suggested on YouTube and other sites, and why could this be very concerning?
- Who do the parents of the killed student feel is responsible for monitoring the content on websites, and how is this different from how such sites function now?
- How does the law known as Section 230 protect companies?
- Why might the US and Europe’s stance on the war in Ukraine have pushed Russia and China closer together politically?
- What about climate change is likely affecting the health of the sea stars?
Writing Prompts
- The question of who should control or have oversight over internet content comes up again and again, particularly when violence results from such content. What would be some of the challenges that monitoring such content could pose?
- If content posted on websites were more closely monitored, it is likely that could also lead to social media in general being more regulated than it is now. Since social media is such a major part of the way teens communicate and manage their social lives, what would be some ways which highly monitored social media could affect them?