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MTA asks social media companies to stop allowing 'subway surfing' videos

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Updated  February 22, 2023 6:14pm EST
NYC Subway
FOX 5 NY

Should subway surfing videos be banned from social media?

The MTA is calling on social media platforms to not post videos of people "subway surfing" a-top moving trains.

NEW YORK - The MTA is calling on social media platforms to not post videos of people doing what's known as subway surfing.  That's when they ride on the top of moving trains.

This after authorities say a 15-year-old was killed on Monday after hitting his head while on top of a Manhattan-bound J train.

MTA chairman Janno Lieber told WNYC Radio Wednesday morning that, "It's really a question of will and intention, and a sense of doing the right thing. I'm not interested in having a constitutional law debate. I am interested in protecting new york city kids who for whatever reason, are encouraged, incentivized to do crazy stuff."

Social media and privacy attorney Pedram Tabibi says Lieber is not overreaching.

Tabobi says, "I do think there's a justification here to tell the platforms to be more conscientious of the content on them to remove harmful content."

This comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing two cases regarding social media accountability.

In one, the family of a young student killed in the 2015 ISIS Paris attack is accusing Google-owned YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, among other social media outlets, of aiding and abetting terrorism by allowing ISIS videos to be posted.

At the center of the arguments is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides tech companies a legal shield over what their users post online.

But that law was passed in 1996 when the internet was in it's infancy.

Nina Brown, a professor of Media and First Amendment law at Syracuse University, tells FOX 5 News that "the broad immunity that Section 230 provides social platforms has been something that both conservatives, liberals, everybody in between has had a gripe with."

The plaintiffs could have another option with Capitol Hill, should they fail at the high court.  

Professor Brown adds that, "Congress is the place that should address this, though, especially with all of the advancements in AI and how this field is really changing. Congress is probably much better situated than the court to make changes if necessary in this area of the law."