The Internet Association, which counts Facebook, Google and Amazon among its members, had at first said the proposed US law could hurt innovation.

But in a statement released on Friday the group said it was satisfied with “important changes” made to the bill.

US senators are expected to hold an initial vote on the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (Sesta) next week.

“This important bill will hold online sex traffickers accountable and help give trafficking survivors the justice they deserve,” said Senator Robert Portman of Ohio, one of the bill’s authors.

“I’m pleased we’ve reached an agreement to further clarify the intent of the bill and advance this important legislation.”

Technology companies had been opposed to the bill because of changes it would have made to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, enacted in 1996.

The section represents a pillar of internet law – one which protects internet companies from the actions of its users. For example, if a person uses YouTube to break the law by showing something illegal, the user, and not YouTube, is held legally responsible. The Internet Association argued that this framework meant fledgling companies were not burdened by huge, perhaps insurmountable legal risk.

‘Important changes’

The compromise that finally got the technology companies on board, after going back-and-forth since August, relates to whether a site is “knowingly” aiding traffickers on their platform. The bill now clarifies that a site needs to be “assisting, facilitating or supporting” human trafficking in order to face prosecution.

“Internet Association is committed to combating sexual exploitation and sex trafficking online and supports Sesta,” said Internet Association President Michael Beckerman on Friday.

“Important changes made to Sesta will grant victims the ability to secure the justice they deserve, allow internet platforms to continue their work combating human trafficking, and protect good actors in the ecosystem.”

Amanda Hightower, executive director at Seattle-based Real Escape from the Sex Trade (Rest), told the BBC she welcomed the news.

“With the bulk of trafficking happening over the internet, it’s essential we have legislation and safeguards in place to protect victims and reduce the risk of people being sold online,” she said.

“Knowing that internet giants are now joining forces with legislators to reduce the potential of trafficking gives me hope that we are heading in the right direction to stop this crime and that those who facilitate trafficking online will be held responsible.”

Wording ‘still too vague’

The rewritten components will protect companies that take pro-active measures to remove advertisements that enable trafficking and the sale of sex, but will pave the way for prosecutors to more effectively go after sites that allegedly allow such activity to flourish.

In the crosshairs of US law enforcement is Backpage.com, a site described by California prosecutors as a “massive online brothel” that actively encourages the sale of sex through its listings website. Backpage.com did not return the BBC’s request for comment on Friday.

Despite the changes, some corners of the technology community are still concerned about the bill’s effects. Engine, a non-profit group that pushes the interests of start-ups in Washington, said the new wording was still too vague.

“While the bill sponsors have made improvements to some of the drafting problems in the original language, the changes do not address many of the startup community’s concerns,” said Rachel Wolbers, Engine’s policy director.

“The bill still creates uncertainty for platforms regarding their obligations under the law and potentially penalises startups for content that they are unaware of and cannot control.”

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Source: BBC

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The campaign seeks to get Ghana united to promote healthy patriotic conversations about national issues and to get action taken to improve the state of the nation.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ZomFqI5wB8QSAVwvQ7scYT2dfJfGXaqp”]Ghana, the first sub-Saharan country to attain independence 57 years ago, is still going through a lot of challenges on all the major fronts. Cholera still kills people in Ghana, education, infrastructure and other key areas are facing dire challenges.

The country’s currency keeps depreciating against other major currencies and businesses are going through difficult times.

Labor unrest has also slowed down economic growth, farmers are reeling in hardships and the nation seems to be losing the fight against poverty.

In addition, corruption and over-politicization of issues coupled with conflicts in some major towns have

Citi FM launched the #ONEGhana campaign on Friday on the authoritative Citi Breakfast Show, and the director of news programming, Bernard Avle, outlined the objective of the campaign.

“We want to urge the youth and the next generation of leaders to learn from the past and build a better future for our children and children’s children.

“We’ve been exporting gold in its raw forms for many years with no gold processing center. We’ve been exporting cocoa for many years but cocoa farmers are still very poor without any proper cocoa industry in Africa. Holland, Switzerland and the UK control the cocoa market and we simple produce cocoa. The same happens with bauxite and oil. Our problems are very obvious but solving them is not easy. It takes great leadership on all fronts. We need doers and thinkers, not just talkers.”

According to Avle, the #ONEGHANA project is something Citi FM is going to pursue religiously to change the mindsets of Ghanaians to unite, brainstorm and build the nation together.

In line with creating the buzz and whip up patriotism, the station is giving out special #ONEGHANA vehicle bumper stickers to take the message further to the populace.

The #ONEGHANA hashtag has seen a lot of activity on social media after the launch with people pledging to do more to make Ghana better.

Below are some of the #ONEGHANA tweets.

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By: Kojo Akoto Boateng/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Citi FM launches the #OneGhana project appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.