The Growing Threat of Personal Liability in Platform Regulation: A Necessary Measure or Overreach?

Date: Tuesday, Oct 14

Time: 12:55 - 13:15 (20 mins)

Session Types: Lightning Talk

In an era where governments are increasingly holding platform owners and employees personally accountable for user-generated content, the landscape of digital free speech is rapidly evolving. Recent events, such as the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov and the suspension of platform X (formerly Twitter) in Brazil, demonstrate how authorities are compelling digital platforms to comply with content moderation laws under the threat of legal consequences. From account takedowns to potential imprisonment, intermediaries are being forced to navigate a precarious balance between safeguarding employee safety and upholding users’ rights to free expression.
This session will critically examine the trend of imposing personal liability on platform executives and employees, analyzing its impact on free speech and the broader digital ecosystem. Governments worldwide, including the U.K., have introduced legislative proposals to fine or prosecute senior executives for failure to remove specific types of content within tight deadlines. These measures create a “hostage-taking” effect, where legal authorities use liability statutes to pressure platforms into swift compliance, often at the expense of open discourse.
The session will also explore the legal principles behind intermediary liability, the doctrine of the corporate veil, and when it may be pierced to hold executives personally responsible. While intermediaries traditionally enjoy safe harbor protections, there is an increasing tendency for governments to bypass these safeguards, leading to pre-emptive censorship and content over-policing by platforms. This chilling effect on speech has also driven some social media companies to withdraw from certain jurisdictions, as seen with Google’s exit from China and the bans imposed on Telegram in various countries.

Moderators/Speakers: Angela Thomas