Social media is fast becoming a bile factory. And governments around the world with clout are waking up to it. Most of them are in the West.
But the robustness of social media policing will depend on whether free speech absolutists or their opponents win the debate there.
Big tech, which mints money on clicks, is all for absolute freedom of expression, not just free speech.
Elon Musk, a new player in the social media business, is not the only free speech absolutist. Most if not all who manage digital platforms want their users to be allowed to say and do what they like, even if it hurts and harms others.
Western governments are torn between the two camps. Divided though they are, member countries of the European Union have passed the Digital Services Act (DSA), which is expected to apply to all digital platforms by Feb 17 next year after coming into effect on Aug 31.
Because of divisions among the 27 countries, the EU has opted to make the digital platforms responsible for due diligence rather than for being liable for complicity.
According to the European Commission, the purpose of the DSA is to make the online environment "safe and accountable". All will agree that the digital public space is a very unsafe place to be in, but to make those who rule it accountable is proving to be tricky.
Britain, now out of the European Union, has been working on the recently approved Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA) for some years now. Three prime ministers have come and gone before the bill became an act on Oct 23.
Again, the dithering is a reflection of how powerful the free speech absolutists are in the land that gave the continent the freedom of the individual. Like the DSA, the OSA is not punishing big tech for being complicit in spreading hate and misinformation, but wants it to put in place systems that will minimise them.
Nevertheless, big tech executives face the likelihood of a two-year jail term if they repeatedly ignore the regulator's warning that they have breached the duty of care to children, a major focus of the OSA.
Not surprising as the OSA was motivated by the suicide of a child. Companies, too, won't be spared. Fines of £18 million or 10 per cent of the global turnover for breaches of the OSA awaits them.
The United States, where most of the tech giants come from, is putting up a struggle of its own. The Congress is torn between the absolutists and others, a signal to states to pave their own legislative path.
A few have taken the cue and passed laws focused on protecting children, the safety of whom all are agreed on. In the next 13 months or so, the US will hold its presidential election, which The Economist describes as "one of the world's great festivals of online bile and misinformation". Congress will only have itself to blame if such a festival takes place.
All this points to one thing: the digital public space like the brick-and-mortar one needs policing. But the "how" and the "who" of policing remain daunting.
The DSA or the OSA will only succeed within its boundaries. Everywhere else will still be left unpoliced. Self-moderation has failed. So will national regulation. The world wide web needs a global cop.