Final Assessment: DISINFORMATION and SOCIAL MEDIA: Is There a Need for Government Regulation?

A recent survey by the PEW Foundation found that made-up information is viewed by Americans to be a more critical public policy issue than terrorism, illegal immigration, racism, or sexism. (Mitchell, et.al. “Many Americans Say Made-Up Views is a Critical Problem that Needs to be Fixed,” Pew Research Center, June 5, 2019, pp.1-7). One major cause of the disinformation in America is social media. Social media entities such as Facebook, Twitter (now known as X), Redditt, 4chan, Instagram, Snapchat, Tick-Tok, and many other platforms litter the landscape spewing conspiracy theories, propaganda, and hoaxes. Despite the downsides to social media, both major political parties spent hundreds of millions of dollars advertising on social media during the 2020 presidential election. While some social media platforms have taken small steps to regulate offensive or inaccurate behavior, many critics generally view it as less than sufficient in a country that has a highly polarized electorate and where political opponents are not viewed as the loyal opposition, but rather as political enemies. Unlike advertising in traditional media outlets such as newspapers, television, and radio, there is limited government regulation of social media. This problem is compounded by the fact that most social media platforms have shown an unwillingness to regulate themselves. For example, Facebook refused to take down a video of former Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi (a Baltimore native whose father & brother both served as mayor of Baltimore City) that had clearly been “doctored” to slow down her speech and make it appear that she was drunk. In short, the “Pelosi video” illustrates the photo editing, combined with the saturation of online rumors, and “doctoring data” can create an environment of disinformation that undermines the presentation of opposing political viewpoints, a principal component of a democratic society. (Mervosh, “Distorted Videos of Nancy Pelosi, spread on Facebook and Twitter, Helped by Trump,” November 24, 2019). One of the primary justifications for the growth of the modern administrative state is based upon a theory of market failure. Under this theory, market regulation is needed in order to protect the public from actual or potential abuses of powers by business organizations. The argument is based on the notion that unless consumers have accurate product information, they cannot make a reasoned choice about whether to purchase or listen to such information. Government regulation is also justified based on the need to ensure that competitive and safe conditions exist in the marketplace. Government has traditionally accomplished this goal in two ways. The first is by passing antitrust laws which prevent a firm or a few firms from gaining monopolistic power in the marketplace. The second is based on the precept that if a free market is to work well, consumers need adequate and accurate information to evaluate competing products. These issues are magnified when the information on social media platforms is both inaccurate and misleading. The federal government has long justified the regulation of commercial advertising to protect the public from private firms engaging in unsavory activities. Finally, it should be noted that under section 230 of Communications Decency Act of 1966 that social media platforms are largely immune from lawsuits related to the posts by third party users as long as the hosts actively police the content posted on their sites. While this law has encouraged the development of social media platforms, it has raised questions about whether social media companies can self-regulate. (Barrett, Regulating Social Media: The Fight Over Section 230—and Beyond. Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, September 2020). Questions to be Addressed. With this information as background, please address the following questions. Do you think that disinformation on social media platforms is a serious threat to American democracy? Why or why not? (2) From your perspective how should the federal government deal with this matter? (3) Should Congress change Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act thereby allowing private companies more authority in regulating the content of social media? (4) Should the federal government create a new agency designed specifically to regulate disinformation on social media platforms? (5) What concerns, if any, are raised by government efforts to regulate social media organizations? (6) Finally, review the pending U.S. Supreme Court cases. (citation of cases required) and address if the U.S. Supreme Court rules and if Congress does passes regulation, what effect will this have on an individual’s First Amendment rights of free speech? For full credit, responses should be drafted from a policy analysis standpoint, consisting of problem-drivers, policy alternatives, with evidence and data (references) similar to the processes we address in the first half of the semester and each question response should be numbered accordingly. LINK FOR PENDING COURT CASES- https://www(dot)ncsl(dot)org/state-legislatures-news/details/first-amendment-at-heart-of-2-supreme-court-social-media-cases#:~:text=It%20ruled%20that%20social%20media,editorial%20judgment%20are%20protected%20speech. Instructions: Your response to the questions raised in this exercise should be written in a five to six (5-6) page essay and submitted to me via Canvas as a Word document (doc or docx). All papers must be each student’s individual work product. Consultation between students or with other third parties regarding this exercise is prohibited. The rules relating to plagiarism apply fully to this paper, as they do to all other student work products. The papers must be run through Turnitin. Please cite when relying on or paraphrasing another person’s work. Use an appropriate citation style (APA preferred). If needed, put the bibliography at the back of the paper. Papers are to be typed, double-spaced, and utilize an easy-to-read font-size (Times Roman 12 point preferred). Papers should be approximately five to six (5-6) pages in length with responses numbered. In writing your policy paper, please review the following materials which can be found in the Files Directory Section of Canvas. Swain, J.W. & K.D. Swain. "Essential Preliminary Steps to Effective Writing. " Chapter 1 of Effective Writing in the Public Sector. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2014. Pages 3-16. (e-Reserves) Swain, J.W. & K.D. Swain. "The Mechanics of Writing A Refresher Course on the Basic Rules of English." Chapter 2 in the Effective Writing in the Public Sector (e-Reserves) LINK FOR BOOK - https://dl(dot)avasshop(dot)ir/writing/1effective_writing_in_the_public_sector.pdf Due Date for Final Assessment: May 12th, 2024, by 11:00 p.m. Directions Related to Submission in Canvas!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Papers must be submitted via Canvas. TURNITIN is enabled. Exercises must be submitted as a Word document—i.e. doc. or docx.