With development of technologies such as the internet and social media, the original reasoning for regulation related to legacy medias such as radio and television, have begun to change. With the rise of the radio in the 1920’s, commercial radio became “a free-for-all” with stations competing for frequency and wattage. As commercial radio began to grow larger, governmont regulation was required to help the new industry grow properly. As with most accounts of governmont regulation, concern over weather or not the new policy would violate the first amendment were expressed. Though over the many years radio seemed to turn out just fine. We are again at a point where a new medium has been widely adopted, and has potential need of governmont regulation; that being social media platforms.
Social media platforms such as Twitter allow anybody with an internet connection to speak their mind publicly to the world. In essence, Twitter allows its users to enjoy the benefits of free speech by letting users share public statements without regulation, however there are still guidelines that Twitter enforces. For example, Twitter has a hateful conduct policy that entails that users are to refrain from using hate speech on the platform. Another social media platform, Instagram, does not allow for pictures of videos depicting strong violence, or photos/videos that are “inappropriate for a diverse audience.” These terms and conditions that social media platforms put in place and enforce are self regulated and are disconnected from the governmont.
Thought with recent instances of people getting their accounts ban for so called “hate speech” when the majority would argue that an individuals post was suitable for the masses, some people are beginning to consider what governmont regulation could do for social media platforms. This is where the governmont regulation would have to shift its change in attitude toward the subject. They would not longer be regulating companies, corporations, and large conglomerates, they would be regulating the speech of the people, and that is an extreme challenge. Governmont regulation already exists for social media platforms under the regulation put in place for the world wide web, however it is not as explicit and focused directly on what people post on social media.
The short of it is, as we continue to move into the digital age where bringing a message to the rest of the world is as simple as write and post, regulation on what is being said will need to be present. Weather the governmont should step in and attempt to regulate social media platforms as a more narrow sub-set of the regulation currently in place for the world wide web, is to be debated. Social media is still very new, and we are still yet to see its full potential for good and for bad, and weather or not the governmont should begin regulation of social media platforms.
Matthew's Blog 