What Can Be Done To Reduce The Potential Risk Social Media Platforms Bring?
It’s time to check your screen time! How long do you spend on social media every day and how many times do you pick up your phone because of social media? It seems like we cannot live without our phones and social media since social media plays an important role in many different areas. It has created a lot of positive changes. However, it also brings many controversial arguments and negative news.
Recently Zuckerberg is always in our sight because of Facebook and Instagram scandal. Frances Haugen, a data scientist of Facebook, being a whistleblower, said in her 60 minutes interview that Facebook harms teenagers and alleges misinformation. Although freedom of speech is promised, people should be responsible for spreading misinformation on social media platforms. Especially for those who do not have complete recognition, misinformation will cause potential issues.
Many people are complaining about being kicked off social media platforms because of the content they post on the platform. Nadine Strossen, a professor of law at New York Law School, said that people do not have the right not to be kicked off a social media platform. The freedom of speech guarantee the government made was not applied to social media platforms since these platforms are controlled and managed by private companies not the government. According to data the U.S. Supreme Court found, social media platforms become the most important platforms for the exchange of information and ideas, and communication. This accelerates the process of eliminating the negative impact social media platforms will bring to people.
From my perspective, getting rid of Section 230 of the Communications Decency and forcing social media platforms to be accountable in the way traditional media platforms are can be an option to stop social media platforms from being a negative disrupter in society. Section 230 says that “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider”. In other words, people are protected from what they say on social media platforms. By canceling Section 230, social media platforms will be responsible for everything on the platform. It can be a solution to eliminating misinformation on the internet.
Breaking up the dominance of players like Facebook would also be a solution. It is difficult to control when a company becomes dominant in its field and people can barely find alternatives. For example Facebook, people are used to browsing social media every day and there is only Facebook in the market, which becomes their only option. At the same time, content on Facebook will become significant. If most of the content on Facebook is misinformation, there will be misleading to the public and people will tend to believe in that because of the authority people consider Facebook has.
Every coin has two sides. The social media platform is convenient for us to either receive information or communicate with others. However, it will cause negative effects without reasonable regulation. Therefore, appropriate adjustment for the social platform can create a better internet environment.
