Tag: Facebook

As social media turns 25, we’re still perplexed about regulating bad actors

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April 9, Jared Schroeder, associate professor of journalism at SMU Dallas and a specialist in Frist Amendment issues, for a commentary acknowledging the 25thAnniversary of social media and U.S. lawmakers’ inept attempts to regulate the platforms. Published in The Hill under the heading: As social media turns 25, we’re still perplexed about regulating bad actors: https://bit.ly/37Crloh 

You’ve probably never heard of Six Degrees. The name sounds a bit like a forgettable boy band from the late-1990s. That isn’t far from the truth. In 1997, before platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat dominated the information universe, Six Degrees became the first social media site. Its anniversary was in January. We forgot it.

While Six Degrees persists, like the Backstreet Boys, off our radars but still online, we can’t forget the massive impact the service heralded as social media grew to consume our lives and our very realities.

Along with cat videos, social media ushered in an era of falsity, extremism and othering that, at times, has come to threaten democracies around the world. The Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, for example, likely was planned and performed for social-media audiences. It was done in real life, but documented for virtual audiences. We’re a long way from Six Degrees — maybe 180, at this point, from where we should be.

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Yes, it’s time to act against Facebook – just don’t put the government in charge

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Oct. 6, Jared Schroeder, associate professor of journalism at SMU Dallas, for a commentary about Facebook and ways to mitigate social media bad practices. Published in USA Today under the heading Yes, it’s time to act against Facebook – just don’t put the government in charge: https://bit.ly/3oFMioR

What did we really learn from the whistleblower about Facebook this week?

Not much. We were reminded Facebook has privileged profit over the well-being of democracy. Our suspicions that Facebook prioritized revenue and new users over the mental health of young women on Instagram were confirmed.

This week was a lot like an hour spent on Facebook. It seemed like we were learning new information, but at the same time, we came away with nothing of value. The best we can say is we were reminded Facebook is not good for us, or the flow of information in democracy.

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Tech firms duke it out with Trump again in a no-win situation

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Aug. 1, Jared Schroeder, associate professor of Journalism specializing in Free Press/Free Speech at SMU Dallas, for a piece warning about the lack of progress curbing disinformation on Big Tech social media and internet platforms. Published in the Orange County Register and Southern California News Group affiliates. https://bit.ly/30iWUO6

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Emmy nominations came out this past week. It’s a shame the performances of our elected officials and tech barons in Washington were not considered.

President Trump, as well as Senate and House committees, turned their attention to internet regulation, creating a spectacle that was mostly misguided and incapable of resolving any actual concerns about the growing power of big-tech firms raise in our democracy.

Trump announced he was taking on regulating social media again. As is often the case, he has recognized a legitimate concern, but seems only capable of making it worse. . .

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Facebook’s Oversight Board needs greater authority

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May 20, Jared Schroeder, associate professor of Journalism specializing in Free Press/Free Speech at SMU Dallas (along with co-author Dipayan Ghosh, Harvard Kennedy School), for a piece advocating for an autonomous oversight board to police technology platforms. Published in Protego Press: https://bit.ly/2zfMwvJ

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Facebook announced the inaugural twenty members of its independent Oversight Board earlier this month.  But while the board is filled with esteemed and respected names, we believe its underlying concept will require further consideration in the way forward.

The board’s scope, which focuses primarily on take-down decisions, is limited and may not effectively address the myriad misinformation and disinformation problems that plague Facebook’s spaces. The board is also reactive, rather than proactive.  It seeks to close the gate after the chickens have fled the coop. Board decisions simply cannot come fast enough to effectively protect the flow of information. . .

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Time to vote and rehearse our disinformation drills

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Feb. 27, Jared Schroeder, assistant professor of journalism at SMU Dallas specializing in Free Speech/First Amendment topics, for a piece warning Texas voters to beware of disinformation on social media channels. Published in the Dallas Morning News: http://bit.ly/32x3zn7

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Our social media feeds will have more lies in them than normal this week.

While many Texans cast ballots in early voting, be assured the pipeline of misinformation and disinformation is saturating the channels ahead of Super Tuesday and the massive state and national primaries. Foreign and domestic bad actors live to tamper with our election process.

These floods of false and misleading information on election days have become as much a part of casting a ballot as getting an “I voted” sticker. We should expect and prepare for them. . .

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Efforts to compel social media ‘fairness’ go afoul on freedom of expression

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Aug. 13, Jared Schroeder, SMU journalism professor, on a piece critiquing the Trump Administration’s executive order that attempts to compel social media platforms to be less “biased” against conservatives in their moderation efforts. Published in The Hill: https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/457297-efforts-to-compel-social-media-fairness-go-afoul-on-freedom-of

The White House’s effort to draft an executive order to limit social media companies’ alleged biases against conservative voices gets everything wrong about freedom of expression. 

News of the proposed order, which is titled “Protecting Americans from Online Censorship,” emerged late last week. The order appears to suffer from a case of First Amendment amnesia. Even the name of the order shows a misunderstanding of freedom of expression, since the First Amendment protects us from government, not corporate, censorship.

The notion that social media companies can be compelled by the White House to make their online forums fair requires that the government can force private corporations to communicate information. This would set a dangerous precedent when it comes to freedom of expression, particularly since the government would decide what “fair” means. . .

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