Issues & Developments in the Realm of Communications and Media Policy & The First Amendment
As the election draws closer and the stakes become clearer, we should not forget the outsized influence of Big Tech in our country.
Not long ago, Facebook and Twitter emerged as key figures in U.S. elections when foreign propaganda, fake news, and objectionable content became a part of the process. Since then, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X have become embedded in the fabric of American society, affecting democracy itself.
Continue reading “Big Tech and Principled Policy”When Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October, he sent a prominent virtue signal. Musk indicated that under his ownership, Twitter would be “a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.”
This notion was quickly picked up in numerous glowing tweets, then amplified by media worldwide. But we have learned in the ensuing months that there never was and never will be a digital town square.
Continue reading “Why Elon Musk’s Digital Town Square Model for Twitter Remains Elusive”Since Election Day 2022, we have experienced two extraordinary teachable moments about the First Amendment. Those all along the political spectrum should review them as a crash-course refresher for the clear red line that our nation’s Founding Fathers envisioned when they crafted this bedrock of the Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
Elon Musk, Twitter’s new owner, has decided to lift a nearly three-year ban on using the popular social media platform that had been imposed on Donald J. Trump during the final days of his presidency. Musk indicated this reversal represented “the will of the people,” based on a quick, unscientific online poll he posted that indicated a slim majority approved of former president Trump being allowed to use Twitter again to reach the 88 million people who had been his followers at the time of his banishment.
Continue reading “Two Teachable First Amendment Moments”