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Newton N. Minow, Nell Minow, Martha Minow et al., Social Media, Distrust, and Regulation: A Conversation, in Social Media, Freedom of Speech, and the Future of Our Democracy (Lee C. Bollinger & Geoffrey Stone eds., 2022).


Abstract: A guiding principle of regulation of communications in the United States has been the public interest, but what does the concept of the public interest mean today, a time when the sheer amount of misinformation can drown out accurate information? This essay, presented as a discussion, explores the problems of misinformation in the age of digital media. Though the authors do not agree on all elements of their proposed reforms, they propose ideas such as the articulation of a core set of journalistic principles for anything major media companies label “news”; increasing support for public libraries, media literacy education, and public media; establishing a nonprofit public internet; requiring large internet platforms, which arguably function like a public square, to publicize their community standards for removing content and to adopt policies to at least slow the distribution of content that incites imminent violence; and staying abreast of international ideas that might be of use in the United States.