Researchers, policy makers, and users have identified several important issues regarding the social media ecosystem. These include the enormous power held by a small number of companies, which undermines innovation and competition. A discussion of the prevalence of false news and the limits of free speech. How social media threatens privacy, election integrity, and democracy. and platform monitoring and transparency.
The Social Media Summit at MIT brought together experts to discuss these issues and highlight solutions ranging from new oversight boards to breaking up big companies.
“Social media is rewiring humanity’s central nervous system in real time,” says MIT professor Sloan. The person who led the event. “We are now at the crossroads of that promise and that danger.”
The Summit’s new report, now available online, takes a deep look at the various problems posed by the existing social media model and offers 25 potential solutions to address them.
Download the report
Here are seven concerns raised at the summit and just a few of the possible solutions.
1. Spreading false news and misinformation
False news spreads quickly online with the help of social media algorithms that amplify popular and often inflammatory content. And social media companies and their advertisers often benefit from that, Aral said.
Clint Watts, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute, said one solution is to crack down on the criminals who commit the most crimes. “We know them and [enforcement] That’s what we need to focus on to get the most benefit,” Watts said.
2. The difficult balance between user privacy and platform transparency
Social media creates what Aral calls the “paradox of transparency.” Researchers and the public have a right to know how social media platforms access and use consumer data. But you also need to protect user privacy and security.
Kate Starbard, an associate professor at the University of Washington, said the transparency of the algorithm, which allows researchers to consider peer-to-peer information sharing without sharing personal information, will improve our understanding of malicious use and how to prevent it. Ta. Some platforms are already more transparent than others. “Twitter data is public, so we can see patterns in the data,” she said. “Facebook and YouTube don’t share data easily, so we can’t really investigate it.”
3. Lack of regulation of social media companies
Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs, said he agreed that independent oversight was needed, and that it “goes far beyond the banal debate of whether we need new rules of the road.” This was said during a discussion with Mr. Mr Clegg also pointed out that the internet could become fragmented if social media is regulated differently in different parts of the world. The US and the European Union need to work together and involve India, he said.
4. Lack of competition
Aral pointed out that competition is a big motivator for companies to change their behavior, but the market is concentrated in the social economy, such as Facebook, Twitter and Google.
Zephyr Teachout, assistant professor of law at Fordham Law School, said: “We are facing a number of challenges, including concentration that stifles innovation, harms advertisers and small businesses, and reduces competition for quality and privacy.” We are working on a number of issues.”
The European Union is considering a digital markets law that would address anti-competitive practices and mandate corporate liability for non-compliance. This may become a model for other regions.
5. Algorithms contribute to bias, racism, and polarization
Social media and search engines have become the primary way people organize and access information, said Safiya Noble, co-founder of the Center for Critical Internet Research at the University of California, Los Angeles. But the companies that run them are driven by profits, not democracy or human rights, and the most popular and profitable speech can sometimes promote racism, misinformation, and polarization. He pointed out.
Part of the problem, he said, lies in the frictionless system that allows users to easily retweet and share this type of information. Principal Investigator at MIT Sloan. She said one solution is to slow down online interactions, creating friction and giving users a chance to think before sharing information.
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6. Social media business models don’t always work for users
Social media’s business model is built on the attention economy, where platforms sell users’ attention as advertising. However, attracting attention is not necessarily good for users or society. It may be helpful to move away from the attention economy and rethink business models.
Scott Galloway, an adjunct professor of marketing at New York University, said subscription-based models that are not tied to advertising are an alternative, but there are risks when only the best, fact-checked information is available. He pointed out that there is. Behind the paywall.
7. The line between free speech and harmful speech is sometimes unclear
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides websites with immunity from third-party content. Richard Stengel, a former undersecretary of state for public affairs and foreign affairs and a former editor in chief of Time magazine, said there is a need for reforms to make platforms more accountable for the content they publish. “Regulations need to encourage platforms to take responsibility for illegal content, as Time did,” he said, noting that platforms are currently in a gray area when it comes to regulating content.
Renee DiResta, research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, said policies should also distinguish between free speech and free reach. The right to free speech does not extend to the right to have that speech amplified by algorithms.
“There has always been a gap between the right to speak and the right to have a megaphone that reaches hundreds of millions of people,” she says.
Read next: MIT Sloan study on social media, misinformation, and elections