MEDIA REGULATION - DIGITAL REGULATION

 

US LAW SECTION 230

In 1996 the US enacted a law which provides online platforms immunity from any third-party content. The government has no control over the content regulations and so the company must do so on their own, though only after it has been released to the public. Section 230 was created in the 1990s when a lawsuit against internet service providers, which resulted in different interpretations of whether these companies are publishers or distributors.

One large company involved in this law is the global online video sharing and social media platform Youtube, owned by Google. The method used for regulating content on their platform mostly relies on the users to report on content that violates their community guidelines, to which the Youtube team will review the report. Community guidelines included are spam & deceptive practices, sensitive content, violent or dangerous content, regulated goods and misinformation. One popular occurrence on the platform which violates their guidelines is the Momo challenge hoax, The "Momo Challenge" was an urban legend that circulated online, during July of 2018. It was reported that a user going by the name of Momo was luring young people to commit suicide, commit violent acts against others, or harm themselves. In February 2019, the challenge had reached worldwide moral panic when Momo can be seen in children's content such as Peppa Pig and Fortnite, Kim Kardashian herself posted on Instagram, stating that Youtube should remove Momo from their platform, along with more advisories from police forces, schools and organizations dedicated to internet consumer safety.