If, however, some of the proposed state legislation on the matter becomes law, the Court may not have any choice but to address the issue.

FCC abandoned the doctrine in 1987.

The fairness doctrine required broadcasters that devoted a portion of their airtime to discussing controversial matters of public interest to also air contrasting views on those matters

blocked by the First Amendment or Section 230

they could set up a legal battle with the platforms that have used Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act as a justification for free reign in curating the users of their services.

In Texas, for example, a proposed law would treat social media companies like common carriers and prohibit “deplatforming” based on viewpoint. Also, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has proposed a law that would protect political candidates from being banned on social media.

Some states have already begun to take some degree of action

unprecedented amounts of speech, including speech by government actors

In sum, history suggests that modern digital platforms should not wait for governments to impose controls; they should act decisively and pro-actively now.

We found that companies have often risked creating a “tragedy of the commons” when they put their short-term, individual self-interests ahead of the good of the consuming public or the industry overall, and, in the long term, destroy the environment that made them successful in the first place.

But they have also enabled the distribution of fake news and fake products, manipulation of digital content for political purposes, and promotion of dangerous misinformation on elections, vaccines, and other public health matters.

the leading digital platforms in social media recently began tagging some posts as unreliable or untrue and removing some videos.

new advertising system designed to intercept articles with fake news stories.

Attaching verifications to some true headlines could be a possible fix.

Attaching warnings to social media posts that feature information disputed by fact-checkers can backfire.

people appreciate a candidate who tells obvious lies,

Some misinformation comes from politicians

people who engage in more analytical thinking are more likely to discern true from false, regardless of their political views. 

rawn to information that is novel and unusual,

False rumors spread faster and wider than true information,

, the Russian government used Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to spread false information and conspiracy theories and stoke divisions.

“click-bait”

for every click, like, share and mouse movement to be aggregated and monetized.

“you” in YouTube was an invitation for users to upload short videos talking about their perfect partner in the hopes of finding true love.

specific reasons.

any person with a connection could write about their community and interests and publish it for the world to see, anonymously or not.

“home of the mind” where neither bodies nor laws much mattered.

proposing a set of solutions that involve tweaking social media systems, hunting down bots or insisting on verified identities, we can look to activism to understand how we got here

culture jamming unified activists around a common cause and set of tactics, such as making minor edits of an advertisement to drastically change its meaning.

Yes Men made a career

Yes Men created a parody Web site pretending to be the WTO.

We must take three important steps to protect ourselves from being manipulated by false and misleading information prioritized by companies that privilege profit over a healthy flow of information.

accessed 87 million users’ data, which was used to profile and target them with political information, and disinformation, leading up to the U.S. and Brexit votes in 2016?

the mental health of young women on Instagram were confirmed.