Internet

Media and Content

The easy availability of information on the Internet may lead to the commoditization of content. However, if content is free or low cost, it may be difficult for those who produce it (like journalists) to earn a living. Economists and other scholars examine this tension and suggest various solutions.

Back to main Media and Content page

Quotes

Tech Tent: Is Facebook Fixable?

"Facebook was basically caught flat-footed, even though anybody who studies American politics would have known that one of our two political parties would do everything it could to delegitimise the process." — Siva Vaidhyanathan, Professor of Modern Media Studies, University of Virginia


Siva Vaidhyanathan
Source: BBC.com
November 13, 2020

US Pundits Question Trump's Attempt to Ban Tiktok, Wechat

“We are behind the curve on misinformation and there's plenty of domestic misinformation in the US. Leading up to the election, it's going to be insane.” — James Dempsey, Executive Director, Berkeley Center for Law & Technology


James Dempsey
Source: Global Times
October 11, 2020

One Person’s Internet Junk Is Another Person’s Treasure

“People who would be protected by this bill dehumanize other individuals, call people cockroaches. It might be legal, but it’s terrible.” — Eric Goldman, Professor of Law, Santa Clara University
Eric Goldman
Source: Mercury News
September 10, 2020

Mark Zuckerberg Is the Most Powerful Unelected Man in America

“I’m not sure Mark Zuckerberg is even willing to contemplate his influence. I’m not sure he’d ever sleep if he ever thought about how much power he has.” — Siva Vaidhyanathan, Professor of Media Studies, University of Virginia
Siva Vaidhyanathan
Source: The New York Times
September 3, 2020

Facebook Curbs Political Ads for 7 Days Before U.S. Election

“Facebook’s biggest problem has always been enforcement. Even when it creates reasonable policies that seem well-meaning, it gets defeated by its own scale.” — Siva Vaidhyanathan, Professor of Media Studies, University of Virginia
Siva Vaidhyanathan
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
September 3, 2020

The Two Faces of Facebook's Election Plans

“Facebook doesn't quite understand the nature of the problem, and doesn’t quite understand the nature of Facebook.” — Siva Vaidhyanathan, Director, Center for Media and Citizenship, University of Virginia
Siva Vaidhyanathan
Source: Wired
June 22, 2020

Mark Zuckerberg Just Made the Case for Breaking Up Facebook

“Networked technology is often more prone to concentrate power than it is to diffuse it.”
 — Frank Pasquale, Professor of Law, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
Frank Pasquale
Source: Los Angeles Times
June 5, 2020

Trump vs Social Media

“it’s strange that people like Mark (Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook) and Jack (Dorsey, chief executive of Twitter) have as much power as they do—whether to promote or squelch speech across billions of posts and users per day, including the power to do nothing.”
 — Jonathan Zittrain, Professor of Law, Harvard University
Jonathan Zittrain
Source: Columbia Journalism Review’s: The Media Today
June 4, 2020

Trump vs Social Media

“Trump’s executive order is a multi-faceted attempt to get around the fact that he can’t actually force anyone to do any of the things he describes in the order.”
 — Eric Goldman, Professor of Law, Santa Clara University
Michael B. Abramowicz
Source: Columbia Journalism Review’s: The Media Today
June 4, 2020

Trump's Antifa Obsession Is an Unconstitutional Distraction

“It’s a crime to burn down a police station, but it cannot be a crime to be opposed to authoritarianism or associate with people who do.”
 — Neil Richards, Professor of Law, Washington University in St. Louis
Neil Richards
Source: Wired
June 2, 2020
Results 1 - 10 of 56
|< < 1 2 3 4 5 > >|

Choose another Issue

Select an Issue

TAP Academics

View all academics with expertise in Media and Content

TAP Blog

Want to Learn More About Section 230? A Guide to My Work

Professor Eric Goldman, Santa Clara High Tech Law Institute, provides a narrated and selective bibliography on Section 230.

Eric Goldman

View all blog posts about Media and Content

Upcoming Events

AdTech & Our Privacy – Dark present, brighter future?

December 2, 2020,  

View all upcoming events about Media and Content

Fact Sheets

There are currently no fact sheets about Media and Content. Please see fact sheets on other Issues on TAP's media page.

Featured Article

Hero or Villain: The Data Controller in Privacy Law and Technologies

By embracing privacy enhancing technologies (PETs), privacy law can better protect individuals from surveillance and other intrusions. Trusting data controllers leaves privacy vulnerable to a single point of failure.

By: Omer Tene, Claudia Diaz, Seda Gürses

View all articles on Media and Content