Education Closes the Gap that Legislation Leaves Open
Written by Joe Phelps There’s a lot of talk about legislating more governmental control of the major social media platforms. While there is room for legislation to hold digital services (such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and Instagram) responsible for some mis- dis- and mal-information that’s published on their platforms, it may encroach on freedom of expression. So, regulating content becomes a challenging tightrope walk. Another obstacle is that platforms may deny their responsibility for content moderation because, for example, land lines and satellite signal providers state that they
Social Media is Only Part of the Problem
Written by Joe Phelps, CEO, Getting Better Foundation Netflix’s documentary, ”The Social Dilemma”, exposed the motivations and technologies of social media platforms as well as the algorithms that drive them. What it doesn't explain however, is the complex challenge media ill-literacy presents. The U.S. State Department has recognized the importance of media literacy, as they premiered our film, "Trust Me" at their annual conference. “Trust Me” portrays real-life consequences to our lack of media literacy. Our hyper-attentiveness to threats and violence, our tendency to rem
How fake news leads to conspiracy theories
Written by Rosemary Smith, Managing Director of Getting Better Foundation Besides being potentially avoidable tragedies, what do the Nashville Bomber, Russian Trolls, Black Lives Matter, Covington Catholic, Pizza Gate, Sandy Hook, Anti-Vax, and COVID Conspiracies all have in common? They’re all instances where a lack of media literacy led to destruction of property, health or life… and they were all avoidable. Overviews: Nashville Bomber: a belief, taken from online misinformation touting “5G paranoia” is believed to have motivated Anthony Warner’s desire to disrupt Tenn