In the late 2000s, Social Media as a phenomenon was hailed as a cradle for freedom of speech at a scale unseen before, letting people unite their voices to make them more powerful. In the current state of social media, considering its rapid development in the last decade and rise in popularity along with abusive behavior online, implementing regulations seems to be a necessary step for the betterment of society. However, what regulations should be passed, how can they be enforced, and why only now? 

Much like mass media in the past, today the internet decides what is “trending”, what makes the front page, and what is “drowned” in the overwhelming flow of information. With enough effort, whether intentional or not, the attention of billions can be easily diverted and their opinions formed with the help of sophisticated technology. Private media outlets, originally meant to deliver factual news to the people, are now mainly categorized by political stance and are in the hands of some of the most influential moguls on the planet. The internet is what gave people the power and tools to level that playing field when the general public was given its own space. And it is our responsibility to keep this space safe and open to all.

For now, social media is accessible to anyone who has an internet connection; it allows any user to reach just as many minds as million-dollar publishers, and even more. This gives us a chance to either defend and support our actions among coordinated slander based on lies or shed light on the sometimes dark truth that may have been “cut in prod” by those with a brand. But if we undermine this power by electing wrong leadership, we may just sacrifice the very epitome of democracy, leaving billions of minds to be played with like a chunk of playdough.

Evidently, technology has outgrown us in that sense. One of the main concerns is that not enough is being done to prevent harmful content from spreading, collectively counting in millions of posts every day across major platforms. While apparently humans are physically not fit for that job themselves, big hopes lay with artificial intelligence as potentially capable of performing this task. However, technical limitations aside, like all intellect, AI should be taught and trained to function and by none other than ourselves. Our collective efforts should perhaps be directed towards defining the set of rules the machine can follow: governing principles and systems for the virtual world just as the ones that exist in our normal physical world, while its enforcement can be left to the individual governments and their citizens.

The intensified public scrutiny towards social media all over the world may carry many names. It may be new legislation to protect kids from harmful content and hate speech or an effort to contain the influence of social media versus freedom of speech. Or is it democracy in development?

The internet, and social media in particular, is essential in our lives, and is here to stay. We may be using it every day but are yet to learn how to live in this virtual world. The big question is: should we always rely on external factors for us to be able to coexist in peace, or is there power in our hands too? After all, the internet is nothing but a collection of our voices, and it may be best to treat it as such.