Media and Society After Technological Disruption

Sixteen scholars in law, media, computer science, and history discuss how technology has transformed media and free speech.

Kyle Langvardt (Edited by), Justin (Gus) Hurwitz (Edited by)

9781009174428, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 May 2024

308 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 2.2 cm, 0.6 kg

The internet has reshaped the media landscape and the social institutions built upon it. Competition from online media sources has decimated local journalism and diminished the twentieth century's established journalistic gatekeepers. Social media puts individual users front and center in the creation of the content that they consume. Harmful speech can spread further and faster, and the institutions responsible for policing that speech-Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and the like-lack any clear twentieth-century analog. The law is still working to catch up to the world these changes have wrought. This volume gathers sixteen scholars in law, media, technology, and history to consider these changes. Chapters explore the breakdown of trust in the media, changes in the law of defamation and privacy, challenges of online content moderation, and financial viability for journalistic enterprises in the internet age. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Introduction Justin 'Gus' Hurwitz and Kyle Langvardt
Part I. Trusted Communicators: 1. Introduction: trusted communicators Kyle Langvardt
2. Getting to trustworthiness (but not necessarily to trust) Helen Norton
3. Sober and self-guided newsgathering Jane Bambauer
4. The new gatekeepers?: Social media and the 'Search for Truth' Ashutosh Bhagwat
5. Beyond the watchdog: using Law to build trust in the press Erin C. Carrol
6. Defamation and privacy: what you can't say about me Justin 'Gus' Hurwitz
Part II. Defamation and Privacy: 7. Introduction: defamation and privacy Justin 'Gus' Hurwitz
8. Cheap speech and the Gordian Knot of defamation reform Lyrissa Lidsky
9. Defamation, disinformation, and the press function RonNell Andersen Jones
10. Privacy rights, internet mug shots, and a right to be forgotten Amy Gajda
11. Brokered abuse Thomas E. Kadri
Part III. Platform Governance: 12. Introduction: platform governance Kyle Langvardt
13. Noisy speech externalities Justin 'Gus' Hurwitz
14. Content moderation in practice Laura Edelson
15. The reverse spider-man principle: with great responsibility comes great power Eugene Volokh
16. Moderating the fediverse: content moderation on distributed social media Alan Z. Rozenshtein
Part IV. Sustaining Journalistic Institutions: 17. Introduction: sustaining journalistic institutions Justin 'Gus' Hurwitz
18. How local TV news is surviving disruption as newspapers fail: lessons learned Laurie Thomas Lee
19. From hot news to link tax: the dangers of a quasi-property right in information Paul Matzko
20. Structuring a subsidy for local journalism Kyle Langvardt
21. Saving the news Ramsi A. Woodcock
Index.

Subject Areas: International law [LB]