As a result of developments in society and the economy, there has been a proliferation of various social media platform
s, and the number of people actively using these platforms has also increased. These developments have contributed to the rise in the number of people actively using these platforms. Users of social media platforms disseminate and discuss a diverse array of content, including that they have developed themselves and that which interests them on a personal level. Among the stuff that is disseminated and discussed is that which they find personally interesting. This is an extremely positive turn of events in many different ways. On the other hand, several people post things on the Internet, such as hate speech, pornography, violent content, cyberbullying, and other things that could potentially harm young people. Because children and teenagers have not yet reached full mental and behavioural maturity, the most effective way for them to learn is to observe and mimic the acts of adults. Children who participate as purveyors in pornographic information networks may already have fully formed cognitive domains, unlike paedophiles who engage in this behaviour. This reality ought to be reflected in a certain way in both their dynamics and the propensity they have to behave in a disruptive manner. (Serhi & Tetyana, 2018) In order to combat the posting of content that is bullying, harassing, violent, bigoted, or pornographic on social media platforms, many different sectors need to interact with one another. The government needs to develop laws and regulations that limit the publication of anything deemed unsuitable on social media platforms. At the same time, to ensure a secure online environment for children and teenagers, the companies that administer social platforms and the users of those platforms need to work together.
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Governments must implement regulations and laws that make it unlawful to post topics relevant to the conversation to prevent people from engaging in such behaviour.
To begin, to exercise one’s right to free speech on social media platforms, one must comply with all applicable national, regional, and international rules. This is the case for anyone who wishes to exercise one’s right to free speech. Posting social media content that promotes violent crimes, cyberbullying, and bigotry is an easy way to stir social fear and generate much public debate. This can be accomplished in several ways. For instance, on the morning of June 10th, 2022, a group of males at a barbecue restaurant in the northeastern section of the city of Tangshan assaulted a woman and three of her companions by repeatedly punching and kicking them at the restaurant in Tangshan. The restaurant was located in the city. The men’s proposition had been rejected by the women’s group earlier. Many women have developed a crippling phobia of going out to eat alone due to relevant articles and films being published on social media. (Gan, 2022) These articles and videos were posted after the incident occurred. However, at the same time, the Chinese authorities quickly learned about the incident through the Internet. They immediately ramped up enforcement in their respective cities to ensure that such things would not happen again, illustrating the pervasive speed block of the Internet.
Second, because having sexual relations is a basic biological drive that all people share, the state should distinctly control pornographic movies and photographs. For example, in 2017, the legislature of the United Kingdom adopted a measure that compelled “strong” age verification procedures to be applied on all official pornographic websites. This legislation was intended to prevent minors from accessing adult content online. Although other members of parliament in other jurisdictions submitted legislation that was conceptually comparable to the idea, it was never fully carried into law, partly because it did not embrace social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. (Thurman & Obster, 2021) Before a person is permitted to browse websites related to sexual activity, the state’s security system should be linked to the websites to verify their age and identity. This should be done in order to prevent minors from accessing content that is inappropriate for them. Individuals under 18 are not permitted to access this kind of website. As a direct consequence of this legislation, which would serve to protect young people, the adult sex trade would carry on as usual without suffering any adverse effects on its commercial and financial operations.
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Both companies and individual users of social media should make it a top priority to reduce the amount of content that could be considered offensive. The use of social media is currently driving a paradigm change that is taking place all across the world right now. Platforms for social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and WeChat, which were once regarded as frivolous and insignificant, have evolved into a crucial component of modern society’s information and communication infrastructure. Examples of these platforms are Twitter, Facebook, and WeChat. (Burgess et al., 2018)
First，the major social media platforms are the ones that set the standards for the industry via the weight of their influence and by serving as an example for others to follow. They are also continuing to develop new capabilities and AI technologies to make it feasible for AI to detect undesirable information reliably. This development aims to make it possible for AI to recognize unwanted information. The content given to humans for assessment is stuff that
has the potential to generate controversy and is being considered for publishing. This immediately eliminates the problem of disseminating and publishing undesirable content while saving a significant amount of staff that would have been required to examine and approve the distribution of videos. In addition, the problem of disseminating and publishing undesirable content is immediately eliminated.
Second, social media users can report content they find objectionable if they feel the need to do so after coming ac
ross such content. Suppose a complaint is lodged against the content. In that case, the website for the social media platform will perform an additional review. Users who report content, for example, will cause a report to be sent to the Instagram team,
which will then examine the content in question to determine whether or not it violates the community guidelines. (How to Filter, Block, and Report Harmful Content on Social Media | RAINN, n.d.) If it is determined that the content in question does violate the guidelines, Instagram will remove it. The content will continue to be viewable by the general public until it can be determined whether or not it violates the criteria established for the community. It could take a few days, or it could take a few weeks to finish this evaluation. The time it takes could be all over the place. In general, the numerous social media platforms constitute the primary force in addressing offensive content, making them an important resource.
Because it offers users an almost endless number of opportunities, the Internet is regularly used spitefully or exploited by users. The intended victims are other Internet users, organizations, and public services. (Diomidous et al., 2016) The regulation of content that is viewed as being offensive on social media is a problem that is relevant for governments, platforms, and individuals alike to address and consider. Not only does the proliferation of harmful content over the Internet have ramifications for the psychological and physiological well-being of young people, but it also has repercussions for the national economy and the nation’s reputation. After the Internet, it has an influence that is damaging to the country’s general economic and cultural development. Comparing using the Internet to cutting food with a knife is a good analogy. It can be a useful tool for us, given that we utilize it with the appropriate care and attention following the requirements of the situation. On the other hand, we risk unintended effects if we use it inappropriately. (Seto, 2018)
Reference List：
Burgess, J., Marwick, A. E., & Poell, T. (Eds.). (2018). The sage handbook of social media. SAGE Publications, Limited.
Diomidous, M., Chardalias, K., Magita, A., Koutonias, P., Panagiotopoulou, P., & Mantas, J. (2016, February 2). Social and Psychological Effects of the Internet Use – PMC. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4789623/
Gan, N. (2022, August 29). China charges dozens over brutal attack on women in restaurant | CNN. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/29/china/china-tangshan-restaurant-attack-prosecution-intl-hnk/index.html
How to Filter, Block, and Report Harmful Content on Social Media | RAINN. (n.d.). How to Filter, Block, and Report Harmful Content on Social Media | RAINN. Retrieved October 13, 2022, from https://www.rainn.org/articles/how-filter-block-and-report-harmful-content-social-media
Serhii V. Demedyuk, & Tetyana S. Demedyuk. (2018). DANGEROUS PORNOGRAPHIC CONTENT ON THE INTERNET AS A PROJECTION OF A PERSONALITY DEVIATION OF THE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY DISTRIBUTOR. Information Technologies and Learning Tools, 68(6), 278–290.
Seto. (2018, January 12). The internet is so useful, but we must learn how to use it properly – YP | South China Morning Post. Young Post. https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/your-voice/letters-editorial/article/3069050/internet-so-useful-we-must-learn-how-use
Thurman, N., & Obster, F. (2021). The regulation of internet pornography: What a survey of under‐18s tells us about the necessity for and potential efficacy of emerging legislative approaches. Policy and Internet, 13(3), 415–432. https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.250
