Bullying, harassment, violent content, hate, porn and other problematic content circulates on digital platforms. Who should be responsible for stopping the spread of this content and how？

2022-10-15 YIDUO GUO Uncategorized Comments Off on Bullying, harassment, violent content, hate, porn and other problematic content circulates on digital platforms. Who should be responsible for stopping the spread of this content and how？

Introduction:

Nowadays, the Internet is becoming more and more developed, and as a medium for information dissemination, it has the characteristics of fast dissemination and wide coverage. It can help people to learn and facilitate their lives. But at the same time, as technology develops faster and faster, the laws and regulations governing the Internet are inadequate, which has led to the Internet becoming a place where many people can vent their personal anger. Pornography, bullying, harassment, and other violent content are all over the platforms. The government, the regulatory system of the platforms and the individual users of the Internet should take decisive responsibility for using the law, the management system of the platforms and the self-monitoring of the users to reasonably reduce the spread of undesirable information resources and maximise the advantages of the Internet.

Platform Self-Regulation

First, the regulatory system of major online platforms should ban harmful information that users can view, so that users are protected by their responsibilities. Because the tool for information dissemination is the major network platforms, reducing the spread of harmful information should be controlled from the source of the information.

For example, on some emotional communication APP platforms, there are live classes offered by various inbound emotional teams or companies. In addition to enticing students to pay fees in a hundred different ways, some tutors provide tutorials and emotional guidance that include publishing false identities and fake friend circle states to attract the attention of the opposite sex, with a typical PUA nature (Guardian News and Media, 2019), and some learning materials are even filled with violent content. In such incidents, the relevant online platforms, although not the direct creators of undesirable information, have to some extent acted as consolidators and disseminators of undesirable information. Beyond this, the most important reason is that platforms may operate on a profit or non-profit basis, although such labels often suggest who will profit from the platform’s activities (Dwyer, 2019).

Bully Advance Screening Hosted by First Lady Katie O'Malley

“Bully Advance Screening Hosted by First Lady Katie O’Malley” by MDGovpics is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

However, for vulnerable groups such as young people, the ability to distinguish between right and wrong has not yet been developed. Content on the internet is not categorised by age or appropriate area, and without parental supervision and guidance, they may unintentionally or intentionally find pornographic, extremely violent, or inappropriate content, with unimaginable results of great harm to their minds and bodies. Not only that, but some specific examples of potentially harmful content include websites that encourage eating disorders or self-harm. For young people with mental health issues such as depression or eating disorders, these sites are harmful as they create an environment where users may normalise harmful behaviours. Therefore, online platforms should be responsible for this and should not use the mere provision of platform services as a shield, but should do their duty of review and supervision, and if they find that any information is posted or transmitted in violation of the law, they should immediately stop transmitting that information and take disposal measures such as elimination.

 

The Government

Secondly, the government, as the central leading force in the country, is in charge of public data and plays a decisive role in the management of resources. From a political perspective, political leaders in some countries make politically violent statements and demonise their political opponents. In particular, leaders with large media followings make inflammatory statements that quickly fester in the media, are massively retweeted and reap millions of shares.

Trump

“Trump” by Cowgirl111 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

On 6 January 2021, Trump supporters stormed Congress in an attempt to block the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. Facebook and Twitter subsequently temporarily banned Trump from using their platforms. Relatively speaking (BBC. 2022), leaders like Trump have to some extent exploited the communicative nature of social networks to promote their political rhetoric, and research has shown that inflammatory rhetoric by political leaders can make political violence more likely, provide direction for violence, complicate law enforcement responses, and increase fear in vulnerable communities (Rose, Rich, Judith, 2021). Platforms, while they can reasonably be regulated, are always not the enactors of the law. While harmful information online causes social uproar in real life, punishment is limited to the platform and has limitations. Conversely, government enactment of laws has majesty, and therefore the government should improve more specific laws and regulations and allow the platform’s regulatory system to enforce them so as not to cause social panic.

Web users

Finally, internet users are expected to speak responsibly to themselves and to others online, as they are both recipients and producers of information online. The Freedom Online report is the largest study ever conducted to understand the experiences of girls on social media. In all 22 countries surveyed, girls have been exposed to explicit messages, pornographic photos, cyberstalking, and other distressing forms of abuse. The most common type was abusive and insulting language, reported by more than half (59%) of girls, followed by deliberate embarrassment (41%), body shaming and threats of sexual violence (both 39%) (Plan International Australia,2021). The results are clear: girls suffer from chronic mental health problems and, in more cases than not, choose not to express themselves and their opinions for fear of reprisals, sometimes even disappearing from these platforms to escape (Myers & Thompson, 2022).

"File:Cyber violence.jpg" by yingjin is license"File:Cyber violence.jpg" by yingjin is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“File:Cyber violence.jpg” by yingjin is license”File:Cyber violence.jpg” by yingjin is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

daracteristics of the internet provide a breeding ground for the formation of online violence. In online communication, internet users are expressing their opinions as online, and what should be bound in real life is lost in online communication, making them much less aware of their responsibilities A fake vigilante on TikTok named Leo, he has made it his mission to track down and expose online bullies, sexists, and racists. He founded the Great LonDini movement (Who is the Great Londini, 2022), a group of experts and volunteers dedicated to stopping online harassment from happening. If a poster makes a threat to a person, the organisation will report it to that person’s workplace, or to the police. This is a good example of NGO/civil society social regulation, and as a user who can give the most straightforward feedback on the online experience and make a critical demeanourr, A certain degree of democratic participation in drinking the diversity of cultures and identities online (Karppinen, 2017).

Personal social media landscape

 

“Personal social media landscape” by Anne Helmond is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Platforms are not only a medium for public discourse, but they are also an integral part of it (Gillespie, 2018) People should therefore be responsible for their own speech when using the internet and receive information from an objective perspective. Bad information should be reported promptly to the supervisory authorities of the platform. Users should make it clear that the internet is only a tool, and that the main thing it brings is the resource called information, which is used and distributed by people. People should use the convenience brought by the Internet in a reasonable way, rather than becoming the cause of bad information.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in this age of advanced technology, the internet has become an integral part of people’s lives, from the government and the state to the common man. Harmful information is all over the place, endangering society and individuals, and the government should determine where its responsibilities lie and improve laws and regulations to complement platforms to rationalise and regulate speech to prevent it from expanding unchecked. In addition, users should be socially aware and view other people’s information in a responsible manner with respect to what they say. Social media platforms should be a bridge not only between users and users, users and the public, but also between citizens and law enforcement, policy makers and regulators.

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