Democracy Rules

The business model of most social media platforms depend upon user ‘clicks’ for advertising revenue. However, the pressure for growth and user-engagement often takes precedent over displaying truthful content. This tactic may be good for business but advocates warn it is very divisive and corrosive to our society. Algorithms employed by these firms often amplify disinformation, conspiracy theories and hate speech to trigger outrage and fear among viewers, thereby ensuring these items will be widely shared and reposted. Critics say such policies make those with anti-democracy, anti-vaccination, white supremacist and climate change denial views appear to be more popular than they actually are, and to enjoy more support than they really have.

Social media companies have long been accused of putting profits ahead of consumers’ safety, privacy and wellbeing. Facebook and other platforms are aware of these effects but repeated requests to adjust their algorithms have been ignored, diluted or deliberately shut down by company officials. In 2018, Facebook managers reportedly told employees the company’s priorities were shifting “away from societal good to individual value.”

Social media platforms shape the information that billions of people across the globe consume every day. However, many believe there is a dangerous lack of transparency about how these platforms impact our children, families, society and national security. Advocates say it’s time to start holding these platforms accountable for the lack of transparency behind their algorithms. They wish to increase transparency into data collection by social media companies, and ensure independent researchers can access platform data and understand the type of information these companies are collecting on their users. Advocates claim this would be a good starting point in solving our social media disinformation problem.

Proposed Legislation: Reintroduction of S.5339 - Platform Accountability and Transparency Act (PATA) (117th Congress 2021-2022)
Prospective Sponsor: Sen. Christopher Coons (DE)

I oppose reforming current social media disinformation policy and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Leader Charles Schumer (NY).
I support increasing the transparency of social media companies’ internal data, researching these platform’s impact on society, and providing privacy-protected, secure pathways for independent research on data held by these companies by: 1.) Allowing independent researchers to submit proposals to the National Science Foundation (an independent agency designed to promote the progress of science by approving research and development proposals from researchers across the sciences), and requiring social media companies to provide the necessary data subject to privacy protections. 2.) Subjecting uncompliant companies to enforcement from the Federal Trade Commission, and allowing these companies to face the potential for lawsuits by entities and consumers. 3.) Requiring that platforms proactively make certain information available to researchers or the public on an ongoing basis, including: A comprehensive ad library; Statistics about content moderation; Data about viral content; and Descriptions of a platform’s ranking and recommendation algorithms. 4.) Protecting researchers from legal liability that may arise from automatically collecting public-facing platform information if they comply with various privacy safeguards. And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Sen. Christopher Coons (DE) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.

Winning Option »» I support increasing the transparency of social media companies’ internal data, researching these platform’s impact on society, and providing privacy-protected, secure pathways for independent research on data held by these companies by: 1.) Allowing independent researchers to submit proposals to the National Science Foundation (an independent agency designed to promote the progress of science by approving research and development proposals from researchers across the sciences), and requiring social media companies to provide the necessary data subject to privacy protections. 2.) Subjecting uncompliant companies to enforcement from the Federal Trade Commission, and allowing these companies to face the potential for lawsuits by entities and consumers. 3.) Requiring that platforms proactively make certain information available to researchers or the public on an ongoing basis, including: A comprehensive ad library; Statistics about content moderation; Data about viral content; and Descriptions of a platform’s ranking and recommendation algorithms. 4.) Protecting researchers from legal liability that may arise from automatically collecting public-facing platform information if they comply with various privacy safeguards. And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Sen. Christopher Coons (DE) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.