Schedule > 12. Platforms: with guest speaker Deepa Seetharaman from the Wall Street Journal

Discussion Questions

• What are the ethical obligations of a platform to society?
• What kinds of regulatory measures do Maréchal & Roberts propose?
• What is content moderation alone not enough?

Slides

• The Facebook Files

Readings

• Wall Street Journal Staff (Sept. 29, 2021). Facebook’s Documents About Instagram and Teens, Published. The Wall Street Journal.
  • From Deepa: Please read at least a few of these documents. They are the underlying documents that informed the second story on teens and research.
• The Facebook Files (Pick 2 to Read). The Wall Street Journal.
  • Northwestern has free access to content from the Wall Street Journal. Access it here: https://wsj.com/northwestern.
• Maréchal, Nathalie & Roberts Biddle, Ellery (2020). It's Not Just the Content, It's the Business Model: Democracy’s Online Speech Challenge. Open Technology Institute.

• (Oct. 3, 2021). WSJ Interview with Frances Haugen. Wall Street Journal.
• (Oct. 5, 2021). Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen tells lawmakers that meaningful reform is necessary ‘for our common good’. Washington Post.
• (n.d.). Tech Worker's Handbook: Blowing the Whistle. Tech Worker's Handbook.
• (Oct. 10, 2021). SNL Spoof on Congressional Hearing. Saturday Night Live.
• (2019). The Great Hack. Netflix.
• Gillespie, T. (2010). The politics of ‘platforms’. New Media & Society 12(3), 347-364.