Overview

For this project, you are to work in groups of 2 - 4 students to research, analyze, and debate a current public policy issue:

1. Antitrust regulation.

2. Social media political ads.

3. Business in China.

4. Section 230 of the Communications Act.

For each of these issues, you are provided a proposal. You will need to do research by reading some of the articles listed for each issue (and looking up information on your own) and then record a podcast or video that does the following:

1. Provides a brief background on the public policy issue.

2. Describes the merits of the stated proposal.

3. Discusses the problems with the stated proposal.

4. Debate whether or not such a proposal is feasible, reasonable, or desirable.

5. Conclude with a recommendation on whether the proposal should be accepted, rejected, or modified (and how).

Note: While describing the merits and problems to the stated proposal, you should clearly reference the classroom discussions, previous case studies, or articles you read to support your arguments.

Your recording should be between 5 and 15 minutes in length. It should not be totally scripted; instead it should follow a round-robin or panel style discussion of the required components above.

Antitrust

Proposed: Big technology companies such as Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook are violating antitrust law and should be broken up.

• Exponent 166: Fence-Building vs Axe-Wielding

• Antitrust 101: Why everyone is probing Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google

• Tech and Antitrust

• 47 attorneys general are investigating Facebook for antitrust violations

• Leaked: Mark Zuckerberg threatens “major lawsuit” if President Warren tries to break up Facebook

• Microsoft President: Democracy Is At Stake. Regulate Big Tech

• How Apple's Apps Topped Rivals in the App Store It Controls

• The Right Way to Regulate Big Tech

• Milton Friedman Was Wrong

• How Elizabeth Warren Came Up with a Plan to Break Up Big Tech

• Justice Department to Open Broad, New Antitrust Review of Big Tech Companies

• Tech Giants Claim Competition Exists. House Dems Don't Buy It

• Google’s Enemies Gear Up to Make Antitrust Case

• Regulating Big Tech makes them stronger, so they need competition instead

• Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates Blames Antitrust Case for Windows Mobile Losing to Android

Social Media Political Ads

Proposed: Social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter must protect democracy by either fact-checking political ads or outright banning them.

• Exponent 176: The Second Estate Era

• Exponent 177: Principle Stacks

• Mark Zuckerberg Stands for Voice and Free Expression

• Dear Facebook and Google: Issue a Political Ad Moratorium in the UK (An Open Letter)

• Tech and Liberty

• I worked on political ads at Facebook. They profit by manipulating us

• Twitter blocking all political ads globally starting in November

• The social media panic

• Why Twitter’s New Restrictions on Political Advertising Make No Sense

• Doubt Anyone Who’s Confident That Facebook Should Ban Political Ads

• Don't abolish political ads on social media. Stop microtargeting

• Facebook’s political ads policy is predictably a disaster

• The Internet and the Third Estate

• Facebook Releases Audit of Anti-Conservative Bias

• White House drafting executive order to tackle Silicon Valley’s alleged anti-conservative bias

Business in China

Proposed: Due to China's human rights record and authoritarian policies, American technology companies should refrain from doing business in China.

• Exponent 175: The Abyss Stares Back

• Dealing With China Isn’t Worth the Moral Cost

• A million people are jailed at China's gulags. I managed to escape. Here's what really goes on inside

• Apple's Good Intentions on Privacy Stop at China's Borders

• Apple’s call to pull the HKMapLive app from its App Store shows how much it needs China

• How China Uses High-Tech Surveillance to Subdue Minorities

• Google is fighting over its ban on Hong Kong protest app The Revolution of Our Times

• China Intercepts WeChat Texts From U.S. And Abroad, Researcher Says

• One Month, 500,000 Face Scans: How China Is Using A.I. to Profile a Minority

• Uighurs Can't Escape Chinese Repression, Even in Europe

• Western Academia Helps Build China’s Automated Racism - Coda Story

• How U.S. Tech Giants Are Helping to Build China’s Surveillance State

• WeChat Is Watching

• I Used to Work for Google. I Am a Conscientious Objector

• U.S. Firms Are Helping Build China’s Orwellian State

• We are Google employees. Google must drop Dragonfly

Section 230 of the Communications Act

Proposed: Internet companies should be stripped of the protections provided by Section 230 of the Communications Act and made liable for all content produced on their platforms.

• Exponent 168: A Community of Loonies

• The Fight Over Section 230—and the Internet as We Know It

• Tech leaders are demanding platforms stop amplifying hate speech

• Legal Shield for Websites Rattles Under Onslaught of Hate Speech

• The Key to Safety Online Is User Empowerment, Not Censorship

• Tech Companies Get a Free Pass on Moderating Content

• Are Facebook and Google State Actors?

• The obscure law that explains why Google backs climate deniers

• Why Section 230 Exists and How People Are Still Getting it Wrong

• Section 230 Is the Foundation of the Internet, So Why Do Republicans Want to Change It?

• Tech critics on both sides have it wrong: Section 230 is not a special privilege

• How sex censorship killed the internet we love

Submission

Your project is due at noon, Saturday, November 16. You should upload your podcast or video to a cloud hosting service such as YouTube, Google Drive, Vimeo, or Soundcloud.

To submit your project, one group member should fill out the following form