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.

Analysis

The goal of this project is to provide you an opportunity to research a current public policy issue and to analyze the merits of the proposal through the lens of ethics.

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.

Exponent Podcast

I highly recommend you listen to the corresponding Exponent podcast linked underneath each proposal.

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.

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.

Business in China

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

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.

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