Question :
Analyze the challenges of regulating the media in the digital age.
Answer
One role that the Government can do in the Media is Regulating it. In China despite of tight regulation done by the Chinese officials, Its hard if not impossible to completely remove content out of the prying eyes of audiences , especially with digital age of the internet that makes content more accessible than ever before.
One example of this is the popular TV show called 'Friends' who aired in 1994 - 2004 and produced by Warner Brothers studio. In China, Recently following the recent reunion of the cast of friends in 2021 which was hosted by HBO MAX, This sparked a growing interest and a comeback of Friends by many Audiences throughout the world including ones in the Chinese market. As a result of this, many Chinese streaming websites including YouKu who is owned by the Alibaba Group bought the right of streaming 'friends' for the Chinese market. But the content shown for Chinese audiences are different than ones shown from the original Tv series. With Lgbtq scenes being cut out, Sexual or inappropriate jokes removed with practically any other content that goes against what the Chinese Government wants to show. This strict level of media censorship is done to prevent audiences in learning ideas that is a treat or a danger from what the Government believes. This is supported by the Social learning theory that states, what the audiences see or hear in the media, they would follow it in their own lives.
Though, despite of their best efforts. Banned or removed content by the Government can still be seen and accessed by Chinese audiences through the use of the internet. The internet is a very large place that is impossible to completely control and manage.
'Media Regulation is failing everyone'. How far do you agree with this statement?
Answer
I think these days especially, Media regulation isn't really that successful. It either filters and completely eliminates content all together which limits creative freedom or fails in doing so completely allowing offensive and inappropriate content to be shown. Social Media platform on which Billions upon billions of users use every single day is a prime example of why and how media regulation is failing us all.
First and foremost, Its worth to note that through the US Law Section 230, Social media platforms are not responsible for the content that is being shown in their sites, unless it includes: copyright, prostitution or sex trafficking. This results in less pressure for the platforms as they're in most cases not legally responsible for any violent or harmful content put in their sites, Which may lead to regulators having a more relaxed job when dealing with those kinds of content.
As part of freedom of expression, Anyone and everyone that has an account within these social media platforms, like YouTube, Twitter or Instagram can upload anything they want and the platform cannot ban any of these contents before it is published . Often wise, the platform doesn't even manually check every single post as they are millions of post made each day. So they purely rely on user's reports on any violent content and only then take action. But by that time, There could already be thousands if not millions of users that had already seen these posts and by banning the post it might be counter intuitive as it attracts more attention on it. By the time the post had been deleted the damage had already been done.
A Good example of this is Alex Jones who is as Wikipedia labelled as a far right activist and conspiracy theorist. During his time of being active on YouTube Alex Jones had made multiple instances of inciting violence where He states the Government is controlling everyone. He had also made defamation statements that told the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre was a staged act by Government where the Parents are actors. This enraged the public who for the vast majority did not support what He said whatsoever. Though by the time, His videos and His account was terminated from YouTube, He had already went viral on numerous social media sites and despite of His videos being banned, With modern technology like the internet, Its not hard to find clips of what he says online. The damage He had done had costed him $1 Billion worth of damages to the families affected by the mass shooting. Media regulation had failed here because, Content that clearly states false information like this, Shouldn't be able to be seen by the audience as it promotes audiences to believe in things that isn't even true.
Analyze the ways in which contemporary media regulation reflects its period.
Answer
In the past the number of violent or harmful content in movies isn't that common. But now in the present day, Violent content is becoming more and more common along with the increase usage of the R rating for various movies and shows.
Back then in the 50s or 60s, Depictions of violence were uncommon on films. Only specific movies that usually talks about war or crime would show these types of content. But as years goes likely because of the Social learning and desensitization, Society is changing. We are becoming more and more used with the acts of violence typically shown in the media such as Killing , blood, fighting and etc. Now to the point that these acts are common and expected on the media.
This can be seen in the James Bond trilogy. Compared to the first addition 'Dr No' (1962) made by Eon Production, The second addition 'Quantum Solace' (2008) made also by Eon Production but distributed by Sony had twice the amount of violent content with more serious acts being shown in the second installment. In the most recent installment which is 'No time Die' (2018) It has a very high mortality rate with numerous scenes of violence that is shown.
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