When asked the question, should the government regulate social media, it brings into question all of the freedoms we have that are secured to us as American citizens. The First Amendment not only secures our free rights to speech, but also religious proclamations, the right to assemble, press, and petition the government. In today’s day and age, speech, religious freedom, and everything else is used and expressed through social media. 

Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and X (Twitter) allow us to share our feelings with others whether it is private or public. These platforms allow us to be in touch with things we love, like movies, sports, music and many more. It also allows us to stay in touch with the news of the world and stay up to date and vigilant in our government’s activities, as it was made to be.

If the government, whether at the local, state, or federal level, were to regulate the usage of social media, it would be detrimental to the freedoms we have been granted by the government.

Social media has without a doubt been problematic in more recent times. Many political identities have taken to the media to represent themselves and promote their cases as well as to demote others and their ideas. Regular citizens like you and I use it to express our interests to others like movies, music, sports, politics and other things we keep ourselves entertained with. Some use it for ways to detox from work or school, some use it as a distraction to an addiction and some use it for other purposes that can be very beneficial to us as humans, not just citizens of the U.S.

In the history of the U.S., this is not the first time a question has arisen in the face of the media. In 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) argued the case of New York Times v. United States. This case brought into question the publication of the then classified Pentagon Papers, which described the American government’s involvement in the Vietnam War along with strategies they would have used. President Nixon used executive authority over the New York Times, forcing them to stop publication. Eventually, SCOTUS ruled in favor of the New York Times that this was a violation of their freedom of the press rights in the First Amendment.

With that case and several others ruling in favor of the press and speech, putting regulations on the use of social media, no matter what the proposed use is, it would violate the citizens rights established in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

I sat down with the general manager (GM) of Waynesburg University Community Televsion (WCTV), Logan Lepiscopo, GM of Waynesburg University Sports Network (WUSN), Tyler Zeman, and Matthew Stultz, a professor here at Waynesburg University, asking them some questions related to the government, social media, and how the two correlate with each other.

When asked about their feelings about social media as a whole, the three unanimously agreed that “It is tough, when you look at organizations and the products they have released, you love the product, but not the organization. It is like a love-hate relationship you know.” Adding to this, Zeman said that “When social media is used properly, so much good can be produced by it.”

Continuing on, they were asked if they believe having the government regulate social media is a correct solution. If regulation by the government is not the answer, then what is? “I think that regulation by the government is unnecessary, but maybe more regulation within the companies, like making sure young age users are protected from seeing things on TikTok or YouTube they don’t need to be learning about yet,” said Lepiscopo. “Some guidance or parameters are important,” added Stultz. “To help things just not get out of control and just help people, those kind of things might need regulation,” and, “Lots of our feed are filled with mis and disinformation, so much of the regulation should be self imposed and not instated by the government,” said Stultz.

After discussions with these experienced and informative gentlemen, many people of different demographics and backgrounds have very similar views on governmental regulations on the media, as do I.

In the end, this is my own opinion. Being an individual of the younger generation who has grown up having social media available and it being a major part of my life, I have a very different perspective than someone else might. What are your thoughts on the government having regulations? Should all social media be regulated? Only some apps? Many questions must be answered to fully answer if social media should be relegated by the government.