Killing the Messenger is a highly readable survey of the current political and legal wars over social media platforms. The book carefully parses attacks against social media coming from both the political left and right to demonstrate how most of these critiques are overblown or without empirical support. The work analyzes regulations directed at social media in the United States and European Union, including efforts to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. It argues that many of these proposals not only raise serious free-speech concerns, but also likely have unintended and perverse public policy consequences. Killing the Messenger concludes by identifying specific regulations of social media that are justified by serious, demonstrated harms, and that can be implemented without jeopardizing the profoundly democratizing impact social media platforms have had on public discourse. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘In response to widespread but unproven assumptions that social media is harming society, governments are regulating social media in a variety of ways. Prof. Bhagwat brings a clear-eyed sensibility to reviewing those efforts, repeatedly demonstrating how censorship ‘solutions’ are often worse than the problems regulators seek to redress.’ Eric Goldman, Professor, Santa Clara University School of Law and Co-Director, High Tech Law Institute
‘Killing the Messenger is a well-researched and lucidly-written book that challenges policy makers, judges, and legal scholars alike to measure (at least) twice before cutting once to avoid doing more harm than good when regulating social media platforms. Along the way, Professor Ash Bhagwat advocates for thoughtful, common-sense reforms that could successfully remedy some of the most pressing social problems commonly attributed to new media entities.’ Ronald J. Krotoszynski, Jr, John S. Stone Chair and Professor Law, University of Alabama
‘An important read. Bhagwat offers a much-needed antidote to the moral panic about social media that is everywhere these days. As he explains, we face real problems, but we need to look to ourselves and our institutions, not just social media, for the cause of those problems.’ Mark A. Lemley, William H. Neukom Professor, Stanford University
‘Thoughtful, fair-minded, and enlightening; highly recommended.’ Eugene Volokh, Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Book Description
Killing the Messenger explores and dissects the fierce criticism of social media platforms from across the political spectrum.
About the Author
Ashutosh Bhagwat is a Distinguished Professor and the Boochever and Bird Endowed Chair at the University of California, Davis School of Law. Professor Bhagwat is the author of Our Democratic First Amendment (2020) and The Myth of Rights (2010). He is also a member of the American Law Institute.
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