Exam 4 Study Guide: First Amendment and Media Law

5 Freedoms granted by First Amendment

religion, speech, press, assembly, petition.

Political Speech

Most protected speech, challenges government authority.

Chilling Effect

Discouragement of speech due to fear of punishment.

Commercial Speech

Commercial speech is considered “hardier” because it is typically less likely to be suppressed by regulation. Commercial entities genuinely have greater resources and incentives to continue advertising.

Sexual Expression

Less protection due to obscenity concerns.

Speech not protected by First Amendment

Includes stress, libel, fraud, indecency, and fighting words.

Why do broadcasters receive less First Amendment protection than cable or internet?

Broadcasted content is more accessible to broader audiences including children, which includes. Cable requires users to have active access, not easily accessible to children.

Misinformation

False information spread without intent to deceive.

Disinformation

Deliberately misleading information intended to deceive.

Facebook's Role in mis and dis information

Plays a significant role in amplifying and distributing and not producing. The marketplace of ideas allows everyone to speak freely and should allow ideas to rise to the top.

Media Policy

a public framework for structuring and regulating media, so they contribute to the public good

Law

binding rules passed by legislatures, enforced by the executive power, and applied or adjudicated by the courts

Regulation

rules created by an appointed agency to implement the relevant legislation (ex: The Fairness Doctrine)

Self-Regulation

the industry's own codes of conduct by which they monitor their own performance

Regulatory Capture

Regulators influenced by the industries they oversee.

Libel

Harmful, false written criticism intending to damage.

Indecent Speech

Graphic language related to sexual or excretory functions.

Obscenity

Material appealing to prurient interest, always illegal.

Censorship

the formal restriction of media or speech content by government, political, or religious authorities

Citizens United (2010)

Allowed corporations to buy political advertising on behalf of candidates after 5-4 Supreme Court ruling

Intellectual Property

a creative work of art, writing, film, or software that belongs to a legally protected owner

Copyright

the legal right to control intellectual property. With it, comes the legal privilege to use, sell, or license creative work

Fair Use

permits users limited copying of copyrighted works for academic, artistic, or personal use

Privacy Definition

Right to avoid unwanted intrusions or disclosures.

Electronic Communications Privacy Act

Extended wiretap protections to email communications.

PATRIOT Act

Expanded government surveillance powers post-9/11.

FREEDOM Act

Curbed some powers of the PATRIOT Act, involved national security agency and PRISM who was reading all of our emails

Right to be Forgotten

Individuals can request removal of personal information.

GDPR

General Data Protection Regulation

Net Neutrality

refers to the basic principle that ISPs should not unreasonably discriminate against legal internet traffic and online communication, regardless of its source of destination

Title I vs Title II

Title I:

Web Publishers (Amazon, Google, New York Times)

Weak or no FCC oversight

Title II:

Common carrier

Landline phone services

Strong FCC oversight

Paid Prioritization

when websites (like Netflix) pay an ISP (like Comcast) for faster or priority service

2015 Net Neutrality Rules

Prohibited blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization.

2018 Restoring Internet Freedom Order

Rescinded 2015 net neutrality protections because legislators in 30 states introduced over 72 bills regarding net neutrality

Ethics

Standards of good conduct in society.

Morals

Line between right and wrong behaviors and decisions

Hutchins Commission

Guidelines for responsible press freedom.

Five guidelines for the press:

1) Present meaningful news, accurate and separate from opinion

2) Serve as a forum for the exchange of comment and criticism, and expand access to diverse points of view

3) Project a representative picture of the constituent groups ins society by avoiding stereotypes and by including diverse voices

4) Clarify the goals and values of the society

5) Give broad coverage of what was known about society

Ethical Issues in Media

Concerns about deception, stereotypes, and privacy.

AI Definition

The ability of a computer or computer controlled robot to perform tasks that are commonly associated with the intellectual processes characteristic of humans, such as the ability to reason.

Open AI

Founded in 2015

Developer of ChatGPT (chatbox)

DALL-E (image generator)

2023 partnership with Microsoft - embedded into Bing search engine

Valued at $86 billion

AI Examples

Chatbots

Social media

Robotics

Virtual assistants

Maps

Facial recognition

Autocorrect

Search and recommendations

E-payments

This powerpoint!

Packback

Ethical Issues with AI

Concerns about control and impact on humanity.

The difference between government and speech and private companies and speech

First amendment only protects you from governments and doesn't apply to private companies or individuals, if you say something controversial you cannot be punished in public

Legislation

laws passed by an elected body (Congress, state, government, municipal county) (ex: The 1996 Telecommunications Act)

A bundle of rights

Right to make copies

Authorize others to make copies

Create derivative works

Sell work

Perform the work publicly

Petition a court for relief in case others infringe on any of these rights

Infringement

Occurs when a copyrighted work is directly copied without permission

NSA's PRISM Program

Secret program that collected data. Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee, exposed PRISM

What discrimination means in the context of net neutrality:

Slowing down (throttling)

Speeding up

Blocking a website

Paid prioritization - when websites (like Netflix) pay an ISP (like Comcast) for faster or priority service

Arguments against Net Neutrality:

Slows down innovation by not allowing network management

Return of investment on infrastructure and networks

Stymies the ability to perform network management

User welfare/experience will improve

Bandwidth concerns

The internet is already tiered

Too much government involvement/oversight

the golden mean

moderation and balance

the golden rule

do no harm to subjects

the veil of ignorance

treating all equally

categorical imperative

act in a way that is responsible for society

principle of utility

greatest happiness for the greatest number

pragmatics

actions are judged by their results

situations ethics

morals are relative

ethics in communications: trust

Trust - deception, plagiarism, misleading, incorrect or harmful content destroys credibility

Capture theory

Explains that regulators are unduly
influenced by the industry they regulate