Social media was supposed to connect people but instead it’s helped to divide us and now poses a real threat to democracy. The University of Notre Dame on Tuesday announced a conference later this month to brainstorm ways Congress could start regulating social media.
From May 27 through the 29th, Notre Dame’s Democracy Initiative will host members of the Council for Responsible Social Media, a Washington-based bipartisan group. Despite the power and influence that Big Tech enjoys, Notre Dame Professor of Democracy and conference organizer David Campbell says he thinks some regulation is possible.
"The issues facing us because of social media are not clearly partisan, they're not clearly red or blue," Campbell says. "Often when there's a bipartisan admission of a problem it makes it much easier to identify potential solutions."
Campbell thinks both parties can find common ground in protecting children but he admits it could be tougher to address political disagreements among adults.
"One person's fact is another person's misinformation," he says, "but I'm hopeful that there actually can be some fruitful ways to think about, if not the outright regulation, at least the recognition on the part of social media companies that they have a responsibility to ensure that the information that circulates on their platform is true and accurate."