The Future of Social Media: Covering, Researching, and Regulating Platforms

April 13, 2022  ·   1:00 pm - 5:00 pm ET | 10:00 am - 2:00 pm PT

This half-day virtual symposium convened a range of journalists, researchers, and legal experts to examine how to cover, research, and regulate social media platforms in the wake of the Facebook Papers.

Social media platforms generate mountains of data — about what we like, what news we read, and who we talk to. This information, for the most part, is only available to the companies themselves, meaning journalists, researchers, policymakers, and the public lack a clear understanding of how social media impacts our society. The Facebook Papers changed that. The internal research not only revealed the potential harms caused by its platforms, but that Facebook knew about those harms and did little to stop them. Now, with an explosion of attention around this issue, we must ask — what’s next? 

This half-day virtual symposium convened a range of journalists, researchers, and legal experts to explore that question and examine how to cover, research, and regulate social media platforms in the wake of the Facebook Papers.

This event was co-sponsored by: NYU’s Center for Social Media & Politics, Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy at NYU School of Law, CUNY Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, NYU Arts & Science, and NYU Brademas Center.

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

  • Introduction

    1:00 - 1:15 pm

  • Panel 1: Covering Social Media Platforms

    1:15 - 2:15 pm

    Sponsored by CUNY Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism

    Late last year, the Wall Street Journal and other media outlets published explosive revelations from the Facebook Papers exposing harms caused by the social network. The tranche of internal documents, leaked by whistleblower Frances Haugen, led to congressional hearings and renewed calls for accountability and regulation. Looking ahead, what role should journalists continue to play in reporting the impact of social media – both positive and negative – on our society? How can media center perspectives of marginalized groups harmed most by the platforms, and point toward ways to build a better internet for public discourse? This panel, featuring a range of journalists and media experts, will explore these questions and more.

    Panelists

    • Paul Barrett - Deputy Director, NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights

    • Meredith D. Clark - Associate Professor, Northeastern University School of Journalism & the Department of Communications Studies

    • Jeff Jarvis - Director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism and Leonard Tow Professor of Journalism Innovation, CUNY Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism (moderator)

    • Mike Masnick - Founder/Writer/Editor, Techdirt

    • Jacquelyn Mason - Director of Programs, Media Democracy Fund

  • Break

    2:15 - 2:30 pm

  • Panel 2: Studying Social Media Platforms

    2:30 - 3:30 pm

    Sponsored by NYU’s Center for Social Media and Politics

    Over the past decade, scholars have gained important insights about how social media affects our society. But because the platforms tightly control their data, researchers still have a limited understanding of the true impact of these new technologies. Following the Facebook Papers, policymakers across the globe have moved to regulate social media companies and increase access to data. What could researchers learn if they get a look under the hood? This panel will explore the type of research possible with increased data access, what scholars should prioritize, and how to think about the future of social media research.

    Panelists

    • Pablo J. Boczkowski - Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor, Northwestern University’s Department of Communications Studies

    • Josephine Lukito - Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism and Media (in the Moody College of Communication)

    • David Rothschild - Economist, Microsoft Research

    • Rebekah Tromble - Director, Institute for Data, Democracy, and Politics at George Washington University

    • Joshua A. Tucker - Co-Director, NYU’s Center for Social Media and Politics (moderator)

  • Break

    3:30 - 3:45 pm

  • Panel 3: Regulating Social Media Platforms

    3:45 - 4:45 pm

    Sponsored by Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy at NYU School of Law

    Large social media platforms are increasingly challenged on their content moderation policies, with pressure mounting from regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to respond to a wide range of different societal problems. This panel will explore one such problem, COVID-19 misinformation, and the regulatory approaches taken by the EU and the U.S. in response, and more generally. We will discuss both current approaches as well as possible convergences in the future.

    Panelists

    • Alexandre de Streel - Professor of European Law, University of Namur; Hauser Global Fellow, NYU School of Law

    • Tomer Kenneth - JSD Candidate and Information Law Institute Fellow, NYU School of Law

    • Aniket Kesari - Research Fellow, NYU Information Law Institute 

    • Ira Rubinstein - Senior Fellow, NYU Information Law Institute

    • Stav Zeitouni - JSD Candidate, NYU School of Law (moderator)

  • Closing Remarks

    4:45 - 5:00 pm