September 26, 2018 | Angelina Reyes - UConn Communications

Op-ed: Regulating Free Speech on Social Media Is Dangerous

As the Senate Commerce Committee prepares to take testimony on consumer data privacy today, Niam Yaraghi of UConn discusses the subject of regulating social media.

As the Senate Commerce Committee prepares to take testimony on consumer data privacy today, Niam Yaraghi of UConn discusses the subject of regulating social media. ()

Today, as officials from Amazon, Google, Twitter, and Apple prepare to testify to the Senate Commerce Committee on consumer data privacy, Niam Yaraghi of UConn’s School of Business, shares his views on regulating free speech on social media.

“I think we should trust more in the consumer and their ability to understand the risks of using social media,” says Yaraghi, assistant professor of operations and information management, who writes about technology innovation for the Brookings Institution.

Yaraghi expands on his comments in an article for the Brookings Institution.

“The calls for regulating social media and technology companies are politically motivated,” he writes. “Social media companies are all private businesses with discretion over the content they wish to promote, and any effort by government to influence what social media platforms promote risks violating the First Amendment.” Read more.