Facebook, Google, Instagram and other social media giants are based in the United States, where they have faced relatively little government oversight. But their appeal extends worldwide, affecting a wide range of audiences in a variety of ways.
A Northeastern survey of four different democracies found that people in other countries differ from Americans in their views on how social media companies should be regulated, with respondents in the UK, South Korea and Mexico favoring stricter moderation of content by people in the US—especially where it causes harm or distress.
Governments around the world have debated regulations to curb the misinformation and hate speech that has spread on social media. The study, led by Northeastern journalism faculty members John Wihbey and Myojung Chungcompared public opinion in the four nations on issues of online censorship, free speech and social media regulation.
John Wihbey (left), associate professor of journalism and media innovation. and Myojung Chung, assistant professor of journalism and media advocacy. Photo by Matthew Modoono, Northeastern University and Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
The study affirms the importance of developing a coherent global policy—that adapts content to meet the demands and expectations of a variety of countries and cultures.
“These global technology companies have developed products and services in ways that have outstripped their ability to supply them properly,” says Wihbey, an associate professor who directs Northeastern's graduate programs in journalism and media innovation.
Wihbey notes that many of the social media platforms—including Meta (Facebook's new parent company), Apple, Google, Reddit, and Twitter—have supported the Santa Clara Principlesa 2018 creation by human rights organizations, advocates and academic experts that urged online companies to “take into account the diversity of cultures and contexts in which their platforms and services are available and used”.
Facebook was originally designed for an American audience. While Facebook has improved its efforts in some countries, Wihbey says, in many others the company has yet to develop proficiency for local culture or language — thus hindering moderators' ability to spot harmful content based on local standards.
“There are still entire cultures where they don't have language expertise,” Wihbey says of Facebook. “Classifiers and their algorithms are not trained to recognize things.”
Each democratic country implements its values in different ways, according to the study. In South Korea, 84% of respondents said the government should do more to ban disinformation. Less than 62% of people in the US agreed.
“South Korea is a collectivist country,” says Chung, an assistant professor of journalism and media advocacy. She notes that people in her home country of South Korea tend to be particularly supportive of free speech, while also believing in social media moderation when content causes harm.
“When you look at these differences, you have to consider not only the political system but also the culture,” says Chung.
All four democracies suffer from political divisions fueled by social media misinformation. Although the U.S is far behind the European Union over the regulation of Facebook and other tech giants, the need for social media governance has emerged as a rare issue of agreement for both Republicans and Democrats.
But Americans are still internationally extreme when it comes to reining in social media. A minority of people in the US (42%) agreed that governments should temporarily block entire social networking apps or websites that persistently fail to remove misinformation—compared to majorities in Mexico (71%), South Korea (61%) ) and the United Kingdom ( 59%).
“For me, the most surprising finding was the difference between the US and the other three countries,” says Chung. “I expected the difference to be subtle and not so clear.”
The study, a joint work between College of Arts, Media and Design and Institute of Ethicsalso co-authored by Northeastern graduate students Garrett Morrow, Yushu Tian, Lauren Vitacco, Daniela Rincon Reyes, and Melissa Clavijo.
The Northeastern team plans to explore the data to help explain Why Approaches to social media vary around the world.
“Even in countries with relatively similar political structures, there are different needs and cultural values,” says Wihbey. “Companies need to think carefully about the proper use of resources if they are going to do global business.”
For media inquiriescontact Marirose Sartoretto at m.sartoretto@northeastern.edu or 617-373-5718.
