Kindly read this discussion post and respond based on that. Write your reply below this discussion post .

I interpreted the main argument of this article to be that various technological advances in America have all claimed that they would further unite us, and that each technology has fallen short of that goal, with the internet having fallen short perhaps most of them all. Lepore cites increasing deregulation, first through the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine and then through the Telecommunications Act of 1996, as the chief reasons why communications, and particularly the internet, are no longer required to serve the public interest and are, as a result, now more easily abused by those wishing to elevate heavily partisan platforms and misinformation. I think the author's argument is very interesting, and being presented with the history of the regulation of our advances in communication and what those regulations sought to achieve has made me reconsider my previously held thoughts about the necessity for internet regulation. It is fortunate that many of these historical regulations were indeed in the interest of the public, and it also seems we might do well to restore or build upon some of those regulations once again. However, opening the door to this sort of regulation upon the internet also brings the possibility that future regulations might not be in such good faith, and that is very worrying for me to consider. I've long thought that existing laws concerning many facets of the internet could use some updating, but I'm also concerned that our current lawmakers often seem not to understand enough about the internet to be the ones creating this legislation. For example, while watching hearings about matters concerning the internet, such as Congressional questioning of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about his company's cooperation with Cambridge Analytica, I couldn't help but feel that an alarming number of Congressmen did not seem to know what they ought to be asking, or, worse still, at times did not appear to understand their own questions. Lepore raises many good points about the necessity for reinstating historical regulations and the creation of regulations tailored to the modern day internet, but it seems we must also ask who would be fit to be writing and enacting these regulations such that they remain in the public's interest.