After having read all the information as well as complications with the media laws, I am slightly overwhelmed. I do not make personal content such as videos, photos or blogs so these things have never crossed my mind. Although, this lecture really made me want to become more familiar with the laws that affect media; I feel a majority of us mindlessly use the internet without thinking about what we post on platforms or without even reading the terms of service, which is rather concerning.
I am still guilty of not reading the terms of service and I am aware that there are some sites where it might be more urgent to read them than others. Some for example, being Hit Record and Pinterest. I tend to use Pinterest a lot, but I do not post my own content, I just re-pin a ton. Every once in a while I will get an email from them saying something along the lines of, “Sorry we had to delete one of your pins due to copyright laws”.
I never really care for when this happens because I pin various content, but this lecture made me wonder about what is really going on there and why it has happened so much. I decided to search up some more information on how Pinterest really works when it comes to copyright. I found this interesting article touching on just that, and I think the title speaks for itself, “Is Pinterest a Copyright Infringement Masterpiece?“. I find the way it works very confusing because I see multiples of the same photos and content on there, making it incredibly hard to know if you are pinning from the actual owner of the pin.
On top of my concern and confusion over copyright laws, another issue I have become more aware of is defamation. It is confounding to think how easily people can be persecuted when speaking their mind publicly. This is most concerning when it comes to journalist who might write a negative headline about someone. The story might be extremely important, but will not matter because the person that was being talked about is powerful and has the money to shut them down. It makes no sense when we have the right to speak our mind.
Although, I do appreciate these laws being a positive thing when it comes to people writing false information about someone that makes them look bad. It would be horrible if people had no right to shut trollers down just because they have the right to say whatever they want. I found this article by NPR insightful because it explains the measures people can take to fight against people who are writing negative, fake stories about them.
When the lecture video mentioned free speech and how our laws can differ from the laws in other countries it made me feel extremely grateful. I recently watched the documentary, American Factory. There was a part where a Chinese man was telling the new coworkers (also Chinese) that things were going to be very different when working in the U.S. and that they were free to say whatever they wanted. He mentioned that they could even talk bad about their president if they wanted and they would not be persecuted for it. It just made me realize how grateful I am to know that we can express the way we feel even if it is about a person in a powerful position.
As for how I use the media, I am not sure if there is much I would change about the way I use it. I rarely post or create content; I tend to just read or scroll through platforms. Something I do want to improve on is taking the time to understand my rights as a media user and sharer and overall, just learning about my privacy online and how to efficiently use the internet and media in a safe and efficient way.
