Rough English Translation. Original in Spanish.
By José Cáceres
SANTO DOMINGO.- Joan Barata, an international expert on freedom of expression and social media, and a world-renowned university professor, proclaimed that today’s world is fraught with “major challenges” regarding the management of freedom of expression and social media. He asserted that many believe that social media is the source of society’s problems, but he believes the opposite is true: social media makes social problems visible.
He made his statements during an interview with journalist Héctor Herrera Cabral on the program “De Entero Crédito,” which airs on RNN, Channel 27, Monday through Friday at eight o’clock at night.
He stated that there is a tendency for societies around the world today to believe they have problems because social media generates them. However, he believes it should be the other way around; social media reflects the problems societies face.
“We’re trying to fix societies by fixing social media. We have to set certain limits. We can’t deny that there are educational shortcomings, a lack of political maturity, political imbalances, and a general lack of journalistic ethics,” he added.
He stated that there are already many regulations for the media, especially regarding hate speech, although he does not rule out the possibility of other regulations being created to tell platforms to be more transparent.
He noted that all freedoms in the world have their limits, and the technological age cannot be exempt. There are duties and rights, as all conventions on the subject indicate.
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Joan Barata is a Senior Legal Fellow for The Future of Free Speech. He works on freedom of expression, media regulation, and intermediary liability issues.