Regulation is when a government body or local authority acts in the interest of the people, to prevent private interests from causing harm to the public, the environment, to the economy, or to other corporations. 

In this article, we first explore older examples of regulation, and then examples of newer challenges that regulation is not keeping up with, specifically around social media and privacy. We finish with some suggestions for how to increase the speed that regulation can move to protect the greater good.

Throughout history, there are many examples of rules, standards and measures designed to ensure that fair practices are followed in private transactions. In ancient times, a government might create a market stall, and then require the stall’s owner to sell everything at the same price and to maintain a certain standard of cleanliness, in order to protect customers from being ripped off.

For example, in the late 18th century, a group of British merchants in Calcutta formed a trading company called the East India Company. They were given a monopoly over British trade in India, which they used to exploit the local population, becoming one of the most powerful and wealthy organisations in the world. The East India Company was broken up by the British government in 1858.

In the 19th century, huge fires in cities caused the unnecessary loss of life, and prompted authorities to regulate the height of buildings, the mandatory inclusion of fire safety devices such as fire escapes and fire extinguishers, as well as a more fundamental focus on constructing buildings properly, with a focus on safety, instead of profit, requiring all builders to keep and maintain a building license. These regulations continue today in developed countries.

Another classic example is the regulation of food and drugs. The first Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was enacted in response to public outcry over the poor quality of many products being sold. It was also a response to the public’s perception of how these products were being marketed, including false claims of health benefits. This legislation was followed by a series of other regulations, such as the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906, the Public Health Service Act in 1912, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938, the Federal Trade Commission Act in 1914, and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act in 1966. 

The newer examples of regulation are those that were created to address technological advances and their impact on the public. For example, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was created in 1998 to address the impact of the Internet on copyright laws. Other examples of newer legislation that were created to address new technology include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. 

The key to effective regulation is the speed with which the regulating body can move. The public needs to trust that the regulating body will address issues as soon as they arise. In today’s society, however, it seems that the speed of regulation is not keeping up with the speed at which technology is evolving. This seems to be especially true when it comes to social media.

Large social media companies are seen to have a lot of control over the data that citizens share with them. According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India, India has about 340 million Internet user accounts, and more than 300 million smartphone users. This means that the data being stored on servers is in the hands of a very small number of corporations. 

The recent Cambridge Analytica scandal has shed light on the fact that private companies are taking advantage of the data that they have collected on users, and then using this data for their financial gain. The issue was, however, that the users themselves were unaware of how their data was being used, and that they were not given the option to opt out of having their data collected in the first place.

This is just the latest in a string of scandals involving social media. In 2016, Facebook was seen to have been manipulated by Russian agents to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In 2017, Facebook’s own data revealed that fake news was more widely shared on the social media platform than real news. 

Google has come under fire for its collection of data from users of its free navigation app Waze. Users of Waze share their location with the app, and use this information to improve the app and their driving experience, but Google also uses the data to collect valuable information about the habits of its users, which it can then use to improve the data that it sells to its advertisers. 

In response to these scandals, Germany has passed a new law requiring social media companies to remove hate speech within 24 hours of it being posted, and to remove fake news within seven days. The French government is also considering a similar law. 

There are many other issues that are currently being addressed by new regulation.

To decrease the time it takes for new regulations and laws to be passed, one possible solution is to amend the current laws that are already in place, which already have the power to regulate how corporations deal with the data that they collect from users, and appoint a committee with a set of guiding principles, alongside the power to make binding rulings. Of course, selecting individuals to serve on such a committee is a difficult problem, as the trust required to act only in the interest of the public is rare. 

The key here is to ensure that the corporations are still able to make a profit, but that this is done in a way that is ethical, transparent, and that respects the rights of users.

Another possible solution is for new regulations to be written on a monthly basis, and then for these regulations to be passed into law as soon as possible, to be immediately enforceable. This will help to ensure that regulations are not being unduly delayed, to the point that companies are less willing to push the envelope in the first place.

The issue with this solution is that it is very difficult to write regulations that are designed to be effective in the short-term, and then expect them to be enforceable in the long-term. In some cases, it may be more effective to rewrite the regulations every few years, and to enforce them for a set period of time.

The general public also needs to have a way to hold the regulating body to account, and to ensure that they can effectively influence the drafting of new regulations.

The general public also needs to have an understanding of the basics of how social media is influencing their lives, and to work to ensure that they are not being manipulated.

But most of all, the general public needs to trust that the regulators are there to protect them.