Nava - Media Law & Literacy - Blog

    Net neutrality is a set of rules that were first approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and put into effect in 2015 during the Obama administration which the main purpose is to keep the internet open and fair and prevent speed traps in it. The central principle of net neutrality is that internet service providers should treat equally all data on the internet without charging in a different way depending on the user, content, website, platform, application, type of equipment or method of communication. However, net neutrality rules were officially repealed in June 2018, signifying that the FCC eliminated the rules intended to prohibit internet providers from blocking or slowing down access to online content, as well as the rules for preventing them from prioritizing their own content. Most people in the United States really opposed this reversed decision that was prompted and encouraged by Republicans in Congress, the Trump administration, and leading broadband prov

     The emergence of social media, a technology that has captured millions of users around the world in just a few years, has revolutionized society. Social media has contributed to shape politics, world culture, personal relationships, education, business, and many other matters that impact our everyday life, as social media has become a powerful communication tool with an extensive forum where individuals, diverse groups, media outlets, and public figures let their ideas and information flow in a casual and spontaneous environment without cultural barriers. Currently, about 72% of people in the Untied States use some type of social media, and this trend has grown even among older adults.     Besides interacting and staying in touch with others and nurturing relationships, most social media users are there to freely express themselves, even if certain views are not popular, and this brings visibility and increased awareness of other issues in the marketplace of ideas. In order to cre

     In the late 19th century at the time when motion pictures first appeared, nobody imagined that motion pictures would become a mass entertainment media worth of billions of dollars. Nobody anticipated the power of motion pictures to reflect not only our culture, but also the capability to influence our society and transform it. Nobody foresaw how this innovation would develop as an instrument of artistic expression for cinematography, acting, screenwriting, directing, design, and music, and then as a new form of art that would trigger people's emotions, and would take people through imaginary journeys across the world and time, and fictitious spaces. In fact, the potential of motion pictures as the industry it is today developed and evolved with the talent of people and incorporating new technologies to achieve a final product with new or improved features and superior quality, new ways to create effects and show feature films capable of attracting larger and diverse audiences.

Introduction     In over one century, motion pictures have transformed the world, developing into the most popular and influential media of the 20th century and beyond, with great impact on cultures, societies, politics, and arts, as motion pictures achieve widespread presence to be viewed not only at movie theatres, but also on television broadcast, streaming services, and digital technology that constantly reach millions of people day after day.     Motion pictures, also called films or movies, became a form of art. Motion pictures emerged at the end of the 19th century and were quickly recognized as perhaps the first truly mass form of entertainment. Movies connect people with appealing stories about shared interests, dreams, or concerns, allowing people to perceive the world and understand others through a combination of art, talent, industry, and technology. The Beginning of Motion Pictures Muybridge & Marey     In the 19th century, motion pictures resulted from experimenting

The voices rarely heard in mainstream news, the thoughts hardly found in the internet search engines or in social media newsfeed, and all types of expressions promoting views that can be perceived as radical, unpatriotic, or overcritical are destined to become the stifled opinions of dissent. These are small factions that defend unpopular principles and viewpoints against the ones of prominent organizations that have extensive power in the government system holding a widespread influence on society. Examples of such voices can be the webpages or social media portals of libertarians, socialists, or American conservatives, or those from anti-war movements particularly in times of war. The question is if the First Amendment protects them. The First Amendment protecting the freedom of expression has been tested in numerous occasions. In times of war or internal social turmoil, people who dare to express ideas that challenge the government have faced repression, censorship, and severe jail

Back in 2013, the Black Lives Matter movement began to slowly emerge in the Black community as a hashtag on Twitter to bring attention and promote online discussion on racial profiling and police brutality against Black Americans. Police brutality comes in part from the misconception that a police officer's authority allows brutal conducts without being held accountable for such actions, a belief reinforced by mild disciplinary actions such as being suspended, or even exonerations as in several high-profile cases such as Michael Brown's in Ferguson, Missouri. These notorious cases of Black people being killed by police force propelled #BlackLivesMatter from social media to its development into a broader offline social movement, when the hashtag began to be used to organize protests. After George Floyd, a Black person who did not resist arrest, died under the callous choke restraint of a police officer, Black Lives Matter has been at the center of the most widespread and persist