Why media companies insist they're not media companies, why they're wrong, and why it matters

Journal Article (Journal Article)

A common position amongst social media platforms and online content aggregators is their resistance to being characterized as media companies. Rather, companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter have regularly insisted that they should be thought of purely as technology companies. This paper critiques the position that these platforms are technology companies rather than media companies, explores the underlying rationales, and considers the political, legal, and policy implications associated with accepting or rejecting this position. As this paper illustrates, this is no mere semantic distinction, given the history of the precise classification of communications technologies and services having profound ramifications for how these technologies and services are considered by policy-makers and the courts.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Napoli, PM; Caplan, R

Published Date

  • May 1, 2017

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 22 / 5

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1396-0466

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.5210/fm.v22i5.7051

Citation Source

  • Scopus