Ethical Thoughts of the Regulation of False Information in Social Media: Based on Legitimacy and Social Justice

Abstract

It is now common for social media to regulate rumors. They claim that the purpose of this action is to safeguard social interests. However, some cases have proved that the regulation of rumor has exceeded the necessary limit, but also showed the partiality of the regulation object and the irrationality of the “rumor” standard. Although freedom of speech has boundaries, the regulation of social media is much stricter than it, which hurts social media to play its role as a public sphere. We can’t ask individuals to take too much responsibility for rumor spreading. At the same time, we can’t easily take harsh regulatory measures such as deplatforming and even legal sanctions against individuals, because this will lead to the lack of legitimacy of the regulatory behavior of social media and the aftereffect of injustice.