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During recent years, the regulation of social media companies has become a pressing public policy concern. Although various legal arrangements now exist in countries around the globe, the United States has yet to adopt a comprehensive package of reforms for combating problems within this domain. Focusing on the American context, this dissertation examines the emergence of social media (platforms) as a critical social issue in the country and explains why federal policymaking has faltered to date. Part I of this dissertation consists of a sequence of three chapters describing the development and diffusion of social media as a technology whose origins trace back to the mid-20th century and the arrival of the computing age. Ultimately, these chapters “denaturalize” the growth of the internet and, eventually, the appearance of social media platforms as advancements shaped by the interplay of powerful political-economic interests and cultural forces.
Building upon this historical work, Part II of this dissertation presents three chapters examining the trajectory of the social media industry and government's response to concerns associated with the sector's expansion between 2000-2024. Using approaches from the public policy and media studies literatures, these chapters analyze:
1. The historical-institutional context of the social media policy domain before 2016;
2. The political agenda-setting process for social media’s emergence as a public controversy during and after the 2016 election; and
3. The shifting politics/policies of social media reform through 2024.
The findings of this thesis yield insights, both theoretical and applied, for internet policy research and the regulation of social media platforms.
