Social Media and Press Freedom

Media Freedom in Dictatorships∗

Every dictator dislikes free media. Yet, many non-democratic countries have partially free or almost free media. In this paper, we develop a theory of media freedom in dictatorships and provide systematic statistical evidence in support of this theory. In our model, free media allow a dictator to provide incentives to bureaucrats and therefore to improve the quality of government. The importanc...

Freedom of speech and freedom of the press in medical and pharmacy practice.

Distorted Democracy and Freedom of the Press under Capitalism

This study examines the issue of standards of freedom of the press in democracy. Freedom of the press should benefit citizens in democratic societies, yet historically, the press has mainly served dominant group interests that are based on capital and power. The problem of serving special interests and collusion exists globally. It examines how well the principle of press freedom operates in de...

Social Power and Negative Freedom

When agent A exercises power over agent B, what is the effect on B’s freedom? Is B less free as a result? Does A remove any specific freedoms of B? Most of us feel intuitively that there are many kinds of social power, and that while some of these may affect B’s freedom to a great extent, others may affect it less, and others still may leave B’s freedom completely intact. It would seem to be im...

Internet freedom and social media effects: democracy and citizen attitudes in Latin America

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to theorize the heightened exposure to information via the internet can lead citizens to be more critical about political conditions in their countries because using social media increases the likelihood of being exposed to dissident information. Further, the authors argue that the degree to which information is restricted, or internet access is limited, a...