Modern liberal democracies do not typically regulate speech via censorship
directed by the state, as in authoritarian regimes, that is, by having a
government ofﬁcial approve or alter the content carried by a media channel.
Rather, the mechanisms tend to be indirect and include controlling access to
media channels through licensing; managing sources of revenue to support
private media; setting broad guidance as to what type of content is deemed
acceptable or not; promoting certain content through public broadcasting and
other mechanisms; and establishing more or less permissive regimes for private
citizens, including politicians and other public ﬁgures, to press defamation and
invasion of privacy claims. In addition, states have sought to encourage self-
regulation by content providers. These are the same techniques that have been
carried forward into the Internet Age. An alternative approach to media
regulation is antitrust. The logic here is that, in the marketplace of ideas, fair
Social_Media_and_Democracy