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Upon reading Chapter 9 of our textbook titled, “Internet Law, Policy, and Governance", I took an interest in copyright, and presented on the topic in week 6.

Throughout my preparation for my presentation topic which took place on Thursday, August 7, I kept in mind the two basic principles of copyright from the textbook when reading about copyright infringement in news articles. According to Flew and Smith (2011), copyright considers that the individual has a "moral right to ownership" and an economic right to profit and benefit from using these works (pg.204). Moreover, I was introduced to the term, "public domain", which refers to works not covered by copyright that are free to use without permission, and I found that it's necessary that there exists a public domain because popular works such as "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, or "Snow White", by Brothers Grimm, are popular and loved today because their original work was legally allowed to be recreated through other people's creativity.

The public domain shows that copyright is not to restrictive, but that it is balanced and there to protect the original creator.

Copyright is important in ensuring original works of creators are not used in an abusive way that other people can profit off of it.

In digital new media, copyright is often seen protecting the works of more prominent popular creators than creators just starting out in the digital world. Digital new media applications today, such as Youtube, TikTok, and Instagram, not only give users the chance to be creative and share their work, but to also build off other artists' creations which sets cultural trends in modern society. These trends dominate present conversations, discussions, and hobbies. For example, in 2019, the TikTok dance trends were often what my classmates and I were busy engaging in through out our high school lunch breaks. The most popular dance at the time was "Renegade", and was attributed to Charli D'Amelio even though she was not the choreographer. Dance choreography is an expression of the creator's inner world, and applications such as TikTok initially did not spotlight or give importance to the value of the original creator's contributions. This example raises questions regarding copyright law and the extent to which copyright law may be too restrictive and controlling in people's freedoms when it comes to the usage of an original work of a creator. While no legal action was made as per the decision of the original dance creator, Jalaiah Harmon, this topic did raise some concerns on how many small creators may not have had their works protected by copyright, and have had bigger celebrities and influencers benefit off of their creations.

A recent problematic example of copyright infringement is how certain AI photo-generating software have been copyrighting Disney and Universal Studio Animations (Duffy, 2025). While Disney has recently sued AI and is taking the copyright case to work, it is concerning that some small artists just starting out in the media industry do not have the legal means or the same copyright protections even though they fall under the "eligibility criteria".

This topic, among others explored in the past weeks, have shown how new policies need to be implemented in a constantly changing digital media landscape. In the preceding weeks, we discussed how AI can be discriminatory and how it has lead to slander and libel cases due to unjustly identifying innocent strangers as criminals. New policies need to be made to ensure original artists are getting recognition for their original works, and that there is a balance between popular and new artists in receiving copyright protection.

Duffy, C. (2025, June 11). Disney and Universal team up to sue AI photo generator Midjourney, claiming copyright infringement. CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/11/tech/disney-universal-midjourney-ai-copyright-lawsuit

Flew, T., & Smith, R. (2011). New media: An introduction (2nd Canadian ed.). Oxford University Press.

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Upon watching Shalini Kantaya's documentary, Coded Bias, which revolves around MIT researcher Joy Buolamwini's's findings in relation to facial recognition algorithms, I found myself reflecting on the lack of ethical protocol surrounding artificial technology.

I found that the documentary framed the use of artificial intelligence in facial recognition for the purpose of surveillance in streets as controlling and extreme. People interviewed in the streets claimed this was attacking their right to freedom, and one man in England was fined for covering his face when he walked past a surveillance camera. When this man was interviewed he said, "this is England, this is not a communist state". While I agree with the perspective that this response to him choosing not to be shown was controlling, the documentary did not mention how facial recognition has allowed police officers to find so many criminals on the loose and arrest them to keep the public safe. The use of facial technology in surveillance cameras in public are used for the public good and their safety.

However, it was surprising to learn how many people have been falsely labeled as criminals through this facial technology, as one woman voiced her biggest concern that these facial recognition algorithms are very inaccurate. Another woman voiced her concern that the lack of regulation in regards to these technologies can lead to a more corrupt system of "mass surveillance", which I find would be too controlling that it would spark controversy and chaos in response.

The documentary mentioned multiple accounts of artificial technology applying discriminatory and racist practices that have been used by workplaces looking to hire people. For example, Apple has been accused of sexist algorithms when determining if you're credit worthy through their new digital card, "Apple co-founder tweeted he got 10 times the credit limit his wife received". It was appalling to learn that this extends to racism as well.

I found myself connecting one of the main issues in the documentary with Karen Hao's article on artificial intelligence, "We read the paper that forced Timnit Gebru out of Google. Here's what it says." The article mentions one of the concerns of large language models, "Large language models are also trained on exponentially increasing amounts of text. This means researchers have sought to collect all the data they can from the internet, so there's a risk that racist, sexist, and otherwise abusive language ends up in the training data" (Hao, 2020). The documentary mentioned how AI was founded on western-democratic ideals, and by depending on this for surveillance systems, many issues arise such as the previously mentioned of wrongly accusing people through facial technology that it extends to libel cases and upset and wrongfully treated citizens. Technology initiatives such as "trust-worthy" face scores is unethical. AI surveillance is not morally wrong, but the lack of protocol and ethical practices when using these technologies is concerning. Without policies being developed to produce a more regulated usage of AI facial recognition, these biases and discriminatory practices can produce more issues that harm civilians.

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Week 4: Social Networks and Participatory Culture 

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Week 4: Social Networks and Participatory Culture 

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In week 4, we talked about creativity and two different definitions of it that have shifted it from an exclusive noun to a more inclusive one. An elitist definition of creativity would frame creative people as "special' in that they are superior and above "regular" people. However, creativity today is more inclusive to be defined as a term ascribed to individuals who decide to share their inner world to the outer world. More importantly, creativity depends on an effective way to share one's inner artistic imagination, thoughts, feelings, and aspirations, in that there is an effective mode of transmission of this creativity to the audience where they know what the creator is trying to say. I find that the second more inclusive definition to make the most sense and is applicable in forms of the creativity we see today through the media. I also agree that creativity occurs and is responsive to when an individual decides to execute their inner world to the public, and this is evident in today's diverse usages of Instagram reels. Through this application, we can share videos of pets, song-writing, our athletic skills, our hobbies such as painting or dancing, and funny pranks on family members. All these different categories rely on creativity.

The type of creativity that responds to an individualistic approach to one's personalized usage of new media applications such as TikTok or Instagram, is referred to as participatory culture that arises out of social media presence.

Flew and Smith (2011), have defined "social capital" as "the features of social life-networks. norms, and trust- that enable participants to act together more effectively to pursue shared interests" (pg. 115). Social capital is a direct response to creativity in a political, economic, and social sense. When users choose to engage in political movements through social media in creative ways, social capital in this case would be the boycotting of brands and political movements such as protests outside homes of leaders. The hashtags feature seen on social media, that has been used in movements such as #BlackLivesMatter, have influenced societal actions and behaviors, and has motivated people to take actions that push for change for the cause they are advocating for in their movement. In this way, creativity demonstrated in social media frames how influential social capital can be in our everyday lives and the conversations, actions, and behaviors we engage in.

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Mobile phones, in their origins, were exciting as they were versatile in their function and purpose. They were not just a source of entertainment and connection for its users, but they were also business promoters that invited people to be creative with the apps they develop produce, "Gradually, however, the benefits of a mobile two-way communication method expanded from the early niche communities to the business sector" (Flew & Smith, 2011, pg.73). This meant that mobile phones were now an important resource in businesses that provided the communication methods we see today, such as email, video editing and recording, and app development.

This week's lecture included an interesting discussion on the early apps that arose during Apple's prime, such as apps that make fart noises and other basic apps that we see today, such as fitness and weather apps. The Apps that were around in the early 2000's are significantly different from the apps present today. For example, as a child, I remember a Gangnam Style Dance App in which it had the option to insert a photo of yourself or your relative, and it would place this picture in a suit costume, and by tapping on the character, they would do different dance moves to the song. I found this app very funny and silly as a child, so it was interesting to hear about the existence of a fart app as well. Such apps are different from today's apps, which are more addicting and offer more content. While early apps were fun, I do not recall being addicted or longing to use the Gangnam Style App. These apps did give us something to laugh about, but it was usually very brief. Today, apps like TikTok and Instagram provide us with so many videos that can keep the user scrolling for hours.

Apps are what made the American company Apple stand out, "Apple benefitted immensely from hype
around app technology, with developers
innovating for free" (Mulvey, 2025)". The fact that Apple had a touch screen made it a far more user-friendly and ideal app for workers, parents, and children. I recall being so bored from my grandma's Nokia phone as a child, which had useless games that could only be played with the keyboard. The touch screen Apple introduced was remarkable in that it changed how we perceive cell phones forever. Mobile phones today are not just a source of connecting to other people, but they are versatile devices that can be used to send email, carry out FaceTime calls, and play video games.

In class, we discussed how these apps appealed to tech-savvy people, as it gave them the chance to contribute their skills and ideas globally. The fact that Apple introduced the "App Store", which allowed users to develop apps for their own for anyone around the world to use, was revolutionary. This highlights how apps were significant in boosting the economy, and this illustrates that new media technologies directly influence and shape societies.

References

Flew, T. & Smith, R. (2011). New media: An introduction. (4th Canadian edition). Oxford University Press.

Mulvey (2025). COMS 203 New Media - July 17. D2L.

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In chapter one of Flew & Smith's (2021) New Media: An Introduction, new media is defined as the convergence of computing and information technology, communication networks, content and digitized media, which work together to produce dense digital media (Flew & Smith, 2021, pg. 2).

The media that preceded new media, which we now refer to as old media, includes cinema, telephony, radio, television, newspapers, and magazines. Most of this old media included a one-way transmission of information.

Unlike old media in which only one-way transmission of information was possible through cinema, radio, television, and newspapers, new media allows its audiences to voice their opinions, express their beliefs, and share their creativity.

New media is a doorway for the expression and sharing of individuality through digital technologies. For example, new media involves YouTube, which has a comment section for users to share their thoughts about a song, or to recommend another similar song to users skimming through the comment section. This type of inclusivity towards the audiences is prevalent in the age of new media but was non-existent with older media.

While telephony permitted communication between individuals over the phone, its’ use was limited in comparison to the modern mobile phone, which includes advanced features such as Facetime, in which you can see the other person on the line live through your phone’s camera screen.

In our first lecture, we discussed interactivity as a key feature of new media. Interactivity, as defined in our lecture slides, includes “creation, aggregation/curation, commenting, replying, forwarding, saving, etc.” (Mulvey, 2025). In new media, we have the freedom of recording ourselves through online media platforms such as Instagram to share our views regarding a political event, or to point out bias presented in a recent news report watched on television. This video can reach a wide audience, which in turn can shift public opinion by drawing attention to the types of narratives produced through old media, as chapter one reads, “New media takes the power of the mass media to aggregate large groups and takes the ability of interactive media to involve participants and blends these as never before” (Flew and Smith, 2021, pg. 6). New media, which gives users the freedom to share their opinions without the constraint of a media company, can shift public opinion and produce societal change that can object to types of messages produced through forms of old media. In this way, new media is depicted as influential in shaping public perception and opinion. Old media did not permit this type of objection to the messages it produces, which therefore highlights how new media eradicated the limits of old media. New media gives every one of us a platform, no matter our age or education, and it gives us a chance to contribute to societal change.

References:

Flew, T. & Smith, R. (2021). New media: An introduction. (4th Canadian edition). Oxford University Press.

Mulvey (2025). COMS 203 New Media - July 3. D2L.

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In week 2, I had the opportunity to expand my knowledge on the history of the new media and took great interest to one significant and technological innovation— the telegraph. Upon reading Chapter 2 on the History of Media, I drew connections between the telegraph in the past and how it has shaped in the present the way corporations conduct their businesses, how institutions such as police services and school systems rely on telephones, and how social lives are significantly attached to telephones.

Before the telegraph, people relied on slow forms of communication such as letters. The telegraph was a major transformative change in communication. The telegraph paved way for the modern day telephone. This technological change has made itself vivid into my life— my grandfather used to tell us how he would send letters to the government to share and reflect on his concerns. Today, if we want to communicate with government representatives or report a crime or incident, we can do that through available websites or a phone call. This change highlights how both the telegraph and the telephone are similar in that they shaped how businesses and other institutions operate and arrange their daily tasks— almost all professions historically relied on the telegraph, and presently rely on the telephone.

It was insightful to read about how telegraphs were significantly helpful in elevating the newspaper industry. The telegraph became a cost-effective way to get factual information transmitted to its readers— the telegraph costed money and that meant that journalists had to be concise and meaningful in the news they deliver information. This is further emphasized in the chapter reading, "newspapers thrived under the telegraph and eventually adapted the newspaper business to take advantage of its features that it offered, including ready access to foreign news, easy sharing of stories via telegraph-connected news agencies, and the wire photo" (Flew & Smith, 2011, p.36). This illustrates that the telegraph provided easy and fast access to foreign news, delivered the latest news, and was capable of using images by sending them through the wire.

With the introduction of the telegraph into the news industry, competition arose between different news agencies and there began to be the expectation that readers would receive only the latest news, "People began to expect the latest news, and a newspaper could not succeed if it was not timely" (Flew & Smith, 2011, p.36).

It was interesting to read that the telegraphs used morse code, which is a communications system that uses dots and dashes that stand for certain letters to convey a message. As discussed in lectures, the telegraph introduced the telegraph operator job. Inventors' inspiration to create the telephone could be inferred to rise out from the desire to obtain a more simpler method of communication that did not require the use to decode and encode "morse code" equations, "It was clear that taking the encoding out of the equation would make the ability to transmit messages more useful for people" (Flew & Smith, 2011, p.37).

Many inventors were now working on introducing voice messages to be transmitted across wires. Alexander Graham Bell was the Canadian winner who had the first successful wired voice call. This transformed the way we communicate forever.