Another important step to engaging the nation in media literacy and democracy would be to enact a certification system on all social media platforms, requiring certain standards to obtain a “Seal of Journalism”: a federal law would require all social media platforms to adopt this certification system, which would be run from a third party nonprofit organization to minimize corruption. The system would verify the sources of the report, and ensure unbiased, fact-based journalism. Once these requirements are fulfilled, the news source will receive a seal of credibility, the absence of which would highlight the report as misinformation and unreliable. Furthermore, the system would ensure unbiased social media algorithms for a more fair and equitable distribution of news. According to Cell Press, “social media algorithms are designed to promote user engagement, thereby amplifying inherent human biases for learning.” Many social media algorithms are engagement-based, prioritizing user engagement and advertising-driven profits over accurate journalism, thus promoting misinformation and polarization. By utilizing an unbiased social media algorithm, our society would be able to make informed decisions and opinions based upon the facts and diverse perspectives– the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth.

In 1913, Justice Louis Brandeis famously stated, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”  Journalism should elucidate– not manipulate– information.  There must be an awareness that technology is a double-edged sword: Social Media and Artificial Intelligence can be used to obfuscate, but they can also promote transparency.  Crisis and opportunity are often two sides of the same coin; thus, Digital Literacy is a tool that can be used to harness the power of technology in order to further our own democracy.