Stephanie Schulte, associate professor in the Department of Communication in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, recently authored a chapter in the newly released, Fake News: Understanding Media and Misinformation in the Digital Age, published by MIT Press.

In her chapter, "Fixing Fake News: Self-Regulation and Technological Solutionism," Schulte historicizes the ways the fake news crisis is understood in the United States by historically mapping the conflicting history of American faith in and fear of technology. 

She ultimately argues that self-regulatory efforts put forward by internet platforms — such as flagging, content moderation, and news consumer guides — make national sense because these solutions continue the pattern of market (not government) regulation and because they perpetuate the illusion that technology is the best solution to humanity's problems, and as such, able to make life "frictionless." 

The chapter is published in Fake News: Understanding Media and Misinformation in the Digital Age, edited by Melissa Zimdars and Kembrew McLeod, MIT Press, 2020.