Media Laws and Ethics: Immanuel Kant's Philosophical Perspective

This essay delves into the realm of media laws and ethics, examining their governance of social media through the lens of Immanuel Kant's philosophy, particularly as presented in his book "The Critique of Pure Reason." The essay explores Kant's insights on the impact of laws and customs on societal behavior, emphasizing the significance of media laws and ethics in regulating modern media's operations. It scrutinizes the application of media laws in light of Kant's categorical imperatives, which advocate for adherence to societal norms and ethical conduct to prevent social harm. The essay further discusses how Kant's philosophy underscores the media's responsibility to provide credible and unbiased information, respect individual privacy, and uphold fundamental rights. It critiques the shift towards entertainment-focused media and the erosion of ethical standards, advocating for a return to Kantian principles of ethical media practices. The analysis highlights the media's influence on societal trends and the need for stringent laws and ethical guidelines to ensure responsible and socially conscious media operations.

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Media Laws and Ethics
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In the essay, the media laws and ethics that govern the social media are studied in the
light of Immanuel Kant’s philosophy as presented in his book “The Critique of Pure Reason”.
Immanuel Kant in his book pointed out a number of laws and customs and their effect on
changes in social behavior and customs. The Media laws and ethics are a set of rules and laws
governing the modern media and the society (Christians et al. 2015). Considering the rise in the
importance of media as a medium of communication with the society the set of laws are
considered extremely important to govern its operations. In the essay, the implications of the
working of the media laws in purview of Kant’s categorical imperatives are studies in detail.
The laws of categorical imperatives as put forward by Kant are based on a set of maxims
or a set of rules, which are supposed to be followed based on the social norms (Kant 2014).
Kant’s laws of the categorical imperatives are extremely important in setting a set of laws, which
govern the morals of the media without causing any social harm. Kant’s philosophy says that the
social customs are changing with time according to the social acceptance of the changes. They
are considered positive or negative depending on the maxims or the acceptable moral behavior of
the society (Murphy 2015). The media ethics and laws are supposed to be followed by people
working in the field of Media to govern the information, which are being imparted to people. The
categorical imperatives suggest that the moral of a person working within the society should
subscribe to societal norms. In case of media, the media should keep in mind that the information
it provides is far reaching and considered a credible source of information (Perse and Lambe
2016). It should not provide the any information harming the social position of the person or the
hurting the sentiment of the society or a group of people without any proper proof supporting the
claim. According to the Kantian philosophy, the people in the media should treat the audience
considering themselves a part of the audience and be honest to their job (Friend and Singer

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2015). The media laws are set such that while giving information they are not biased and they
should just give open-ended information and not pass the judgment regarding the issue.
Moreover, the information should not invade or hamper anyone’s privacy or hamper any ones
fundamental rights in any way. The categorical imperative suggests that there should be no
exception to the set of rules that are to be followed by a media person. If a person chooses to
against the rule it is supposed to become a norm in due time. Such norms when they are negative
do harm to the society.
The changes in the media today do not subscribe to the concept of ethical media. The
media has become more of an entertainment media than an informative media. Kant presumed
the power of the media and in his book suggested that the media should be kept away from
bureaucracy (Allen and Hindman 2014). The Kantian philosophy of the social acceptance of the
changes in the society helps in understanding the norms of the behavioral pattern of the society.
The modern media has become the entertainer rather than the mirror of the society. This has
taken place because of the norm shifting due to shift in the role of the certain organizations that
focused on succeeding through unethical effort (Moreno et al. 2015). The success of this form of
media caused a change in the paradigm overall media due to competition. The concept of the
Political alignment of news channels is another example of this concept of Kantian Philosophy
where the norm was against the social ethics. The present norm making fun of people, body
types and ethnicities is against the ethics of the media. The constant increase in this media is an
example of the categorical imperative, which do not follow the maxims (Nyholm 2015). The
categorical imperative is of the media takes into purview the laws governing the media as well
the rights of the Society. The media laws allows the freedom of the speech but it also forfeits it
from revealing personal information without prior person and not make personal comments

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about the topic. The law of the states also assigns the people with a set of fundamental right,
which the media should not be curbed by the media. The media should be a profitable business
as it causes a discrepancy and use unlawful measures for the profits.
The work of Kant helps in understanding how media being the far reaching and a credible
form of communication should perform its duties ethically for the society to perform
functionally. The media today is responsible for the changes in trends in the society. Mostly the
people see what the media as an acceptable behavior show and the changes in the society occur
accordingly. As Kant’s categorical imperative, theory suggests, with time the behavior of a
single individual becomes the norm of the society. The society might any negative behavior
promoted by media affecting the society negatively (Valenzuela 2013). Similarly, any news
shown by the media is considered credible by the sources and has effect on the audience so the
media should not misinform without assessing the results. One of the considerable examples is
the Jafr alien invasion report, which caused mass hysteria (News.bbc.co.uk, 2017). It was an
April fool’s joke but the example shows the effect the media has on the lifestyles and habits of
the people. The media should understand its social responsibility and should not misuse its
power.
The importance of the media and the laws being followed by the media is easily
understood. In the future number of steps should be taken to make the media perfect. Firstly, it
should operate under the principles of categorical imperative following its maxims without any
exception. The norms help in curtailing the media from misusing its rights of freedom of speech.
Moreover, a universal code of conduct for the media should be made allowing it certain
freedoms and curtailing some so that there are no go around ways for doing something illegal
according to the social norms. The working of the media houses should be kept from any

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economic influence. The media should be a profitable venture but it should not run with the aim
of profit. The economy of the media houses should be kept from influencing its functional roles
in the society. In the future, the media should adapt itself and merge with the society. The social
implications of the media houses should meet the social norms of the society it functions in and
the media houses should follow the ethics and norms of the society for proper functioning.
Therefore, in the essay, the different philosophies of the working of the media and the
ethical issues are brought forward. The media in the present society and is a strong determinant
of the growth and development of the society. It is necessary for the media to keep itself in strict
supervision to follow the norms of the society and be ethical in providing information. Kant’s
categorical imperative system is the determinant benchmark for the ethical changes being caused
in the society due to any external changes. Based on the moral of the change according to the
accepted maxim the behavior is taken as positive or negative. The positive changes should be
accepted while the media to curtail their far-reaching effects should overlook the negative
changes. The media laws should be stringent to make the sure the laws are being followed.

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References
Allen, D.S. and Hindman, E.B., 2014. The media and democracy: Using democratic theory in
journalism ethics. Wyatt, The Ethics of Journalism, pp.185-203.
Christians, C.G., Fackler, M., Richardson, K., Kreshel, P. and Woods, R.H., 2015. Media ethics:
Cases and moral reasoning. Routledge.
Friend, C. and Singer, J., 2015. Online journalism ethics: Traditions and transitions. Routledge.
Kant, I., 2014. The Good Will and the Categorical Imperative. The Ethical Life: Fundamental
Readings in Ethics and Moral Problems, pp.87-99.
Moreno, A., Navarro, C., Tench, R. and Zerfass, A., 2015. Does social media usage matter? An
analysis of online practices and digital media perceptions of communication practitioners in
Europe. Public Relations Review, 41(2), pp.242-253.
Murphy, K.C., 2015. Ethical crisis communication on social media: Combining situational crisis
communication theory, stakeholder theory, & Kant's categorical imperatives (Doctoral
dissertation, Gonzaga University).
News.bbc.co.uk. 2017. BBC News - 'Alien invasion' April Fools' story angers Jordan mayor.
[online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8604122.stm [Accessed 13 Nov.
2017].
Nyholm, S., 2015. Kant's Universal Law Formula Revisited. Metaphilosophy, 46(2), pp.280-299.
Perse, E.M. and Lambe, J., 2016. Media effects and society. Routledge.

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Valenzuela, S., 2013. Unpacking the use of social media for protest behavior: The roles of
information, opinion expression, and activism. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(7), pp.920-
942.