Privacy and social media have always had a complicated relationship. On the one hand, users of sites like Facebook often voice concerns when they find out how much of their personal information ends up with advertisers. On the other hand, the roughly 2 billion active users of Facebook continue to provide that data voluntarily in exchange for free use of the platform.

Add political advertising to that mix, and you have the ingredients for intense Congressional hearings featuring Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and a national conversation about whether or not the federal government should take a larger role in social media regulation.

Here to address some of those challenges are three experts in the field:

Adam Thierer, Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellow

Ashkhen Kazaryan, Legal Fellow with TechFreedom

Will Rinehart, American Action Forum’s Director of Technology and Innovation Policy

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Looking to connect with a scholar you heard on the Download? Email Kate De Lanoy of our Media team at kdelanoy@mercatus.gmu.edu.

(File photo courtesy of Anthony Quintano)