Record #: R2016-744   
Type: Resolution Status: Failed to Pass
Intro date: 10/5/2016 Current Controlling Legislative Body: Committee on Public Safety
Final action:
Title: Call for hearing(s) on proliferation of social media platforms glamorizing violence
Sponsors: Mitts, Emma, Austin, Carrie M., Harris, Michelle A., Scott, Jr. Michael, Sawyer, Roderick T., Taliaferro, Chris, Moore, David H., Dowell, Pat, Waguespack, Scott, Sadlowski Garza, Susan, Osterman, Harry, Hopkins, Brian , King, Sophia D., Mitchell, Gregory I., Cappleman, James, Mell, Deborah, Laurino, Margaret, Moreno, Proco Joe, Lopez, Raymond A., Burnett, Jr., Walter, Curtis, Derrick G., Arena, John, Silverstein, Debra L., Pawar, Ameya, Villegas, Gilbert, Hairston, Leslie A., Sposato, Nicholas, Thompson, Patrick D., Foulkes, Toni, Tunney, Thomas, O'Connor, Patrick, Munoz, Ricardo, Santiago, Milagros, Burke, Edward M., Maldonado, Roberto, Zalewski, Michael R., Solis, Daniel, Napolitano, Anthony V., O'Shea, Matthew J., Reboyras, Ariel, Beale, Anthony, Smith, Michele, Brookins, Jr., Howard, Cardenas, George A., Quinn, Marty
Topic: COMMITTEE/PUBLIC HEARINGS - Committee on Public Safety
Attachments: 1. R2016-744.pdf
Related files: R2019-362

 

 

Type: Title:

 

Committee(s) Assignment:

 

Brookins (21) Cardenas (12) Quinn (13) Resolution

Call for hearing(s) on proliferation of social media platforms glamorizing violence Committee on Public Safety

 

RESOLUTION

 

WHEREAS, The City of Chicago continues to suffer from an epidemic of gun violence, with over 3,000 persons shot and more than 500 persons murdered thus far in 2016; and

 

WHEREAS, Too many of these victims are the youth of our community, whose bodies have been maimed and lives cut short by gun violence; and

 

WHEREAS, Social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Reddit, Flickr, and Vine are popular and influential idea markets; and

WHEREAS, These social media sites are widely available and readily accessible to anyone with a smart phone or an Internet-connected computer; and

 

WHEREAS, Many young people in our community are both subscribers and active users of these social media sites; and

 

WHEREAS, Users of these social media sites have taken to posting pictures of guns and other weapons, glamorizing and encouraging the epidemic of gun violence that has cut so many young lives short; and

WHEREAS, Glamorization of violence on these platforms has a terrible effect on our youth and the City of Chicago as a whole; and

 

WHEREAS, These social media sites are private enterprises that can exercise control over the content that subscribers are allowed to post; and

 

WHEREAS, There is precedent for social media platforms to use their terms of service to restrict what subscribers can post and to terminate user accounts when it comes to postings that include nudity, gratuitous violence, hate speech, and incitement to commit violent acts; and

 

WHEREAS, The broad reach and influence exerted by social media platforms gives rise to a moral obligation to ensure their responsible use; now, therefore,

 

BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and Members of the City Council of the City of Chicago, assembled this 5th day of October, 2016, do hereby call upon the City Council Committee on Public Safety to convene a hearing concerning the proliferation of social media posts glamorizing violence; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we call upon all social media platforms, including but not limited to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Reddit, Flickr, and Vine to amend their terms of service to prohibit the posting of images of guns and other weapons that glamorize violence; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we call upon all social media platforms to actively monitor the content that users post to proactively remove content that glamorizes gratuitous violence, and to promptly respond to requests to remove content that glamorizes gratuitous violence; and

 

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we call upon all social media platforms to implement user rules and take other appropriate actions to eliminate the practice of posting content that glamorizes violence; and

 

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