Since its inception, social media has experienced a rapid growth and expansion in terms of its usage and technology. This explosive growth has led to the need for regulations and standards for social media platforms in order to protect the interests of users. As society relies more on these digital networks, the potential ethical concerns around them become increasingly important. In this paper, we will discuss the evolution of social media standards and practices, how they relate to potential regulation of social media networks, as well as their associated ethical implications.

During the early days of social media platforms (e.g., MySpace or Friendster), there were no established rules surrounding their use or data privacy policies which resulted in frequent incidents such as cyberbullying or identity theft occurring among users. The lack of oversight by governments also left many vulnerable people exposed to exploitation by malicious actors online. As a result, governments around the world began creating laws that would protect users from online harm while providing guidelines for how companies should handle user information appropriately and securely. These regulations included mandates on data collection practices, storage limits for personal information, security measures against unauthorized access/leaking of user data, etc., which all had a heavy effect on how companies structured their operations related to technology and customer service management along with legal teams devoted exclusively to managing regulatory compliance issues with local authorities (e.g., GDPR in Europe).