Should social media platforms or governments bear primary responsibility for online impersonation scams?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Should social media platforms or governments bear primary responsibility for online impersonation scams?". Your opponent's style: Socratic Philosopher

Online platforms build and base their system on provided frameworks and policies crafted by the legislative bodies of the government. Presence of online impersonation scams serves as an evidence that there is a lack of policy enforcement,,(executive branch is the one to blame; still part of the government)

You're conflating two separate failures. Yes, governments *set* the rules—but platforms *choose* whether to enforce them. That's the critical difference. Facebook has the technical capacity to verify accounts tomorrow if they wanted. Instagram could require ID verification in seconds. They don't, because moderation costs money and slows growth. Blaming government enforcement ignores that platforms actively *resist* regulation while simultaneously having vastly more resources and real-time data than any government agency ever could. A cop can't arrest shoplifters if the store owner leaves all doors unlocked and disabled security cameras. The government wrote the law; the platform built the escape route. Which one bears primary responsibility here—really?

It just means that there is a lack of enforcement within the executive branch of the government. Yes, the platforms have the autonomy or decision, however they are still mandated to follow all the rules and regulations made by the legislative branch of the government. Lack of adherence to the law shows low enforcements within it. Additionally, when shoplifters arrested, it is not te mall's burden to arrest them and decide what intervention they're going to do. It's the government. The government has the power to decide for the the punishment they're about to receive. And in cases they did not held these shoplifters accountable, it means the government has failed to do their job, and so they must be held accountable.

You're assuming enforcement is even *possible* at scale. Governments have thousands of investigators for millions of daily transactions. Platforms have the data in real-time—they see the scam happening *right now*. A regulator sees it next month. Your shoplifter analogy breaks down because the mall *does* stop shoplifters—with security guards, cameras, locked displays. Platforms could do the exact same thing instantly. They choose not to. Telling the government to catch every scam while platforms do nothing is like asking police to stop shoplifting while the mall actively hides thieves in back rooms. Why should governments bear *primary* responsibility when platforms control the actual mechanism of harm?