Perhaps one of the most outrageous influences the modern media holds over people is its highly active role in shaping the morality of the populace at large. The human prefrontal complex can, through a series of targeted and focused campaigns, be manipulated to shape its ability to think in a particular direction. That effectively means that morality itself can be shaped and redirected.

At its core, the issue lies not in the naivety of human morality, nor with the brevity of modern media, but rather in something more discerning. The set of rules which govern a system, confer rights and duties, and maintain obedience through a system of coercion, i.e., the law, as jurists would agree, is susceptible to change and must be reconciled with the general morality of the populace it is supposed to govern.

The relationship between law and morality has long occupied the centre of jurisprudential inquiry, precisely whether law merely reflects social morality or actively constructs it. Yet what distinguishes the contemporary moment is the unprecedented role of modern media in mediating this relationship. Media no longer simply transmit moral discourse; it shapes, amplifies, and increasingly engineers it.

At its core, law is not an autonomous system. It derives legitimacy from its alignment with the moral convictions of the society it governs. As the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy explains, legal systems often presuppose that conduct deemed immoral provides a prima facie justification for legal prohibition. This reflects the enduring influence of legal moralism, most notably articulated by Patrick Devlin, who argued that society has the right to enforce its........

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