{"id":350542,"date":"2021-10-09T15:07:22","date_gmt":"2021-10-09T12:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-facebook-can-and-should-be-tamed-by-the-government\/"},"modified":"2021-10-09T15:07:22","modified_gmt":"2021-10-09T12:07:22","slug":"how-facebook-can-and-should-be-tamed-by-the-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-facebook-can-and-should-be-tamed-by-the-government\/","title":{"rendered":"#How Facebook can \u2014 and should \u2014 be tamed by the government"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#How <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> can \u2014 and should \u2014 be tamed by the government<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>\u201cFacebook and Big Tech are facing a Big Tobacco moment, a moment of reckoning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This was the prediction made last Tuesday by Richard Blumenthal, the 75-year-old senator from Connecticut, at the beginning of a Senate subcommittee hearing examining allegations against Facebook brought by a former employee.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That employee, Frances Haugen, a 37-year-old Harvard grad and two-year vet of Facebook as a product manager, said during the hearing that she initially joined the company \u201cbecause I think Facebook has the potential to bring out the best in us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But she left and went public with her concerns after determining that \u201cFacebook\u2019s products harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In testimony that lasted over three hours, she accused the company of ignoring internal research that showed the harm it was causing to young users \u2014 particularly teen girls, 13.5 percent of whom said that Instagram increased their thoughts of suicide, according to one internal study \u2014 and being dishonest about its efforts to police hate speech and misinformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As proof, Haugen provided thousands of pages of internal research documents that she\u2019d copied during her time as an employee.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Even though Haugen claimed she wasn\u2019t there to destroy her former employer \u2014 \u201cI have a huge amount of empathy for Facebook,\u201d she assured the subcommittee \u2014 it did seem like it might be the beginning of the end for the social media giant.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Maybe it was, as Blumenthal promised, analogous to the fall of Big Tobacco.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Not everybody is so sure. Steven Levy, author of \u201cFacebook: The Inside Story,\u201d told The Post that we\u2019ve been down this road before.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more obvious solutions \u2014 increasing privacy protection \u2014 have been known for years, and Congress has done little or nothing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has nothing but bluster when it comes to cracking down on toxic content that does not violate the law.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When Sen. Markey of Massachusetts, who called Haugen a \u201c21st-century American hero,\u201d announced to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that \u201cyour time of invading our privacy, promoting toxic content and preying on children and teens is over,\u201d Levy was unimpressed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/antigone-davis-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Antigone Davis, Facebook\u2019s global head of safety, testified before the Senate last week during a hearing into how Facebook damages the mental health of young people and spreads misinformation. But what pols plan to do about it is unclear.\" class=\"wp-image-19746149\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/antigone-davis-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/antigone-davis-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/antigone-davis-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Antigone Davis, Facebook\u2019s global head of safety, testified before the Senate last week during a hearing into how Facebook damages the mental health of young people and spreads misinformation. But what pols plan to do about it is unclear.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Pool\/Sipa USA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt reminded me of identical hollow threats when Zuckerberg testified in 2018,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Cynicism was the prevalent emotion even among big tech novices.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOMG You mean Facebook prioritized it\u2019s profits over the public GOOD!?!?\u201d tweeted \u201cThe Office\u201d actor Rainn Wilson. \u201cNote: Please find me a company in this consumerist wasteland that HASN\u2019T!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Though the controversy may seem like business as usual \u2014 Facebook gets outed for being morally corrupt, apologizes, gets wrist sl<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ed \u2014 some, like Roger McNamee, an early Facebook investor, Zuckerberg advisor and author of \u201cZucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe,\u201d say it\u2019s anything but.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEach scandal builds on the foundation of scandals that came before it,\u201d he said. \u201cThis one has the potential to be different.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Different how? It helps that Haugen, the human face of this scandal, comes across as credible and well-spoken. \u201dHer testimony was devastating,\u201d said McNamee. \u201cIt was authoritative and utterly convincing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, both Congress and the public in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> are no longer playing catch up. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a lot of digital gobbledygook about algorithms and platforms,\u201d said Tom Wheeler, a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> regulation advocate and former FCC Chairman from 2013 to 2017. \u201cThis is about profits over people, which is much easier to understand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But most importantly, the reason this might finally be the nail in Facebook\u2019s coffin is the documentation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe whistleblower provided evidence that proves every bad thing on Facebook is the result of conscious choices by management,\u201d McNamee said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Or as Levy puts it, \u201cFrances Haugen is Facebook\u2019s Snowden. It\u2019s tough for Facebook to argue against its own research.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Not that they haven\u2019t tried. In a 1,300-word note posted Tuesday on Facebook, Zuckerberg tried to refute Haugen\u2019s charges, claiming she painted \u201ca false picture of the company.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Adam Mosseri, the head of Facebook\u2019s Instagram service, made a clumsy analogy during a Recode Media podcast interview last month, comparing Facebook to automobiles.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know that more people die than would otherwise because of car accidents, but by and large, cars create way more value in the world than they destroy,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think social media is similar.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tech columnist Kevin Roose tweeted that it was a \u201cweird tactic. Like if Chipotle was getting criticized for having salmonella in its guac or whatever and the CEO\u2019s response was like, \u2018Well, scaled food production has had many benefits for humanity, including freeing us from being hunter-gatherers.\u2019 \u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Taking on Facebook is no easy task. Australia has gone to battle with the tech giant this year, with the country\u2019s highest court deciding last month that media outlets could be held liable for defamatory comments posted by readers on their respective Facebook pages. (CNN is the first major <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> outlet to opt out of Australia\u2019s Facebook.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said they\u2019re still investigating \u201dthe question of whether Facebook themselves are liable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It may sound like new terrain, but McNamee said the legal battle against Facebook is not without precedent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe food production and medicine industries were unsafe until the passage of the Pure Food &amp; Drug Act of 1906,\u201d he said. \u201cThe petrochemicals industry was a threat to public health and the environment until the passage of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Environmental Protect Act in the \u201960s and \u201970s.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Each time, the process began without experts in Congress. \u201cReform creates incentives for members to develop expertise,\u201d McNamee added. \u201cAnd that process has already begun in tech.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That optimism isn\u2019t shared by Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and author of \u201cWoke, Inc.\u201d While he thinks Facebook \u201cdeserves criticism for its rampant institutional lying,\u201d he also believes that the investigation by Congress is heading in the wrong direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"688\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/social-media.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"When Facebook and its apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp, went down Monday, they showed how dependant society\u2019s become on them \u2014 despite their dangers.\" class=\"wp-image-19746224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/social-media.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/social-media.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/social-media.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/social-media.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>When Facebook and its apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp, went down Monday, they showed how dependant society\u2019s become on them \u2014 despite their dangers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe main argument is, Facebook didn\u2019t do enough to stop misinformation and hate speech,\u201d he said. \u201cThat could be used as political cover to allow Facebook to work hand in glove with the government, to socially and possibly even politically empower Facebook to engage in craven censorship far more than they already have.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also the question of whether Facebook has become so ubiquitous in the modern world that it\u2019s simply too big to fail. We got a taste of our dependency on the platform last Monday, when Facebook\u2019s apps \u2014 which include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Oculus \u2014 went down for six hours, caused (according to the company) by a problem with its network configuration.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Zuckerberg apologized for the disruption in a statement, adding \u201cI know how much you rely on our services to stay connected with the people you care about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That reliance may be the biggest ace in Facebook\u2019s hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor lots of people, it represents a lifeline to the world, something that has been exacerbated during the pandemic,\u201d said MSNBC columnist Michael A. Cohen and author of \u201cClear and Present Safety: The World Has Never Been Better and Why That Matters to Americans.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There might be competitors eager to take Facebook\u2019s place, but \u201cadopting new technologies is easier said than done,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cOther companies can do what they do, but no one has the scale they do. So it\u2019s virtually impossible to replace them. I sympathize and generally agree with Facebook\u2019s critics, but if you don\u2019t recognize the vital role, you\u2019re kind of missing the forest for the trees.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ramaswamy believes the opposite \u2014 that not only can we live without Facebook, we should be, especially when it comes to children.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose teen body image issues have to be dealt with offline in our culture, through our churches and communities and families and schools,\u201d he said. \u201cThose aren\u2019t issues that I want to delegate Facebook responsibility for managing. That would make them even more socially powerful than they already are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Even if Facebook continues to operate as its pleases, Ramaswamy would like to see more restrictions on what children can and can\u2019t access on social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you can\u2019t smoke an addictive cigarette till you\u2019re 18, maybe you shouldn\u2019t be able to use an addictive social media site either,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Wheeler agrees that the solution likely won\u2019t be the end of social media as we know it. \u201cNobody is talking about putting a time bomb under Facebook and blowing it up,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re just talking about the way Facebook operates.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If the government imposes strict regulations, it\u2019ll have an impact on the company\u2019s profits, \u201cbut it won\u2019t stop your ability to communicate with your old high school friends,\u201d Wheeler added.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Or maybe it will. Time will tell if Facebook is faced with genuine consequences that affect how the world communicates.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The most important question of Facebook\u2019s very bad week may not be whether the company has been lying to users or whether they\u2019re willing to change, but whether a world without Facebook is even possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe lost it for six hours the other day,\u201d Wheeler said, \u201cand the sun still came up.\u201d\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/10\/09\/how-facebook-can-and-should-be-tamed-by-the-government\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#How Facebook can \u2014 and should \u2014 be tamed by the government&#8221; \u201cFacebook and Big Tech are facing a Big Tobacco moment, a moment of reckoning.\u201d\u00a0 This was the prediction made last Tuesday by Richard Blumenthal, the 75-year-old senator from Connecticut, at the beginning of a Senate subcommittee hearing examining allegations against Facebook brought by&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":350543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/frances-haugen-mark-zuckerberg-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[117283,4974,70492,5077,4976,4965],"class_list":["post-350542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-10-9-21","tag-facebook","tag-federal-government","tag-mark-zuckerberg","tag-social-media","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}