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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNYT Bouie Op Ed "Facebook Has Been a Disaster for the World"
How much longer are we going to allow its platform to foment hatred and undermine democracy?
Jamelle Bouie
By Jamelle Bouie
Opinion Columnist
For years, Myanmars military used Facebook to incite hatred and genocidal violence against the countrys mostly Muslim Rohingya minority group, leading to mass death and displacement. It took until 2018 for Facebook to admit to and apologize for its failure to act.
(big, big snip - want to put the last part in_
Here in the United States, Facebook has been the chief vector for QAnon, a byzantine conspiracy theory in which President Trump struggles against a global cabal of Satan-worshipping, life-force sucking pedophiles and their enablers. QAnon supporters believe Trump will eventually go public in an operation that ends with the arrest, internment and execution of that cabal, which conveniently includes many of his Democratic political opponents.
Facebook, according to the companys own investigation, is home to thousands of QAnon groups and pages with millions of members and followers. Its recommendation algorithms push users to engage with QAnon content, spreading the conspiracy to people who may never have encountered it otherwise. Similarly, a report from the German Marshall Fund pegs the recent spate of fire conspiracies false claims of arson in Oregon by antifa or Black Lives Matter to the uncontrolled spread of rumors and disinformation on Facebook.
Zuckerberg clearly wants the public to see him and his company as partners in the defense of democracy. Earlier this month, he announced steps to limit election-related misinformation and stop voter suppression and to support efforts to help Americans register and cast a ballot. I believe our democracy is strong enough to withstand this challenge and deliver a free and fair election even if it takes time for every vote to be counted, Zuckerberg wrote. Weve voted during global pandemics before. We can do this.
He is right that our democracy can survive a pandemic. It is unclear, however, if it can survive a platform optimized for conspiratorial thinking. Like industrial-age steel companies dumping poisonous waste into waterways, Facebook pumps paranoia and disinformation into the body politic, the toxic byproduct of its relentless drive for profit. We eventually cleaned up the waste. Its an open question whether we can clean up after Facebook.
sorry for the paywall - this is an important read.
Thekaspervote
(32,809 posts)Skittles
(153,226 posts)as long as FB helps people put the least amount of effort into "keeping up with family and friends", users don't give a fuck if FB is a threat to democracy
we can do it
(12,205 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,900 posts)The most disturbing revelations from Zhangs memo relate to the failure of Facebook to take swift action against coordinated activity in countries like Honduras and Azerbaijan, where political leaders used armies of fake accounts to attack opponents and undermine independent media. We simply didnt care enough to stop them, she wrote. In a statement, a spokeswoman for Facebook said that We investigate each issue carefully, including those that Ms. Zhang raises, before we take action or go out and make claims publicly as a company.
Zhangs memo only adds to what we already know about the ease with which bad actors use Facebook to further violence and authoritarian politics. There are five major ways that authoritarian regimes exploit Facebook and other social media services, Siva Vaidhyanathan, a media scholar at the University of Virginia, writes in Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy. They can organize countermovements to emerging civil society or protest movements, frame the public debate along their terms, let citizens voice complaints without direct appeal or protest and coordinate among elites to rally support. They can also use social media to aid in the surveillance and harassment of opposition activists and journalists.
Weve seen such activity in places around the world. In Russia, Vladimir Putins allies use Facebook and other social media to harass critics and spread disinformation on behalf of the regime. In India, Vaidhyanathan notes, Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party used Facebook to rile up anti-Muslim passions and channel people to the polls as well as destroy the reputations of journalists, civil society activists, critics of anti-Islam policies, and political enemies. And in the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte leveraged Facebook for virulent character assassination, threats, and harassment as well as propaganda in service of vigilantism and violent nationalism.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,026 posts)msongs
(67,462 posts)Skittles
(153,226 posts)that documentary explains FB well