When Zuckerberg announced that FB would no longer monitor content, leaving it to AI and its "Community Standards" to decide what stays up and what comes down, I closed my account. I am sickened by the power of the oligarchs in this county and by the harm that Instagram inflicts on young people. I am currently reading "Careless People". It's clear that Zuckerberg is thrilled by power and really doesn't care about those he has harmed in the past and will harm in the future.
"The more important question is: Why have we allowed any one individual to accumulate enough unchecked power that they could put their finger on the scale of our election?"
Excellent piece. Yes, it is the more important question. This is one more case of regulatory inaction. Facebook has been around long enough that regulatory capture may be in play. But with the Republicans in control, stronger corporate accountability regulation is out of the question.
But as you say, there's more to it than that. "As she describes it, Kaplan, now president of Global Affairs, thought politicians who saw Facebook as critical to their campaigns would not want to regulate the company. She describes Sandberg as saying that politicians indebted to Facebook would be good for the company. Part of that strategy involved embedding Facebook teams in the Trump campaign ahead of the 2016 elections, helping them use the platform and its targeting tools to spread what we now know was a torrent of mis- and disinformation."
Wow. Didn't know that. Thanks. That's more than regulatory capture. It's politician capture.
Then you ask "What now?" and suggest pushing lawmakers to enact accountability legislation. If that fails, which it already has, "we can vote with our feet" and leave social media companies. I'd like this to work, but realistically, consumer boycotts seldom work. In this case, the percentage of social media users who would be activist enough to leave is very small. Most are unknowingly addicted and couldn't leave if they wanted to. Plus there are many more issues of greater importance to social media users.
Yael, I wonder if you and perhaps others at Cybersecurity for Democracy have applied root cause analysis to this problem? That would require some time and thought, but it should take you further than this piece has been able to go with the question of "What now?" Looking at your website, I see "Cybersecurity for Democracy is a research-based, nonpartisan, and independent effort to expose online threats to our social fabric – and recommend how to counter them." I have some expertise here. If I can help, let me know.
Yes, this is the biggest problem: I left FB years ago after a brief try, and tried to convince friends and some relatives to do the same . The majority is not concerned about privacy to start with ..then the political subtle interference and all the rest. Depressing
In considering the psychopathology of people that have been mostly in the shadows prior to Trump making it cool to be cruel I wrote some time ago that we need a new psychiatric diagnosis for them. They fit in The Dark Triad, but this isn't an actual diagnosis.
George Conway, that psychiatric lawyer, says it all - malignant narcissistic sociopath. I would say psychopath given the damage done by these people. There should be a special prison and spectacular end for them. Maybe like that old black and white movie where the dude rides the bomb to the ground - was it Dr. Strangelove and Kong. Maybe mush could catch the next ride to Mars, outside of the rocket. The orange turd is stupid enough to tag along.
Don’t be so sure. There is a broken heart syndrome. You might be onto something. Let’s do this! Stand up to the Dark Triad! Always loved the name Hal, haven’t seen it for a loooooong time. Peace.
Why can't this book be published in it's entirety , just as WAPO (when it had a spine) did with the Ellsberg Papers before Meta can shut down its dissemination? NYT, Contrarian, etc.?
While I believe that it's crucial for us to have this information and to make personal decisions about when, why and how we use social media, I'm also convinced that until we can offer users viable alternatives that we're sure don't have the greed, power and control issues, we're preaching to a fairly small "choir." The friend who is communicating across continents with her dear friend , when one is living in a war torn country, uses WhatsApp because it's free, easy to access, and available across time zones. What's her alternative? Grandparents use FB and Instagram to keep in touch with grandkids, sharing pix and anecdotes. What are safe and easily accessible alternatives? College kids and YAs use social media to stay in touch with hundreds of hometown and h.s. friends in ways we never could. They jump to support friends in crisis, celebrating triumphs large and small. Many are switching to BlueSky, but it's a slow process to recreate their large community on a platform that still has too many glitches. So what are the alternatives, because until we propose viable solutions, by increasing the handwringing and deer in headlights that characterize life today, we're just supporting the goal of paralyzing citizens.
Excellent article. Reinforces my decision long ago to not enter the Social Media planet. Never trusted these tech people and understood long ago, that power corrupts. Zuckerberg really kissed up to the felon and now we know why. No real character, I don't care how many hospitals he gives money to.
“I wrote in 2021 about the challenges of speaking up, how companies try to silence people, and why we need more former employees to come forward…” We need to speak up for those who are speaking up. I’ve started a Bluesky account so I can do that, as well as record my other actions to support our democracy. I only have 2 followers so far so I was surprised to see my repost of Norm Eisen’ statement about being named by Trump at the DOJ reposted by 3 other people who had between 1,000 and 34,000 followers. I did something right, but don’t know how it all works. I learned some basic skills on Twitter, which I abandoned soon after it became X. I started my repost for Norm Eisen with the words “Speaking Up” and expect this to be a regular feature of my account. I’m practicingdemocracy1 on Bluesky @pd1ljw.bsky.social. A friend has joined me as practicingdemocracy2. I got the idea of “practicing democracy” from Joyce Vance. Anybody want to join us? Not to spread opinions and thoughts but to record actions (donations, phone banks, rallies, volunteer activities). ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. These are foot soldiers accounts—we can be identified by our initials, our names are not central. The Contrarian published a piece of writing about how to request federal data from state and local sources. Maybe it could help us (non-techies with a modicum of tech ability) understand how to use social media to effectively support pro-democracy work.
"Americans must demand accountability from social media executives, Meta especially."
Oh please, spare me; you're a little late to the party. The DLPs (Dems/Libs/Progressives) were perfectly fine with social media as long as they would suppress/ban "misinformation/disinformation" from other sources. Meta, Google, Twitter, whatever. Now that they have seemingly gone more moderate or aligned with Trump are the DLPs suddenly concerned about accountability. Trump and company are demanding more of that in government with DOGE and who's howling the loudest? Dems and the media.
When Zuckerberg announced that FB would no longer monitor content, leaving it to AI and its "Community Standards" to decide what stays up and what comes down, I closed my account. I am sickened by the power of the oligarchs in this county and by the harm that Instagram inflicts on young people. I am currently reading "Careless People". It's clear that Zuckerberg is thrilled by power and really doesn't care about those he has harmed in the past and will harm in the future.
"The more important question is: Why have we allowed any one individual to accumulate enough unchecked power that they could put their finger on the scale of our election?"
Excellent piece. Yes, it is the more important question. This is one more case of regulatory inaction. Facebook has been around long enough that regulatory capture may be in play. But with the Republicans in control, stronger corporate accountability regulation is out of the question.
But as you say, there's more to it than that. "As she describes it, Kaplan, now president of Global Affairs, thought politicians who saw Facebook as critical to their campaigns would not want to regulate the company. She describes Sandberg as saying that politicians indebted to Facebook would be good for the company. Part of that strategy involved embedding Facebook teams in the Trump campaign ahead of the 2016 elections, helping them use the platform and its targeting tools to spread what we now know was a torrent of mis- and disinformation."
Wow. Didn't know that. Thanks. That's more than regulatory capture. It's politician capture.
Then you ask "What now?" and suggest pushing lawmakers to enact accountability legislation. If that fails, which it already has, "we can vote with our feet" and leave social media companies. I'd like this to work, but realistically, consumer boycotts seldom work. In this case, the percentage of social media users who would be activist enough to leave is very small. Most are unknowingly addicted and couldn't leave if they wanted to. Plus there are many more issues of greater importance to social media users.
Yael, I wonder if you and perhaps others at Cybersecurity for Democracy have applied root cause analysis to this problem? That would require some time and thought, but it should take you further than this piece has been able to go with the question of "What now?" Looking at your website, I see "Cybersecurity for Democracy is a research-based, nonpartisan, and independent effort to expose online threats to our social fabric – and recommend how to counter them." I have some expertise here. If I can help, let me know.
You will never get enough people to quit social media to make a dent in these tech bros corruption and greed.
Yes, this is the biggest problem: I left FB years ago after a brief try, and tried to convince friends and some relatives to do the same . The majority is not concerned about privacy to start with ..then the political subtle interference and all the rest. Depressing
I choose not to subscribe to Facebook, Instagram or Whatsapp. Like boycotting Tesla, I strongly encourage folks to boycott Meta.
In considering the psychopathology of people that have been mostly in the shadows prior to Trump making it cool to be cruel I wrote some time ago that we need a new psychiatric diagnosis for them. They fit in The Dark Triad, but this isn't an actual diagnosis.
George Conway, that psychiatric lawyer, says it all - malignant narcissistic sociopath. I would say psychopath given the damage done by these people. There should be a special prison and spectacular end for them. Maybe like that old black and white movie where the dude rides the bomb to the ground - was it Dr. Strangelove and Kong. Maybe mush could catch the next ride to Mars, outside of the rocket. The orange turd is stupid enough to tag along.
Don’t be so sure. There is a broken heart syndrome. You might be onto something. Let’s do this! Stand up to the Dark Triad! Always loved the name Hal, haven’t seen it for a loooooong time. Peace.
Why can't this book be published in it's entirety , just as WAPO (when it had a spine) did with the Ellsberg Papers before Meta can shut down its dissemination? NYT, Contrarian, etc.?
While I believe that it's crucial for us to have this information and to make personal decisions about when, why and how we use social media, I'm also convinced that until we can offer users viable alternatives that we're sure don't have the greed, power and control issues, we're preaching to a fairly small "choir." The friend who is communicating across continents with her dear friend , when one is living in a war torn country, uses WhatsApp because it's free, easy to access, and available across time zones. What's her alternative? Grandparents use FB and Instagram to keep in touch with grandkids, sharing pix and anecdotes. What are safe and easily accessible alternatives? College kids and YAs use social media to stay in touch with hundreds of hometown and h.s. friends in ways we never could. They jump to support friends in crisis, celebrating triumphs large and small. Many are switching to BlueSky, but it's a slow process to recreate their large community on a platform that still has too many glitches. So what are the alternatives, because until we propose viable solutions, by increasing the handwringing and deer in headlights that characterize life today, we're just supporting the goal of paralyzing citizens.
Excellent article. Reinforces my decision long ago to not enter the Social Media planet. Never trusted these tech people and understood long ago, that power corrupts. Zuckerberg really kissed up to the felon and now we know why. No real character, I don't care how many hospitals he gives money to.
Tim Matchette
“I wrote in 2021 about the challenges of speaking up, how companies try to silence people, and why we need more former employees to come forward…” We need to speak up for those who are speaking up. I’ve started a Bluesky account so I can do that, as well as record my other actions to support our democracy. I only have 2 followers so far so I was surprised to see my repost of Norm Eisen’ statement about being named by Trump at the DOJ reposted by 3 other people who had between 1,000 and 34,000 followers. I did something right, but don’t know how it all works. I learned some basic skills on Twitter, which I abandoned soon after it became X. I started my repost for Norm Eisen with the words “Speaking Up” and expect this to be a regular feature of my account. I’m practicingdemocracy1 on Bluesky @pd1ljw.bsky.social. A friend has joined me as practicingdemocracy2. I got the idea of “practicing democracy” from Joyce Vance. Anybody want to join us? Not to spread opinions and thoughts but to record actions (donations, phone banks, rallies, volunteer activities). ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. These are foot soldiers accounts—we can be identified by our initials, our names are not central. The Contrarian published a piece of writing about how to request federal data from state and local sources. Maybe it could help us (non-techies with a modicum of tech ability) understand how to use social media to effectively support pro-democracy work.
Frightening.
How come I am not able to share this on Facebook?
"Americans must demand accountability from social media executives, Meta especially."
Oh please, spare me; you're a little late to the party. The DLPs (Dems/Libs/Progressives) were perfectly fine with social media as long as they would suppress/ban "misinformation/disinformation" from other sources. Meta, Google, Twitter, whatever. Now that they have seemingly gone more moderate or aligned with Trump are the DLPs suddenly concerned about accountability. Trump and company are demanding more of that in government with DOGE and who's howling the loudest? Dems and the media.