How to improve Facebook for our society
A former employee provided internal documents to the U.S. media and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, accusing the company of prioritizing profits over the protection of its users. Some reports based on the documents have been published, and the problem is growing. The business ethics surrounding social networking sites are being severely questioned. The company also suffered a massive leak of personal information in 2018. The company’s internal system and corporate culture must be overhauled to ensure the protection of users. The U.S. media coverage began in September of this year with the issue of Instagram, the company’s photo-sharing app. The use of Instagram makes young people more concerned about their appearance and more likely to fall into eating disorders. It has come to light that the company’s management was aware of the results of a study that showed the dangers of Instagram but failed to take action. The former employee who made the accusation attended a hearing of the U.S. Senate and claimed that the management knew how to make it safer, but did not make the necessary changes. The company’s CEO, Zuckerberg, responded by saying that it was creating a false image, but the children’s version of Instagram that was under development was forced to be suspended.
The U.S. Congress and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have begun to pursue the matter. Some in Congress are said to have accused the company of knowing that its products were addictive, likening it to the old tobacco industry. The company has been making huge profits from its business model of delivering advertisements based on personal information. On the other hand, if the company has neglected the safety of its users, it can be said to be unethical. The mainstream media has been reporting on the situation intensely. The company introduced an initiative to prevent the spread of violent posts before the 2008 U.S. presidential election but withdrew it soon after the election. It was reported to have led to the occupation of the US Congress by supporters of former US President Trump in January 2009. There is another allegation. The Washington Post reported that Mr. Zuckerberg agreed to tighten censorship of dissident posts at the request of the Vietnamese government. Both of these issues are fundamental to a democratic society.
Currently, the number of users of the company’s social network is close to 3.6 billion worldwide. Its influence on public opinion and politics is increasing. The social responsibility of service providers is extremely serious. Last month, the company changed its name from “Facebook” to “Meta. The company claims that it is focusing on the development of the virtual reality space “Metaverse,” but it may also be trying to avoid criticism of its social networking service. It is the company’s responsibility to properly manage social networking services so that they can become a healthy public space. Particularly, Facebook should share its technological methods of gathering user data(A/B test) and offering users options to get themselves out of its testing situations. I believe the key to this problem is accountability. What Facebook is doing to users is vague and there is always room for Facebook to do something illegal and unethical. Transparency is necessary. We are in a transitional period of the digital revolution. We must discuss the safety and ethics of social networking sites widely in society and sort out the problems.
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