How does social media impact our world? The use of social media has highly increased over the years, and you would almost forget how it was without it. But on the 4th of October 2021 people around the world had a glimpse of how a world without social media would look like. A global outage took place and Facebook and its family of apps, including Instagram and Whatsapp were down for more than six hours. More than 3.5 billion people around the world rely on these platforms for communication with friends and families or for running their businesses.
Additionally, Frances Haugen, a former employee of Facebook, revealed that same week how the company is causing harm by providing evidence to lawmakers, regulators and the news media.
The abovementioned outage and the revelations brought to light from whistleblower Frances Huagen not only showed how dependent the world has become on social media but also added fuel to the fire; the ever-growing power of big tech companies and the way those companies deal with harm caused by their platforms.
Companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple all provide digital services and those have ingrained in our lives that it is almost impossible to avoid them. Some argue that this succes comes with responsibility and increasingly people are questioning if those companies are living up to this responsibility. Two critical points are: How do Big Tech companies protect the privacy of their users? and to what extent can they be held liable for what is happening on their platform?
According to Haugen companies like Facebook and Instagram use amplification algorithms and engagement-based raking that is leading children and teenagers to harmful online content without trying to solve this issue because of the profit it’s earning. Haugen recommends reforming Section 230 that protects companies from liability for third-party content on their platform. She argues that the government has to step in and companies should be held responsible for the consequences of their algorithms. Even though something has to change, one my ask oneself if government oversight is the right solution. The government regulating algorithms of tech companies could influence journalism and free speech and what consequences would that have?
References
Alter, C. (2021, October 6). How Fixing Facebook’s Algorithm Could Help Teens—and Democracy. Time. https://time.com/6104157/facebook-testimony-teens-algorithm/?utm_source=roundup&utm_campaign=20210929
Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com). (2021). Why Big Tech is under fire around the world | DW | 16.04.2021. DW.COM. https://www.dw.com/en/why-big-tech-is-under-fire-around-the-world/av-57230952
Isaac, M., & Frenkel, S. (2021, October 8). Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp Were Down: Here’s What to Know. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/04/technology/facebook-down.html
Mac, R., & Kang, C. (2021, October 6). Whistle-Blower Says Facebook ‘Chooses Profits Over Safety.’ The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/03/technology/whistle-blower-facebook-frances-haugen.html#:%7E:text=Frances%20Haugen%2C%20a%20Facebook%20product,documents%20to%20journalists%20and%20others.&text=%5BWatch%20the%20Facebook%20hearing%20live.%5D
