Social Dilemma
Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen: The 60 Minutes Interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lx5VmAdZSI Frances Haugen says in her time with Facebook she saw, "conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook." Scott Pelley reports
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-misinformation-public-60-minutes-2021-10-03/
When we live in an information environment that is full of angry, hateful, polarizing content it erodes our civic trust, it erodes our faith in each other, it erodes our ability to want to care for each other, the version of Facebook that exists today is tearing our societies apart and causing ethnic violence around the world.
It's one of these unfortunate consequences, right? No one at Facebook is malevolent, but the incentives are misaligned, right? Like, Facebook makes more money when you consume more content. People enjoy engaging with things that elicit an emotional reaction. And the more anger that they get exposed to, the more they interact and the more they consume.
One of the Facebook internal studies that you found talks about how Instagram harms teenage girls. One study says 13.5% of teen girls say Instagram makes thoughts of suicide worse; 17% of teen girls say Instagram makes eating disorders worse.
Frances Haugen: And what's super tragic is Facebook's own research says, as these young women begin to consume this-- this eating disorder content, they get more and more depressed. And it actually makes them use the app more. And so, they end up in this feedback cycle where they hate their bodies more and more. Facebook's own research says it is not just the Instagram is dangerous for teenagers, that it harms teenagers, it's that it is distinctly worse than other forms of social media.
Whistleblower Frances Haugen to meet with Facebook Oversight Board
By Clare Duffy, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/whistleblower-frances-haugen-to-meet-with-facebook-oversight-board/ar-AAPnYX7
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen will meet with the social network's independent court-like oversight board in the coming weeks to discuss her concerns about the company, the Facebook Oversight Board said Monday. Haugen has set off a firestorm around the social media giant in recent weeks after she leaked thousands of pages of documents to lawmakers and the Wall Street Journal.
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Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen will meet with the social network's independent court-like oversight board in the coming weeks to discuss her concerns about the company, the Facebook Oversight Board said Monday.
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 05: Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen testifies during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing entitled 'Protecting Kids Online: Testimony from a Facebook Whistleblower' on Capitol Hill October 5, 2021 in Washington, DC. Haugen left Facebook in May and provided internal company documents about Facebook to journalists and others, alleging that Facebook consistently chooses profit over safety. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) © Drew Angerer/Getty Images WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 05: Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen testifies during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing entitled 'Protecting Kids Online: Testimony from a Facebook Whistleblower' on Capitol Hill October 5, 2021 in Washington, DC. Haugen left Facebook in May and provided internal company documents about Facebook to journalists and others, alleging that Facebook consistently chooses profit over safety. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Haugen has set off a firestorm around the social media giant in recent weeks after she leaked thousands of pages of documents to lawmakers and the Wall Street Journal. Earlier this month, the 37-year-old former Facebook product manager revealed her identity on "60 Minutes" in an interview in which she said Facebook has repeatedly prioritized profits over public good. In a Senate subcommittee hearing last week, Haugen detailed a range of concerns, including that the company knows it is serving harmful, eating disorder-related content to young users and that the use of Facebook by authoritarian leaders could present national security concerns.
"In light of the serious claims made about Facebook by Ms. Haugen, we have extended an invitation for her to speak to the Board over the coming weeks, which she has accepted," the Oversight Board said in a release Monday. "Board members appreciate the chance to discuss Ms. Haugen's experiences and gather information that can help push for greater transparency and accountability from Facebook through our case decisions and recommendations."
Haugen confirmed on Twitter Monday that she had accepted the invitation to "brief the Facebook Oversight Board about what I learned while working there." She added: "Facebook has lied to the board repeatedly, and I am looking forward to sharing the truth with them."
Video: Former Facebook staffer reveals when she decided to be a whistleblower (CNN)
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Former Facebook staffer reveals when she decided to be a whistleblower
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Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this article.
The Facebook Oversight Board is intended for appealing content decisions on Facebook-owned platforms. It's made up of 20 experts in areas like free expression, human rights, and journalism.
https://youtu.be/9mVxu-KlTSM?t=63 Kannan Gopinathan, IAS Resigned speaks on the Impact of Social Media. While any information platform can be a weapon of propaganda, the basic change in Social Media is that it will encourage two way communication. Further, anyone can speak to anyone else, and therefore it has the potential not to be hierarchical.
Twitter and Facebook are open. Whatsapp, is more controlled within groups. In a way, whatsapp is dangerous, in that without being confronted by the subject of conversation, any byte can be propagated. This then promotes polarisation of groups as the process involves encourages those who have a certain belief fortify their own positions, confirm their bias etc. So when a WA group is made by design to promote one type of idea it becomes a bias when a few people work to forward a certain type of messages, and have a few to provide likes, which puts the opinion of the rest in the background..
Contestation is essential. We need to counter one sided propaganda by not being silent..
Need for Samvaad.
Now each one whatever their education level or Place in the hierarchy, is technically able to respond, and speak their mind., contest, explain, disagree etc.
Twitter has now changed it policy to highlight those whom you engage with, more than those who you only follow..perhaps creating an echo chamber. Unless some of us consciously decide to engage with "the other".
Every person is now a content creator besides being purely a consumer. Earlier passive consumer, then a "follower" and now an "engager"..
But the engager will face three types of responses:
a) naming/stereotyping
b) character assassination, giving motivations vested interests,
c) What-about-ary. You have to ignore these three types of posts. and engage with the "other view" with the objective of reaching a situation where you end up with each one respecting the right of the other to hold their own view.
Now What's app is also become a platform for business transactions. Then promoting a kind of social consumerism
Netflix’s The Social Dilemma highlights the problem with social media, but what’s the solution? https://theconversation.com/netflixs-the-social-dilemma-highlights-the-problem-with-social-media-but-whats-the-solution-147351
In the long run, stemming the flow of personal data to digital platforms will need legislative change. While legislation can’t fix everything, it can encourage systemic change.
Last year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission finalised its Digital Platforms Inquiry investigating a range of issues relating to tech platforms, including data collection and privacy. It's focus was on ... improving and bolstering the definitions of “consent” for consumers, including explicit understanding of when and how their data is being tracked online.
If what we’re facing is indeed a “social dilemma”, it’s going to take more than the remorseful words of a few Silicon Valley tech-bros to solve it.