Only legislation can save us from Facebook's dangers, say critics

• Published date: 05 October 2021
• Author: ZEV STUB
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

On Sunday, a former Facebook employee took to the CBS news show 60 Minutes to share revelations about how the company knew it was "tearing our societies apart" as it prioritized profits over safety and social values. Then, a day later, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp went down for six hours due to a technical glitch that made it impossible to send messages, make calls, share information and do other essential tasks that have become part of modern life.

Facebook's aggressive business practices have been criticized for years, and calls for change have been growing louder. But the stronger the pushback gets against Facebook, the less clear it becomes what, if anything, can be done.

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"I don't think that the only option is for people to leave Facebook," said Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. "Facebook could easily change its algorithms to encourage positive benefits to society, instead of increasing depression among teenage girls and spreading misinformation. The question is what incentive Facebook has to change."

Facebook's algorithm shows users the content that is likeliest to keep them engaged and on the site in order to maximize ad revenues. Studies consistently find that hateful, divisive and lewd posts generate the strongest emotions among users – and earn the company the most money.

"There are two factors that could change the way Facebook operates," Shwartz Altshuler said. "One is financial-market forces. Facebook's stock has continued to grow throughout the years, despite Senate hearings, the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, fines in the EU and US for privacy infringement and anti-competitive practices, and being blamed for foreign election interference, increasing social divides, enabling vaccine denial and much more.

"The company knows that its stock is so well supported on the financial markets that nothing can bring it down. If the SEC would take action against it, for example, then I think the company would act differently."

The second tool available is government regulation, Shwartz Altshuler said.

"After the 2016 election, when it was clear that Facebook was being used as a primary tool for spreading misinformation, it started to become clear that allowing the big tech giants to remain unregulated was causing more harm than good," she said. "It took some to...