What will Facebook do?

Meta, the company that owns Facebook, recently disclosed the actions taken by the social-media platform on harmful content relating to the May 2022 national elections. Using its automated systems, Facebook removed 15,000 accounts for violating the platform’s rules on the use of fake accounts. From January 9 to May 16, 2022, Facebook removed more than 5 million posts for violating its violence and incitement policies. Meta used artificial intelligence technology that they trained in Filipino to help Facebook detect and remove hate speech, bullying and harassment online.

With about 2.93 billion monthly active users as of the second quarter of 2022, Facebook is the most popular social-media platform worldwide. More than 91 million Filipinos use the platform, making the Philippines number five among the top 10 countries with the highest number of Facebook users. India tops the list with 416.6 million users; the US has 240 million; Indonesia is third with 176.5 million; Brazil, 139 million; Mexico is sixth with 78 million; Vietnam, 75.9 million; Thailand, 58.5 million; Japan, 55.8 million; and Pakistan at 10th place with 49.2 million.

Facebook and Twitter have been blocked in China since 2009, reportedly as part of a government crackdown against activists. Time Magazine calls China’s restriction of foreign media platforms and censorship of non-governmental material “the Great Firewall of China.” Other countries that blocked Facebook are Iran, North Korea and the former Soviet state of Turkmenistan.

Facebook was born on February 4, 2004. In 2016, it launched its first Philippine office. In its six years of doing business in the country, Facebook has a somewhat checkered history. In 2020, for example, Facebook earned the ire of President Duterte who accused the platform of opposing his policies and supporting the left after it took down pro-duterte accounts that the platform said were fake accounts. “We allow you to operate here hoping that you could help us also,” Duterte said. “Now, if the government cannot espouse or advocate something which is for the good of the people, then what is your purpose here in my country?”

From vice.com: “Evidence has been mounting for years that Facebook is harmful for its users. Countless reports have documented how the company’s algorithms push people toward radicalization, allow extremist movements to grow, and spread misinformation on an unprecedented scale. Facebook, it has become increasingly clear, can not be trusted to govern itself.”

Facebook’s algorithm that leads people to extreme content has been under the spotlight and is at the center of serious allegations that the social network puts profits before people. Frances Haugen, a former data scientist at Facebook, provided a detailed glimpse inside the notoriously secretive tech giant. She told the US Congress that Facebook harms children, sows division and undermines democracy in pursuit of breakneck growth and “astronomical profits.”

Haugen worked at Facebook for nearly two years after stints at Google, Yelp and Pinterest. At Facebook, she studied how the social network’s algorithm amplified misinformation. Haugen said that Facebook consistently chose to maximize its growth rather than implement safeguards on its platforms, just as it hid from the public and government officials the internal research that illuminated the harms of Facebook products.

“The result has been more division, more harm, more lies, more threats and more combat. In some cases, this dangerous online talk has led to actual violence that harms and even kills people,” Haugen testified.

“During my time at Facebook, I came to realize a devastating truth: Almost no one outside of Facebook knows what happens inside Facebook,” Haugen told the US Congress. “The company intentionally hides vital information from the public, from the US government, and from governments around the world.”

Mental Health America said some people discovered that going online has become an addiction. According to internal Facebook documents obtained by some media, the stated Internet addiction affected people’s sleep, job, relationships and parenting. If it is true that Facebook algorithm amplifies misinformation, as its former data scientist told the US Congress, it should not blame users for its toxic content.

Facebook can be a good platform when it glues relatives and friends together. But it can also have a corrosive effect when bad users abuse the platform. Facebook generally knows what its users are posting, and it has the power to remove fake news, hate speech, bullying and online harassment. The big question is, will Facebook put the public good before profit?