Facebook admits platform can sometimes hurt democracy
Facebook said Monday that it fell short in preventing the social media network from being used for foreign meddling in the U.S. presidential election.
New blog posts written by Facebook executives appear to be the most critical self-assessment yet of the social media network’s effect on American democracy. Samidh Chakrabarti, the company’s product manager for civic engagement, said the 2016 presidential election has forced Facebook to confront harsh questions about the role it has played in spreading false information and intensifying divisiveness in the current political climate.
“Facebook was originally designed to connect friends and family — and it has excelled at that,” Chakrabarti wrote in a blog post Monday. “But as unprecedented numbers of people channel their political energy through this medium, it’s being used in unforeseen ways with societal repercussions that were never anticipated.”
“In 2016, we at Facebook were far too slow to recognize how bad actors were abusing our platform,” Chakrabarti added. “We’re working diligently to neutralize these risks now.”
Chakrabarti’s post, as well as those from outside contributors, reflect a broader effort by Facebook to wrestle with the implications of its global influence. In recent months, the company has admitted, using internal research as well as academic reports, that consuming Facebook passively tends to put people in a worse mood. On the heels of that analysis, Facebook last week announced major changes to its algorithm that will reduce the presence of companies and brands on the platform.
The posts are part of the company’s “Hard Questions” series, which has addressed a range of controversial issues that highlight the challenges of maintaining a global social network with more than 2 billion users. Since the summer, Facebook has posted on countering terrorism, policing hate speech, minimizing foreign propaganda, grappling with facial recognition technology and the impacts of technology on early childhood development. The wide ranging topics underscore the social network’s sprawling role in social and civic life.
Monday’s blog posts included an acknowledgment of the work still needed to be done.
“Now, we’re as determined as ever to fight the negative influences and ensure that our platform is unquestionably a source for democratic good,” wrote Katie Harbath, Facebook’s global politics and government outreach director. “There is much to build on in this regard, from the powerful role social media plays in giving people a voice in the democratic process to its ability to deliver information on an unprecedented scale.”