Is Zuckerberg willing to act boldly to fix Facebook crisis?
As questions mounted last year about whether Facebook had been exploited to tilt the U.S. presidential election, Mark Zuckerberg landed on a fishing trawler off Alabama’s Gulf coast. Thirteen months later, Zuckerberg is grappling with a crisis that has enveloped the company synonymous with his face and name. It does not help that the most glaring reminder of Facebook’s flaws is the unabated uproar over the American presidency itself. “The world feels anxious and divided, and Facebook has a lot of work to do,” Zuckerberg wrote in January, laying out his annual “personal challenge.” Scrutiny of Facebook has intensified following reports that it failed to prevent the data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica from amassing personal information about millions of users—possibly used to aid Donald Trump’s campaign—and that the social network has been collecting Android users’ phone call and text message histories without notice. That adds to criticism that Facebook manipulates its users and has allowed Russian bots to divide Americans by spreading false information. On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission announced it was investigating Facebook for its privacy practices. Zuckerberg preaches transparency, but flinches at questioning. He is undeniably brilliant, but stubborn about acknowledging the extent of Facebook’s problems. Is he prepared to do all it will take the right the ship? “If he fails to do it, it may take a while but eventually people are going to rebel,” said Roger McNamee, an early Facebook investor and adviser who has become a pointed critic. “I thought Facebook was a force for good in the world for a really long time,” McNamee said. “I think it’s really hard to make that case today.”