Last week, a federal judge at least temporarily stopped the government’s attempt to avoid disruption of the next Presidential election cycle. (Read about it in the Post: Social media injunction unravels plans to protect 2024 elections.) This disturbing news prompts me to republish an essay I first published shortly after the Capitol assault in January 2021. Due to this recent injunction, it feels more relevant than ever:
As many of us exchange ideas on Facebook, it is sobering to realize those of us in the U.S. compose only roughly 8 percent of the largest social network's 2.8 billion users. Still, that's about twice our share of the global population, which is a little over 4 percent.
It's a big world and there's a lot of big data about all of us in the hands of Facebook executives. The company utilizes that data to make tons of money off of those who advertise in the hope of affecting our behavior, not only as consumers but also as voters.
Siva Vaidhyanathan published an important piece in the New Republic earlier this month arguing that Facebook's algorithms and business model favors authoritarianism, and it's worth considering how this happens in this growing period of domestic political unrest.
"(I)f you wanted to design a propaganda machine to undermine democracy around the world, you could not make one better than Facebook," argues Vaidhyanathan. "Above that, the leadership of Facebook has consistently bent its policies to favor the interests of the powerful around the world. As authoritarian nationalists have risen to power in recent years—often by campaigning through Facebook—Facebook has willingly and actively assisted them."
The way Facebook and other social media platforms do this is easy for me to see as an author. If I post something that acts to inflame emotions of those who read my essays, the number of "likes" and other reactions rises dramatically. This in turn elevates the visibility of my posts so that more people see them, and a virtuous cycle has been set off.
That is success, right?
The problem is that I do not want to inflame anyone's emotions; I want to inform people and start reasonable conversations.
Those seeking to manipulate voters' emotions are far better at this game than people like me will ever be. Thus they have used Facebook for years to circulate wild conspiracy theories created by QAnon, the Proud Boys, Three-Percenters and other racist, white supremacist and violent groups.
This process got us Trump and is bolstering authoritarian leaders all over the world, such as Vladimir Putin of Russia, Narendra Modi of India, Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Andrzej Duda of Poland, Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, and the brutal junta that still rules Myanmar. (as per New Republic)
Extreme content is rewarded by Facebook algorithms and that contributes to extreme outcomes.
I wish that I could offer some hopeful reform effort to combat this scourge, but I can't. Neither can Vaidhyanathan, although he cites a few small academic efforts. We've unleashed a Frankenstein, and under the additional pressure of a pandemic, it is ravaging democracies around the world.
Including ours.
(Thanks to Susan Zakin for alerting me to the New Republic article.)
LINKS:
Ukraine tops NATO summit agenda along with defense plans, Sweden's membership and Belarus fears (ABC)
‘We have ambitious plans’: Anti-Putin forces plan fresh attacks inside Russia (Guardian)
Zelenskiy to Visit NATO to Rally Support for Ukraine Membership (Bloomberg)
Turkey drops opposition to Sweden’s NATO bid on eve of summit (WP)
Putin in Awkward Position After Leak of Wagner Document (Newsweek)
The testosterone primary of 2024 is ‘getting out of hand’ (Politico)
‘Not what it was’: House Freedom Caucus wrestles with its future amid split over tactics and Trump (CNN)
Social media injunction unravels plans to protect 2024 elections (WP)
Warning: Student loan cliff ahead (Axios)
Why aren’t Americans happier about the economy? (Robert Reich)
Number of Migrants at the Border Plunges as Mexico Helps U.S. to Stem Flow (NYT)
The Lucky Few: Pakistani Citizenship Still Very Elusive For Most Afghan Refugees (RFE)
Twitter traffic sinks in wake of changes and launch of rival platform Threads (Guardian)
"Extreme" heat envelops Phoenix, 42 million people under warnings (Axios)
Higher tides are creating new problems in Hawaii (AP)
A federal court upheld a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care. A law preventing transgender minors from receiving hormone therapy and puberty blockers will go into effect. It’s the first time a federal court has upheld such a ban. (WP)
Sarah Silverman Sues Meta, OpenAI for Copyright Infringement of Her Memoir ‘The Bedwetter’ (Variety)
Meta Ran a Giant Experiment in Governance. Now It’s Turning to AI (Wired)
Meta's Twitter rival Threads overtakes ChatGPT as fastest-growing platform (Reuters)
How to use GPT-4 with streaming data for real-time generative AI (InfoWorld)
Is artificial intelligence advancing too quickly? What AI leaders at Google say (60 Minutes)
New York Times will close sports desk, sending readers to the Athletic (WP)
MLB Made Dramatic Rule Changes. These All-Stars Adapted. (WSJ)
Former AT&T Chairman Randall Stephenson reportedly resigned from the PGA Tour’s policy board over concerns about the tour’s controversial proposed partnership with Saudi Arabia’s national wealth fund. The deal “is not one that I can objectively evaluate or in good conscience support, particularly in light of the U.S. intelligence report concerning Jamal Khashoggi in 2018,” Stephenson said. [AP]
How Truman Capote Was Destroyed by His Own Masterpiece (LitHub)
Kentucky man finds over 700 Civil War-era coins buried in his cornfield (LiveScience)
Company Hits Diversity Quota By Claiming New AI Is A Woman (The Onion)
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