According to a leaked memo, Facebook's Vice President of Global Affairs has recently informed the company's staff to prepare themselves for more bad press on the way.
While the message this memo is conveying seems to be rather cut and dry (warning employees that more bad things are going to be dredged up), there is another potential interpretation of the message. The fact of the matter is that no matter what step Facebook takes nowadays, reports and headlines almost always bring up some controversy attached to the social network. Which, by the way, this author is completely fine with. My sympathy well has dried out as far as Facebook and its endless list of problems go. And why shouldn't it be? While the social network may not have started out as a potentially harmful platform, there has been nothing but trouble brewing for nearly the entire past decade. Facebook is a company that, while being massive in scale and net worth, has executives that are completely unbothered by the negative ramifications of the platforms they hold control over.
Frances Haugen, ex-employee and current whistleblower for the company, may have added to the flames currently surrounding Facebook, but she hardly lit the match. Problems have been in place for a long time. Even if we start our assessment from 2020, ignoring the US Congressional hearings and so on, there's a lot to untangle. There was the entire debacle against Apple over the latter implementing security and privacy policies for its users. Imagine seeing a stance being taken in favor of online privacy and firmly planting yourself against it. Then there were accusations, some eve backed up with proof, that much of the US Capitol riots in 2021 were planned on the social network. Anti-vaccination campaigns ran rampant all throughout the COVID-19 pandemic's heyday. There have been multiple complaints and investigations into the company for being anti-competitive and establishing a monopoly. Finally, there's Frances Haugen testifying to the US Congress, and even fielding questions from the UK government.
How a company manages to do so much wrong within the span of almost 2 years is beyond anyone's understanding. While it is definitely true that platforms such as Facebook fight an uphill battle when it comes to moderating and regulations, considering how big their communities are, that still does nothing to explain away the likes of Apple and Frances Haugen. Currently, leaks made public by the latter are being complied by multiple journals and newspaper outlets. Perhaps this will help provide insight into what was being referred to in the memos. At any rate whatever it is cannot be good.
Photo: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Read next: Research says, eliminating contentious influencers can diminish toxicity on social networking platforms
While the message this memo is conveying seems to be rather cut and dry (warning employees that more bad things are going to be dredged up), there is another potential interpretation of the message. The fact of the matter is that no matter what step Facebook takes nowadays, reports and headlines almost always bring up some controversy attached to the social network. Which, by the way, this author is completely fine with. My sympathy well has dried out as far as Facebook and its endless list of problems go. And why shouldn't it be? While the social network may not have started out as a potentially harmful platform, there has been nothing but trouble brewing for nearly the entire past decade. Facebook is a company that, while being massive in scale and net worth, has executives that are completely unbothered by the negative ramifications of the platforms they hold control over.
Frances Haugen, ex-employee and current whistleblower for the company, may have added to the flames currently surrounding Facebook, but she hardly lit the match. Problems have been in place for a long time. Even if we start our assessment from 2020, ignoring the US Congressional hearings and so on, there's a lot to untangle. There was the entire debacle against Apple over the latter implementing security and privacy policies for its users. Imagine seeing a stance being taken in favor of online privacy and firmly planting yourself against it. Then there were accusations, some eve backed up with proof, that much of the US Capitol riots in 2021 were planned on the social network. Anti-vaccination campaigns ran rampant all throughout the COVID-19 pandemic's heyday. There have been multiple complaints and investigations into the company for being anti-competitive and establishing a monopoly. Finally, there's Frances Haugen testifying to the US Congress, and even fielding questions from the UK government.
How a company manages to do so much wrong within the span of almost 2 years is beyond anyone's understanding. While it is definitely true that platforms such as Facebook fight an uphill battle when it comes to moderating and regulations, considering how big their communities are, that still does nothing to explain away the likes of Apple and Frances Haugen. Currently, leaks made public by the latter are being complied by multiple journals and newspaper outlets. Perhaps this will help provide insight into what was being referred to in the memos. At any rate whatever it is cannot be good.
Photo: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Read next: Research says, eliminating contentious influencers can diminish toxicity on social networking platforms
