Social media is a thing today. A really big thing. Billions of accounts across the globe. Billions of messages sent daily. Free speech supported and encouraged. This is the stuff that keeps democracies free and working.
Or maybe not.
When manipulators of truth, fact and logic post false information to affect elections and support for social issues, then something needs to be done. Facebook is the largest platform of this information. Creator Zuckerberg has decided on the policy of let liars lie and the consumer beware. I’m thinking that is too pat an answer.
It also eliminates an expensive editing and supervision role for Facebook. Newspapers and responsible journals assume both the risk and expense for reliable content. Quality and reliability of the information is the result. You may not like a point of view of a specific author, but his work has been vetted for correctness.
Not so on Facebook. The commenters and respondents for individual posts provide the only check and balance, and they do not have the known expertise or credibility to do the job. Their comments are as unedited and unverified as the original poster.
I realize this is a tall order to pursue. An open forum is just that. however, when that forum grows to the size and influence of Facebook, then something has to happen to balance the negative effects.
Not to do so is a complete diminution of the platform. Maybe that’s the answer? If Facebook is considered totally unreliable and incredible, then the only action is to ignore it. If a billion people did just that, the platform would disappear.
Maybe that’s what we need to do. Ignore and walk away. Shut it down.
When Zuckerberg realizes his wealth depends on truth, he may be moved to do something.
Meanwhile, what are we the people to do?
June 25, 2020
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