Zuckerberg speaks

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has assured US Senators that his company is committed to not compromising the integrity of elections anywhere, making a special mention of India. That is reassuring, but neither do we know what exactly has happened in India thus far, nor what may potentially happen. The most unnerving part is perhaps even Facebook does not exactly know what all is going on. That is what the Cambridge Analytica episode demonstrated. That is also what a lot of answers Zuckerberg gave to the US Congress over two days indicated. Even the inquisitors seemed to be at sea over how to formulate their questions because technology and its implications is something even the technically inclined may struggle with, what with the man in the spotlight doing his best to not give straight answers. This lack of comprehension is what crooks exploit.

But a hard fact is Facebook cannot but collect data on users and analyse it to target advertisements more effectively. That is its essential business model, and without which there is no money. It can at best put checks on what third-party apps can collect. Certain disturbing facts have come out of the questioning (or perhaps have become better known now), such as that Facebook may be collecting data on you even after you have logged out. There is a hint of lack of integrity in this, which should make everyone wonder what else we don’t know.

Suggestions of monitoring the content people post on Facebook were also made by certain members of the US Congress. Among various promises, Zuckerberg also said 20,000 workers may soon be in place for content review. There were also threats of legislation, which is a temptation that should ideally be resisted because of the political bias it may lend. While Democrats were more interested in questioning hate posts, Republicans questioned why certain posts were removed. The reality is that technology has moved way too fast for society to comprehend what it is doing to lives. A serious effort has to be made towards making sense of it, and it is good a beginning has been made.