How’s your level of anger today? How is your perception of your body image? How many times did you log onto Facebook, Instagram or other social media sites?
What social media giants understand is that emotions such as anger or a pre-occupation with sexuality are every bit as addictive as drugs, tobacco or alcohol. If you don’t believe me, ask Frances Haugen.
Frances Haugen is an ex-Facebook employee who is about to testify before Congress. She has accused Facebook of literally conspiring through skewed content and algorithms to tear our society apart. She stepped forward as part of a Wall Street Journal investigation launched into social media.
Haugen agreed to unmask herself in an effort to cooperate with Congress when she steps in front of a committee on consumer protection. The British newspaper, the Guardian has been able to obtain parts of her written testimony. According to their reporting, Haugen will say, in part “As long as Facebook is operating in the dark, it is accountable to no one. And it will continue to make choices that go against the common good.”
Haugen expanded on her claim that Facebook is intentionally out to harm people and that the government must step up to help, “When we realized tobacco companies were hiding the harms it caused, the government took action. When we figured out cars were safer with seatbelts, the government took action. I implore you to do the same here.”
The Flawed Wisdom
It is easy to view the social media giants as enormous marketplaces or forums where everyone and every point of view has equal access and is paid equal respect. However, Haugen and other whistleblowers are adamant that not only is that untrue, but entire staff efforts around the world are intended to keep things off balance.
Facebook, it would seem, is following an unethical set of internal principles to keep dissension and anger as high as possible, and civility and respect as off balance as things will allow. Worse, even if opposing and rational arguments are presented, they are often eliminated in favor of inflammatory rhetoric.
The net result of controlling the forum is greater frustration, anger and dissension. This combination of addictive emotions drives people to the website and ultimately, away from one another.
However, it is not just Facebook with the problem. Instagram, for example, the “selfie on steroids,” celebrates physical perfection. They may or may want to admit it, but social scientists and child psychologists have linked high teen depression and, sadly, suicide to having to compete with the image of “teenage perfection.”
As the levels of addiction and hence, the time adults and children spend on social media increases, so does the addictive anger and the negative body image issues. It would be one thing – again – to attribute the behaviors to “society,” but the social media conglomerates know exactly what they are doing.
The Ethical Key
In Haugen’s view, Facebook is accountable to no one and hence operates without oversite. Isn’t that clearly one of the elements of fraud? It certainly is. Let us not lose sight of the fact that Facebook is NOT a public forum, but a publicly-traded, for-profit company. Their need is a need for money to fuel operations.
The upper management of Facebook may rationalize societal anger and such by convincing us it (anger) is rampant through our society and they are simply a reflection. However, if it is found they are inflaming the fire for profit, are they not culpable?
Ethically, if Facebook is simply throwing up its hands and saying, “We’re doing all we can do to level the playing field,” then perhaps it is up to Congress to review its own culpability.
For example, why does Facebook enjoy a lobbying effort through PACs with payments being made to politicians? Why aren’t those payments more widely disclosed? Why isn’t Congress doing all it can to encourage greater competition in the social media space?
Ethically, if Facebook – a mega-monopoly is not accountable to anyone? Why shouldn’t it be forced to break up or to be regulated? If such is distasteful, then why isn’t its operations more transparent to all of us? We applaud Frances Haugen. The important question is if ethically, Congress has her back.
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