{"id":2767,"date":"2022-01-27T19:22:49","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T18:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/2022\/01\/27\/facebooks-very-bad-year-no-really-it-might-be-the-worst-yet-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2022-01-27T19:22:49","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T18:22:49","slug":"facebooks-very-bad-year-no-really-it-might-be-the-worst-yet-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/2022\/01\/27\/facebooks-very-bad-year-no-really-it-might-be-the-worst-yet-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook\u2019s very bad year. No, really, it might be the worst yet &#8211; The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"cfbc967f0983488262956e73eca9483a\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3859091246952232\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- blok -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3859091246952232\" data-ad-slot=\"1334354390\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n<\/div>\n<p>From repeated accusations of fostering misinformation to multiple whistleblowers, the company weathered some battles in 2021<br \/>Last modified on Wed 29 Dec 2021 11.02 GMT<br \/>It\u2019s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/interactive\/2018\/12\/business\/facebooks-year-of-scandal\/index.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">now<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.adweek.com\/performance-marketing\/facebooks-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-year\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">perennial<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/technology\/2018\/12\/21\/18149099\/delete-facebook-scandals-2018-cambridge-analytica\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> headline<\/a>: Facebook has had a very bad year.<br \/>Years of mounting pressure from Congress and the public culminated in repeated PR crises, blockbuster whistleblower revelations and pending regulation over the past 12 months.<\/p>\n<p>And while the company\u2019s bottom line <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/jul\/28\/facebook-growth-earnings-business-quarter\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">has not yet<\/a> wavered, 2022 is not looking to be any better than 2021 \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/aug\/14\/lina-khan-big-tech-ftc-antitrust\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">with more<\/a> potential privacy and antitrust actions on the horizon.<br \/>Here are some of the major battles <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/facebook\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Facebook<\/a> has weathered in the past year.<br \/>Facebook\u2019s year started with allegations that a deadly insurrection on the US Capitol was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techtransparencyproject.org\/articles\/capitol-attack-was-months-making-facebook\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">largely planned<\/a> on its platform. Regulatory uproar over the incident reverberated for months, leading lawmakers to call CEO Mark Zuckerberg before Congress to answer for his platform\u2019s role in the attack.<br \/>In the aftermath, Zuckerberg<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2020\/jun\/02\/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-trump-protests-violence\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> defended<\/a> his decision not to take action against Donald Trump, though the former president stoked anger and separatist flames on his personal and campaign accounts. Facebook\u2019s inaction led to a rare <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2020\/jun\/01\/facebook-workers-rebel-mark-zuckerberg-donald-trump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">public employee walkout<\/a> and Zuckerberg later reversed the hands-off approach to Trump. Barring Trump from Facebook platforms sparked backlash once again \u2013 this time from Republican lawmakers<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2021\/01\/07\/zuckerburg-says-trump-will-be-blocked-from-facebook-and-instagram-455805\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> alleging<\/a> censorship.<br \/>What ensued was a months-long back-and-forth between Facebook and its independent oversight board, with each entity punting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/may\/05\/donald-trump-facebook-account-ban-oversight-board\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">the decision<\/a> of whether to keep Trump off the platform. Ultimately, Facebook decided to extend Trump\u2019s suspension to two years. Critics said this underscored the ineffectiveness of the body. \u201cWhat is the point of the oversight board?\u201d asked the Real Oversight Board, an activist group monitoring Facebook, after the non-verdict.<br \/>The scandal with perhaps the biggest impact on the company this year came in the form of the employee-turned-whistleblower Frances Haugen, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/oct\/03\/former-facebook-employee-frances-haugen-identifies-herself-as-whistleblower\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">leaked internal documents<\/a> that exposed some of the inner workings of Facebook and just how much the company knew about the harmful effects its platform was having on users and society.<br \/>Haugen\u2019s revelations,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/how-instagram-is-hurting-teen-girls-11632940937\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> first reported<\/a> by the Wall Street Journal, showed Facebook was aware of many of its grave public health impacts and had the means to mitigate them \u2013 but chose not to do so.<br \/>For instance, documents show that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/sep\/14\/facebook-aware-instagram-harmful-effect-teenage-girls-leak-reveals\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">since at least 2019<\/a>, Facebook has studied the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/sep\/14\/facebook-aware-instagram-harmful-effect-teenage-girls-leak-reveals\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">negative impact<\/a> Instagram had on teenage girls and yet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/sep\/18\/teenage-girls-body-image-and-instagrams-perfect-storm\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">did<\/a> little to mitigate the harms and publicly denied that was the case. Those findings in particular led Congress to summon company executives to multiple <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/sep\/30\/facebook-hearing-testimony-instagram-impact\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">hearings<\/a> on the platform and teen users.<br \/>Facebook has since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/sep\/27\/facebook-pauses-instagram-kids-teen-mental-health-concerns\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">paused<\/a> its plans to launch an Instagram app for kids and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/instagram-unveils-tools-to-keep-teens-safe-including-parental-controls-11638864001\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">introduced<\/a> new safety measures encouraging users to take breaks if they use the app for long periods of time. In a Senate hearing on 8 December, the Instagram executive Adam Mosseri called on Congress to launch an independent body tasked with regulating social media more comprehensively, sidestepping calls for Instagram to regulate itself.<br \/>Haugen also alleged Facebook\u2019s tweaks to its algorithm, which turned off some safeguards intended to fight misinformation, may have led to the Capitol attack. She provided information underscoring how little of its resources it dedicates to moderating non-English language content.<br \/>In response to the Haugen documents, Congress <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/oct\/05\/facebook-frances-haugen-whistleblower-regulation\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">has promised<\/a> legislation and drafted a handful of new bills to address Facebook\u2019s power. One controversial measure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/oct\/14\/big-tech-legislation-section-230-competition-liability\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">would target<\/a> Section 230, a portion of the Communications Decency Act that exempts companies from liability for content posted on their platforms.<br \/>Haugen was not the only whistleblower to take on Facebook in 2021. In April, the former Facebook data scientist turned whistleblower Sophie Zhang <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/apr\/12\/facebook-loophole-state-backed-manipulation\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">revealed<\/a> to the Guardian that Facebook repeatedly allowed world leaders and politicians to use its platform to deceive the public or harass opponents. Zhang has since been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/india-news\/2020-delhi-elections-fb-whistleblower-offers-to-testify-before-parliamentary-panel-101637864072307.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">called<\/a> to testify on these findings before parliament in the UK and India.<br \/>Lawmakers around the world are eager to hear from the Facebook whistleblowers. Haugen also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/oct\/25\/frances-haugen-to-testify-to-mps-about-facebook-and-online-harm\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">testified<\/a> in the UK regarding the documents she leaked, telling MPs Facebook \u201cprioritizes profit over safety\u201d.<br \/>Such testimony is likely to influence impending legislation, including the Online Safety Bill: a proposed act in the UK that would task the communications authority Ofcom with regulating content online and requiring tech firms to protect users from harmful posts or face substantial fines.<br \/>Though <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/apple\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Apple<\/a> has had its fair share of regulatory battles, Facebook did not find an ally in its fellow tech firm while facing down the onslaught of consumer and regulatory pressure that 2021 brought.<br \/>The iPhone maker in April launched a new notification system to alert users when and how Facebook was tracking their browsing habits, supposedly as a means to give them more control over their privacy.<br \/>Facebook objected to the new policy, arguing Apple was doing so to \u201cself-preference their own services and targeted advertising products\u201d. It said the feature would negatively affect small businesses relying on Facebook to advertise. Apple pressed on anyway, rolling it out in April and promising additional changes in 2022.<br \/>Preliminary reports suggest Apple is, indeed, profiting from the change while Google and Facebook <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/apple-privacy-policy-advertising-increase\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">have seen<\/a> advertising profits fall.<br \/>In early October, just weeks after Haugen\u2019s revelations, things took a sudden turn for the worse <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/oct\/05\/scary-at-first-social-media-users-facebook-outage-whatsapp-instagram\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">when the company faced<\/a> a global service outage.<br \/>Perhaps Facebook\u2019s largest and most sustained tech failure in recent history, the glitch left billions of users unable to access Facebook, Instagram or Whatsapp for six hours on 4 and 5 October.<br \/>Facebook\u2019s share price dropped 4.9% that day, cutting Zuckerberg\u2019s personal wealth by $6bn, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2021-10-04\/zuckerberg-loses-7-billion-in-hours-as-facebook-plunges\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">according to Bloomberg<\/a>.<br \/>As Facebook faces continuing calls for accountability, its time as the wunderkind of Silicon Valley has come to a close and it has become a subject of bipartisan contempt.<br \/>Republicans repeatedly have accused Facebook of being biased against conservatism, while liberals have targeted the platform for its monopolistic tendencies and failure to police misinformation.<br \/>In July, the Biden administration began to take a harder line with the company over vaccine misinformation \u2013 which Joe Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/video\/2021\/jul\/17\/biden-says-covid-19-misinformation-is-killing-people-video\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">said<\/a> was \u201ckilling people\u201d and the US surgeon general <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/jul\/18\/us-surgeon-general-covid-misinformation-spreading-like-wildfire-social-media\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">said<\/a> was \u201cspreading like wildfire\u201d on the platform. Meanwhile, the appointment of the antitrust thought leader Lina Khan to head of the FTC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/aug\/14\/lina-khan-big-tech-ftc-antitrust\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">spelled trouble for Facebook<\/a>. She has been publicly critical of the company and other tech giants in the past, and in August <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/aug\/19\/facebook-antitrust-case-ftc-monopoly\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">refiled<\/a> a failed FTC case accusing Facebook of anti-competitive practices.<br \/>After a year of struggles, Facebook has thrown something of a Hail Mary: changing its name. The company announced it would now be called Meta, a reference to its new \u201cmetaverse\u201d project, which will create a virtual environment where users can spend time.<br \/>The name change was met with derision and skepticism from critics. But it remains to be seen whether Facebook, by any other name, will beat the reputation that precedes it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2021\/dec\/29\/facebook-capitol-riot-frances-haugen-sophia-zhang-apple\">source<\/a><\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From repeated accusations of fostering misinformation to multiple whistleblowers, the company weathered some battles in 2021Last modified on Wed 29 Dec 2021 11.02 GMTIt\u2019s a now&#8211;perennial headline: Facebook has had a very bad year.Years of mounting pressure from Congress and the public culminated in repeated PR crises, blockbuster whistleblower revelations and pending regulation over the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow1sXXCw:productID":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2767\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}