The Tale of Two Absolutionists (Filed #009)
Facebook and Twitter's varied approaches to fixing problems. Plus, how Silicon Valley is listening to you and is Marc Benioff really that "woke"?
This week, I was asked if the tech industry would get any better and the honest answer is that I don’t know. It seems like it’ll be a while largely because Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Amazon are still in the proverbial woodshed being taken to task by regulators over a myriad of issues, including disinformation and for being alleged monopolies. But rather than sitting in the corner waiting for their punishment, Big Tech has tried to be proactive to mitigate their responsibilities, though they have differing approaches.
Take Facebook and Twitter, two popular social networks accused of committing a host of sins (which ones will vary depending on who you are). Both want to be absolved but is it the absolution by users they seek or internally? In 2018, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg proclaimed that the company would set up a “Supreme Court” to arbitrate content moderation. He also stated that this oversight board would have the final say, even over Zuckerberg’s objections.
A positive step forward, right? Especially when Zuckerberg acknowledged that “some” regulation was needed for the industry. But on the other hand, it’s a way out for Facebook from having to make the necessary hard decisions about what transpires on its platform. It just wants to be the messenger—don’t shoot it. And Zuckerberg has warned that he doesn’t want his company to be the one judging what’s free speech or not.
…In general, I don’t think it’s right for a private company to censor politicians or the news in a democracy…
Mark Zuckerberg, “Mark Zuckerberg Stands for Voice and Free Expression”
Who is Facebook trying to placate? Itself or the public?
Twitter is in a similar situation but has, at times, taken a contrasting position to its industry peer. While Facebook allowed political ads sans fact-checking, Twitter outright banned any such advertising. Then earlier this week, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted that his company would be studying ways to develop an “open and decentralized standard” for social media. It’s early days but it looks like Dorsey hopes it’ll make the internet a friendlier place.
The thing is that these environments already exist, like Mastadon. So does Twitter want praise for discovering something someone else is already doing? And reading Dorsey’s tweets, it suggests that the problem is hosting the content, not the content itself. So by implementing a decentralized offering, Twitter could absolve itself of any responsibility and focus on helping users communicate with one another. All the success minus the hard work.
These companies started out with the goal of bringing the world closer together and being the town hall of the internet. For years that’s been the mission and now when faced with heavy criticism over what’s posted on its site and its ambiguous stances, Twitter and Facebook believe passing the buck to some independent body, relying on artificial intelligence, or blockchain-ifying everything will free them from cleaning their own homes.
If that’s what they seek, then as is practice in the Catholic Church when priests bestows absolution:
E ego auctoritate ipsius te absolvo ab omni vinculo excommunicationis (suspensionis) et interdicti in quantum possum et tu indiges. Deinde, ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis in nomine Patris, et Filii, + et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
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» Don’t forget to read my latest blog post: Qualcomm Writes 5G’s Next Chapter With New Chips, Previews Key CES Theme
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