Naghamok na sila…nahimo na uso an pamalikas hasta
pagsabwag nan mayaot. Facebook (FB), Instagram and
WhatsApp all suffered outages midday of October 4, 2021, according to public
statements from the three Facebook services. CNN New York reported that outage
tracking site Down Detector logged tens of thousands of reports for each of the
services. Facebook's own site would not load at all; Instagram and WhatsApp
were accessible, but could not load new content or send messages.
On Sunday,
"60 Minutes" aired a segment in which Facebook whistleblower Frances
Haugen claimed the company is aware of how its platforms are used to spread
hate, violence and misinformation, and that Facebook has tried to hide that
evidence. Facebook has pushed back on those claims.
At a Senate
hearing on Sept. 30, US senator Richard Blumenthal pressed Facebook global head
of safety Antigone Davis on Facebook-owned Instagram and the platform's
potential negative impact on children, particularly young girls.
Freedom of
speech is not absolute especially if it steps on societal norms. And since
Facebook is a company, it is their moral and social responsibility to look into
the company’s impact and influence to the majority.
One cannot deny
the help of this platform to link families and friends in terms of its reach
and usability and influence. The sites are even used for online businesses and
even education to cope with the unnerving discord the pandemic has brought. But
with the proliferation of the positive impact of such platforms to individuals
and groups, a plethora of hate, trolls, memes against the rights of the
marginalized (like PWD, LGBTQ and even women and children) are also thriving.
The
whistleblower accused the company of putting a deaf ear on these things since algorithms
sensed huge following on silly, violent and even hateful content which can eventually
become big sources of profit. Researches were already done but the higher-ups
of the company seem to be mum about the implications.
Look at the
posts thriving on the timelines these days. Thematically, a keen observer can
cluster them to divisiveness and even disrespect. There seems to be a sense of
entitlement to people who seem to feel some sort of power once they post
something which can feed their skewed beliefs.
Yes, we are in a
democracy but we must also be open-minded in thinking about our influence to
children when we blurt out profanities on social media and similar platforms.
We must understand the ripple effects of our actions. Also, the company must
practice accountability on the “mutation” of values people seem to experience
through the platforms.
The billions the
company acquire must come along with social responsibility.
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