All of the media need to finally understand one thing: Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg don’t owe them anything.
Both Zuckerberg and his data-mining company drew scrutiny in recent weeks after it was reported that it had sold information on users to Cambridge Analytica, which in turn used it to aid the Trump campaign.
It was an apparent shock to some that when Facebook asks, “Would you like to share your location?” it’s not so that they can send the user a bag of money.
New York Times technology writer Brian Chen wrote last week that he viewed the information Facebook had collected about him and that it was “like opening Pandora’s box.”
He saw that hundreds of advertisers “had my contact information, which could include my email address, phone number and full name.” They also had the contact numbers in his phone, because he synced his smartphone with the Facebook mobile app, and the list of people he’s Facebook “friends” with.
This doesn’t exactly sound like Facebook is keeping potential blackmail on each of its users ,but both the Senate and the House called for Zuckerberg to sit for hours of questioning about what his company does and why are Diamond and Silk being silenced?!
Lynette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, who go by Diamond and Silk in their online videos defending President Trump, complained earlier this month that Facebook had reduced the reach of their content on the site, labeling it “unsafe.”
The sister pair went on a media blitz last week accusing Facebook of censoring them for being black Trump supporters.
Though Facebook acknowledged its initial communication with the sisters “wasn’t correct,” they were not targeted. Last year, Facebook made policy changes that affected accounts that monetize the content they put up, which included accounts like Diamond and Silk’s.
Facebook, like any other business, makes changes and adjustments to the way it operates all the time. Clickbait websites like Upworthy exploded online a few years ago in part by using Facebook to spread their mindless content.
Facebook responded by changing the algorithm that governs the things users see on their front pages, essentially zeroing out their exposure to headlines like, “You won’t believe why Rachel Maddow is making this face about Donald Trump now!”
Conservative blogs and news websites in particular are in a constant war against Facebook for supposedly censoring their content, which has never happened, other than for websites with seriously questionable content, like Gateway Pundit.
Those outlets can still use Facebook, but the content won’t necessarily spread as far as an article in USA Today.
But even if it did start singling out any news site or personality for any reason, Facebook isn’t a highway everyone is entitled to use. It’s a private company and can do whatever it wants, including determining what articles and videos show up more or less often than others.
And it’s free!
Nobody is a victim of Facebook. And fortunately, there’s a built-in safeguard for anyone who thinks they are: Delete your account.
