Why the business model of social media giants like Facebook is incompatible with human rights
The power of Facebook’s unprecedented knowledge base is more than just creepy marketing – it’s a violation of human rights, writes Sarah Joseph in this crossposting from The Conversation.
Facebook has had a bad few weeks. The social media giant had to apologise for failing to protect the personal data of millions of users from being accessed by data mining company Cambridge Analytica. Outrage is brewing over its admission to spying on people via their Android phones. Its stock price plummeted, while millions deleted their accounts in disgust.
Facebook has also faced scrutiny over its failure to prevent the spread of “fake news” on its platforms, including via an apparent orchestrated Russian propaganda effort to influence the 2016 US presidential election.
Facebook’s actions – or inactions – facilitated breaches of privacy and human rights associated with democratic governance. But it might be that its business model – and those of its social media peers generally – is simply incompatible with human rights.
The good
In some ways, social media has been a boon for human rights – most obviously for freedom of speech.
