Does Facebook need to change its video policies?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/technology/facebook-is-said-to-question-its-influence-in-election.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=b-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
This article discusses Facebook’s involvement in the recent presidential election. During the aftermath of the election, Facebook has been under heavy scrutiny because many believe that it helped spread misinformation that ultimately swayed Americans to vote for one candidate over the other. Mr. Zuckerberg believes that this notion is “a pretty crazy idea” but I am not so sure. This article mentions a specific example of a fake story that was shared on Facebook regarding the election; a story about Pope Francis. Although Pope Francis is actually a refugee advocate, a fake video of him endorsing Donald Trump was shared almost a million times. This means that there was an information cascade in which someone initially shared it, then someone else followed, until it reached approximately one million shares. This copy-cat behavior and mass endorsement of this value “validated” the truthfulness of the video and definitely influenced the beliefs of several viewers. Although there was a correction issued, it was barely heard.
While a false video like this is allowed to be circulated, a post was taken down in September of a 9 year girl fleeing from bombs during the Vietnam War. Although the post was of a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo, it was removed because the girl in the image was naked. This violated Facebook’s nudity standards although the context of the picture was one of social awareness rather than child pornography. If this post had been allowed to circulate, it would have exposed viewers to the horrors and consequences of war; an undeniably positive effect. Mr. Zuckerberg has “defended Facebook as a place where people can share all opinions” but this does not seem entirely to be the case. Fake videos that have significant amount of views and shared are subject to controversy in the effect that they have on the American population while real posts can be removed because they violate one policy or another. Perhaps it is time to have a “fact-check” on videos that will have real and dire consequences or change the policies of Facebook altogether. Although this would be no easy task, the effects of the change could be more significant than people want to acknowledge.