The Social Network and Privacy
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/meta-fined-405-million-euro-instagram-privacy-161348122.html
Currently, the company Meta which owns Instagram has been brought to light again due to a recent 405 million euro fine from the Irish Data Protection Commission regarding the privacy of children while using Instagram. The concerns are relating to how certain personal information of children could be shared with other users and put children at risk for potentially being targeted by strangers online.
The issue of the privacy of children on Instagram involves both graph theory and game theory since the child is a part of a large social network and the issue between Meta and the way that the Irish Data Protection Commission is dealing with this issue can also be considered a game with certain payoffs depending on the final outcome.
Specifically, in graph theory, there is an idea of a social network where if someone gains access to a child’s personal information, he or she can start to make links between where the child lives and where the child goes to school and maybe the residence community that they are living in. Furthermore, he or she could find out where the child’s parents work and the different connections that the child’s parents have to other coworkers as well as friends which could potentially threaten both the child, the child’s family, and the community’s safety from predators.
In terms of game theory, this fine is currently a positive payoff for the Irish Data Protection Commission since they are reinforcing a law and holding Meta accountable which could put more trust in the government from its’ citizens. However, at the same time, it is a game for Meta since they have to weigh the payoff of following through and paying the fine to comply with the government and potentially sacrifice new users from joining Instagram versus the better payoff they could make if they decided to appeal the fine and be able to better ensure their users that they have a certain sense of freedom when using their social media platforms. There would not be as many strict guidelines and would make the user experience better which would mean more traffic and more users on their platforms which would help Meta earn more profits and be a win for Meta.
With the vast number of children on different social media platforms, they already building their own social networks online. However, children may not be able to fully grasp whether the links they are making with other people online are good or bad. Ultimately, I believe it will be interesting to see whether Meta will appeal this fine as well as how this could impact how governments protect their citizens’ privacy and hold private corporations accountable for this. Will private corporations have more power over the government enforces laws or will the government be able to control private corporations in the interest of their citizens? Will user’s privacy be compromised for the gain of private corporations?