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mark-zuckerberg-misinformer.png
Sarah Wasko / Media Matters

To mark the occasion on Zuckerberg’s 37th birthday, here are 37 indefensible problems with Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg has made a big impact in his 37 years

Written by Madelyn Webb, Kayla Gogarty, Carly Evans & Sharon Kann

Published 05/14/21 6:22 PM EDT

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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg turns 37 today. In just a few short decades, this millennial and his tech monopoly have influenced elections, provides a platform for white supremacist organizing, and contributed to public health crises. 

In honor of Zuckerberg entering his 37th year, here is a list of 37 inexcusable issues with Facebook. If wisdom comes with age, maybe Zuckerberg will consider rectifying some of these. But we’re not holding out hope. 

  1. Facebook has a huge problem with hate speech.
  2. And racism. 
  3. And climate misinformation.
  4. And COVID-19 misinformation.
  5. And anti-vaccine misinformation.
  6. And election misinformation. 
  7. Dangerous misinformation of all kinds spreads at breakneck speeds on the platform.
  8. These problems are worse in other languages.
  9. But the company lies about the extent of misinformation to save face.
  10. Instead of meaningfully addressing misinformation, Facebook spent $130 million to create an oversight board.
  11. Meanwhile, Facebook outsources and abuses content moderators. 
  12. The few moderation policies the company does institute are vague and confusing.
  13. These policies are rolled out often too late to be effective and are always poorly enforced.
  14. For example, the platform allowed anti-mask/reopen groups even when their explicit purpose was to encourage users to violate state mask mandates
  15. These violative communities are allowed to easily evade Facebook bans.
  16. The company does not moderate reasonably across the platforms it owns.
  17. Many of the interventions Facebook has instituted (like labeling misleading content) have yet to be shown to work. 
  18. Facebook let former President Donald Trump use the platform to spread dangerous lies (and may continue to do so if he’s allowed back on it). 
  19. Political narratives on Facebook are dominated by the right.
  20. Facebook has enforced its policy less stringently against right-wing figures.
  21. But the platform unfairly polices content from oppressed groups.
  22. Facebook’s advertising model incentivizes sensational content.
  23. The company applies policies unevenly for ads.
  24. And political ads do not undergo enough scrutiny.
  25. Facebook has risked election integrity.
  26. It allowed an insurrection to be organized on the platform.
  27. Facebook contributed to a genocide.
  28. It has a history of close relationships with oppressive regimes.
  29. Facebook is a monopoly, buying up any relevant competition.
  30. The platform lied about its metrics, faking video engagement statistics that cost hundreds of journalists their jobs.
  31. Facebook refuses to give researchers data it has access to.
  32. The platform keeps introducing new features when it can’t clean up the ones that already exist.
  33. Including features targeted at children.
  34. The company lies to the media and requires journalists to jump through hoops to get access to information.
  35. It has a history of security breaches.
  36. The platform has continuously exploited users’ trust and privacy. 
  37. The Facebook business model thrives on misinformation, which means none of this is likely to change anytime soon.

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