Facebook and other social media companies profit from hate on their platforms and need to be regulated

By Fareed Khan

Frances Haugen, a former data scientist and product manager at Facebook, became a hero to many critics of social media when she testified before a US Senate committee that her former employer knowingly magnifies hate and seeks to profit from promoting hateful content on its platforms.  Her bombshell revelations made to Senators were supported by information contained in thousands of internal Facebook documents which she leaked to the Wall Street Journal, and in her comments during an interview she did with the investigative journalism program 60 Minutes.

The information Haugen brought to light about the toxic nature of Facebook’s business model, and its willingness to put profits ahead of the well-being of society, should be a wakeup call for lawmakers in Canada and other nations that it can no longer be business as usual in how social media companies operate.  Her damning testimony should provide motivation for governments to take action against the senior executives of Facebook to hold them liable for the harms their platforms inflict on society, and to look at regulating all social media platforms.

The power that Facebook, Twitter and other social media companies have to shape the hearts and minds of their users and society is unparalleled in the era of mass communications.  Hundreds of millions of Facebook users log on every day and consume content that, according to Haugen, is dangerous and destructive.  The corrosive and destructive power of social media has no better example than the presidency of Donald Trump, where social media was weaponized and used to target, vilify and attack communities and individuals, with violent and at times deadly real world results.

Haugen’s allegations about the toxic nature of Facebook’s business practices are not fresh news.  For years research published by academics revealed that social media plays a role in promoting toxicity and hate in society.  In addition, The Cambridge Analytica scandal revealed the willingness of Facebook to abuse its power to benefit its bottom line.  However, governments either refused to take action to regulate online platforms, or were unwilling to act due to intense lobbying by social media companies.

With all the information revealed through the leaked Facebook documents and Haugen’s testimony, along with previously published academic research, politicians can no longer ignore the role of social media in promoting hate.  Through her actions Haugen has provided governments the justification needed to impose legislation and regulations on all social media companies to ensure that they do not continue to wilfully turn a blind eye to hateful and destructive content propagated through their platforms.

Claims made by Facebook that it removes hateful materials from its platforms were also proven to be untrue according to one of the leaked documents.  A January 2021 Facebook study contained analysis which stated, “We estimate that we may action as little as 3-5% of hate and about 6-tenths of 1% of V & I [violence and incitement] on Facebook despite being the best in the world at it.”

Information revealed in the Facebook documents would also justify governments charging the company and its senior executives under hate crime laws to hold them criminally liable for their destructive business practices which ignored the safety and stability of society and the communities targeted by hateful content.  Haugen’s revelations made it clear that Facebook’s leadership cares little that their platforms are responsible for people getting hurt and killed because of voices and content that promoted racism, bigotry, homophobia, misogyny and other types of hate.

An Abacus Data poll released in January this year revealed that 93 per cent of Canadians believe that online hate speech and racism are a problem, and 60 per cent believe that the federal government has an obligation to regulate online and social media platforms to prevent them from being used as virtual megaphones to spread hateful and racist rhetoric.

It is the responsibility of governments in Canada and other democratic nations to reign in the social media giants since their leadership are unwilling to be good corporate citizens.  The “Wild West” environment in which social media has operated has proven to be a danger to civil society, social cohesion and democracy.   The time has come to regulate all social media companies for the sake of the common good, because failure to do so is a danger to the health and well-being of social media users and more broadly to civil society.

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