Down Facebook's Rabbit Hole

Down Facebook's Rabbit Hole

After a whistleblower - Frances Haugen - leveled serious charges against the method by which Facebook operates, the United States Congress questioned the company on some core issues pertaining to its policy on dangerous content, and "profit over public safety".

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Mark Zuckerberg (CEO and Founder of Facebook), in the past couple of years, has denied several such charges. More proof, however, has accumulated about how Facebook treats content relating to vulnerable groups and how it designs algorithms that keep the audience pathologically engaged with the platform.?

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Facebook attempted to convince the world that it is serious about positive contributions in order to tackle social and regulatory concerns, or in other words "Project Amplify", but again, more evidence exists that manifests that its policies help it prosper at the cost of the society.

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Facebook consciously follows a rabbit-holing strategy. It creates a maze-like experience for users, to fixate them on the maze and take their attention away from anything outside of it. In case you are not using Facebook, then on a bus journey, you are more likely to engage in multiple stimuli including reading a newspaper, watching billboards, and talking to people. On social media, however, you are driven deeper into a rabbit hole, and the only thing controlling you is the platform's agenda.?

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Some feel that audience-targeting isn't wrong, and Facebook is only taking care of individual needs. It is a dangerous way to excuse Facebook's working style, as this is what allows Facebook to keep growing relentlessly because audiences are extremely suggestible. Zuckerberg stated that Facebook does not push content that deliberately generates anger among the populous, which is clearly a lie. Facebook's existence depends on traffic and engagement, so it has to do it.?

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India's gargantuan population of pre-teens who access social media for peer confirmation is very vulnerable. The Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) drives numerous users, especially youngsters. It started in a big way since 2014, and sadly, 2014-2018 saw a huge jump in juvenile suicide cases too. If Facebook is not willing to see such evidence, one shudders to think of what else it is promoting in India.?

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Those who still argue that rabbit holes create personalized experiences should understand Project Amplify, which suppresses negative news about Facebook and pushes its own positive messages, many of which are artificially created. It is thus a creator and regulator of content, not just a neutral platform, and may not be eligible for any safe harbor protections under Article 230 in the USA and under India's new IT rules.

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Facebook has billions of users, and it can technologically manage millions of rabbit holes. It can easily snoop on all of a user's internet activity and create rabbit holes accordingly. A user may never be able to escape the rabbit hole of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.?

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George Orwell made dire predictions precisely of this day. If Facebook is not urgently and strongly restricted by regulation or strong competition, it can spread misinformation and radical content to an extent that society will break down completely.

- Aindri Abhishek Singh

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