Over the years, Facebook has faced many concerns from its users. From privacy issues to election interference, they've seen it all. Although, this is not unusual seeing how huge of a platform Facebook is. They've admitted that they didn't do enough to anticipate for some of these risks and are trying to avoid that mistake moving forward. So, let's start with two of the most recent challenges that Facebook is facing and what they're doing to address them.
Election Interference And Misinformation
The Issue: A few years ago, foreign fake accounts interfered with elections by posting and spreading false information. Doing so caused a divide between people with different views. Now that this has happened and Facebook realizes it is a problem, they have a plan of action to stop it in its tracks moving forward.
The Resolution: Facebook is removing millions of accounts on a daily basis. Some are blocked from even making an account and others are disabled after being created, sometimes within minutes. They've also improved their machine learning capabilities, allowing them to easily find and remove violating activity. Other tactics they've incorporated include limiting the spread of misinformation and bringing transparency to political advertising.
In addition, they are working more closely with government agencies and third parties. Doing so allowed them to receive a tip only 48 hours prior to the 2018 midterm election. This tip allowed them to take down a coordinated effort from a foreign agency. Their method with election interference is to stop it before it even begins. These efforts are going to be really important for elections in the future.
Strengthening Privacy And People's Information
The Issue: From the beginning, personal privacy has always been a large concern for Facebook users. In the past, Facebook allowed a lot of the data and information they collected from users to be accessed by apps and third parties.
The Resolution: Back in 2014, Facebook made major changes to their privacy policies. After doing so, they eliminated over 400 different apps that violated their new policy. In addition, they limited the amount of personal information that apps can access. They have also strengthened their security team and have implemented a Privacy and Data Use team, dedicated to build stronger protection and give people more control of their data.
Lastly, they made privacy controls easier to find, access and change for users. When this rolled out, they prompted users to review what personal information they want to share and what data they want used for ad targeting. They're currently working on a new tool to protect people's privacy. The Clear History feature will allow users to view the websites and apps that send Facebook information when you use them. From there, you'll be able to delete this information and turn off the ability for Facebook to receive and store that information moving forward. This tool is expected to launch in a few months.
Effort Is Key
In their statements, Facebook acknowledged several times that they've lacked in these areas in the past. It is comforting to know they're working on these issues and realize that they are important concerns. Keep an eye out for part two of these hard-hitting issues.
Happy Hunting!
Related Posts:
