Facebook admits social media can harm democracy 

Facebook
Facebook assesses whether it had a negative effect on democracy Credit: Reuters

Facebook has admitted that it was "too slow" to stop people using the social network to "corrode democracy" during the US election and suggested that it might struggle to stop it from happening again.

"In 2016, we at Facebook were far too slow to recognise how bad actors were abusing our platform. We’re working diligently to neutralise these risks now," wrote executive Samidh Chakrabarti in a blog post on Monday.

During the US presidential election, the social network fostered foreign meddling, fake news and political polarisation, he admitted.

"While I’m an optimist at heart, I’m not blind to the damage that the internet can do to even a well-functioning democracy." 

Comparing Russian interference to an "information weapon", Mr Chakrabarti also admitted that Facebook "should have done better" after missing the 80,000 Russian posts that reached 126 million people in the US over two years, influencing public sentiment. 

Despite adding - and removing - fake news "flags" and sending users information on how to spot false information or spoof articles, the battle against fake news "will never end", he added. Mr Chakrabarti said the billion-dollar company, which boasts two billion daily users, could not compete with misinformation campaigns designed by professionals who constantly "game the system".

However, he said that Facebook was making improvements when it came to so-called echo chambers, a phenomenon in which users only read and interact with views they already hold. Facebook is currently testing a feature called Related Articles, which shows opposing takes on an article next to one that has been shared on its Newsfeed. It has yet to share the results of the trial. 

The political gender imbalance, where men are more likely to discuss politics on the website, still remains despite research and new advertising privacy models to increase female participation. This could potentially lead to problems if political parties look to the social network to hone policies or monitor general feeling among particular nations, he added.

But Mr Chakrabarti was able to assure that that the company was investing in solving the problem which it receives the most criticism for: policing hate speech. He said the company would hire an extra 10,000 staff dedicated to "safety and security". The new workforce would help police hate speech as it was difficult for "machines to understand the cultural nuances of political intimidation", he said. 

License this content