WHAT THE FUCK EVEN IS FACEBOOK?
Facebook is a company that distributes news and information to billions of people, most of those people use is as their main source for such information. Facebook also places ads alongside news and videos, which earns them billions in revenue. They pay companies such as the NFL or Insider to produce videos that stream to mobile devices and computers, and they have their own original TV shows.
All of these make Facebook a goddamn media company, but apparently they don’t see themselves as such. Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, says that Facebook cannot be considered a media company because it is run by technical workers and engineers, she described Facebook as a tech company rather than media.
Since one of their goals it to share media and profit off revenue for it, they should take responsibility as a media business. We should expect Facebook to have safeguards, standards, and basic rules regarding the information they share, avoiding fake news. Sheryl Sandberg said that as Facebook is a massive platform, massive responsibility should be taken for everything that happens within it. But still they try to avoid being classified as a media company and therefore avoid all the necessary procedures to be as responsible about the information shared. Just look at what happened when Russia paid for ads to promote misinformation during the US election…
Facebook’s sky-high value is currently $500 billion, that is its value as a tech company, not media. In addition to this, if they admitted what they are, they would have to be placed under strict regulations in the US and other countries.
Facebook clearly has to take responsibility and control the validity of all the news they share and host, even if that involves losing a percentage of their gargantuan revenue.
Facebook, for the people who rely on you for news, get your shit together.
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Illustration by Ronan Porter