The Destructive Force of Social Media: A Report that Deserves to Be Read

Two dozen media figures scholars Web savvy business and government leaders information scientists and researchers authored the study released last month They did their homework and their findings don39t pull any punches quotTodayquot the analysis asserts quotmis and disinformation have become a force multiplier for exacerbating our worst problems as a societyquot Whether it39s Donald Trump39s Big Lie about a stolen election or Russian political warriors sowing social turmoil the commissioners make clear the challenges presented by both the problem and their proposed solutions up frontquotThere are no quick fixes or easy answers that would address information disorder repair our civic fabric or establish trust and comity across societyquot they write Nor are the effects of information disorder easy to separate from the panoply of national woes they make worse Mis and disinformation do not exist in a vacuum Rather the authors argue they are symptoms that expose the failures quotto overcome systemic problems such as income inequality racism and corruption which can be exploited to promote false information onlinequotAgree or not with the diagnosis for those profiting from information disorder there39s no question the country39s troubles present a lucrative environment Take Silicon Valley39s giants whose propagation of mis and disinformation goes straight to their bottom lines Unlike many in the right wing media who went to work trying to discredit the Aspen report even before its ink was dry these trilliondollar behemoths have been remarkably silent They39re keeping their heads down for good reason Their business models have made mis and disinformation as American as apple pie and the Aspen study has their role square in its sightsquotIn the private sectorquot the commissioners write quottech platform leaders have abused customers39 trust obfuscated important data and blocked research that would help illuminate amp8230 the full scope and scale of the problems society facesquot Fixing their continuing corporate coverups of what their technologies do and why tops the authors39 todo list quotMore than any single amp8230 recommendation we could make it is necessary for our government civil society and private sector leaders to amp8230 invest in their own capacities to understand and respond to the problems we face togetherquotCorporate chicanery to protect profits of course has a storied as well as sordid part in American business history From oil companies hiding their scientists39 early warning on climate change while funding its deniers to big tobacco39s epic effort to show smoking does no harm and the soft drink and sweet stuff industry covertly subsidizing research to discredit sugar39s connection to heart disease today39s public relations shell games by social media and technology giants aren39t breaking new groundBig tech39s billionaire bosses of course would disagree that they are anything but all in on remedying the mis and disinformation problem That might be a surprise for anyone researching the issues but not if you work on Capitol Hill In 2020 Facebook vaulted to number six among Washington39s topten biggest spenders on registered lobbyists This year the company led the entire technology crowd in the influence game Facebook laid out 5 million in the third quarter alone to rebut Frances Haugen the whistleblower who gave internal documents to the Wall Street Journal for its series on the damage the platform has doneSocial media39s flacks also are targeting the public The message The companies are doing the best they can Borrowing the shopping channel39s faux interview format a Facebook TV ad now running introduces a member of a company quotcontent moderation teamquot After holding up photos of the wife and kids he waxes philosophical about his job39s difficult decisions and the challenge for companies that must balance free speech and censorship Despite his doeeyed sincerity he doesn39t mention that Facebook39s algorithms are built to boost the malicious engagement his content moderator39s 9to5 version of quotwhackamolequot is trying to preventTo their credit the Aspen report39s authors take the duplicity headon quotThe platforms39 lack of transparency is hampering solutionsquot they write The companies are maintaining an opaque environment From invoking quotterms of servicequot in order to shut down independent researchers to denying information on how their algorithms share posts at scale their roadblocks are getting worse quotCritical research on disinformation amp8230 is undercut by a lack of access to data and processesquot the report states For researchers as well as those seeking to hold platforms accountable the commissioners put it bluntly They have no confidence in a voluntary solutionThe Aspen Institute39s Final Report covers far more than access to data and its importance in understanding information disorder Profit incentives that have turned advertising technology to sell toothpaste into tools that can target disinformation ostensible news professionals on cable networks podcasts and talk radio who amplify lies rather than air facts that debunk them the withering of local media and along with it journalism39s grass roots role in a democracy All are part of the study39s broadranging analysis and deserve to be readquotWe must reject a culture in which facts are manipulated and even manufacturedquot President Biden said in his inaugural address on January 20th To do so as well as confront the sources of information disorder government officials legislators and the public need access to the facts The technology giants have the data quotThere is truth and there are lies lies told for power and for profitquot Biden also said in January One wonders if they were listeningClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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The Destructive Force of Social Media: A Report that Deserves to Be Read

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Kent M. Harrington

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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