How to Fix Facebook – Before It Fixes Us

The algorithms of social media platforms like Facebook and Google lend themselves to promoting extreme political positions. Since these platforms make their money from advertising, their algorithms favor content most likely to grab users’ attention and lead to clicks and shares. Besides pushing negative and sensationalist messages, the algorithms tailor content to individual users based on their past online activity, reinforcing biases.

“The problems were inherent in the attention-based, algorithm-driven business model.”

An effective response to the problem requires several elements. Big tech CEOs can play an important role in explaining to the public how malicious actors have manipulated online platforms. They can do so, for example, by providing detailed public testimony before the US Congress. Moreover, social media companies are well-placed to dispel remaining doubts among American users that Russian actors were behind some of the partisan ads and messages. The companies can contact affected users directly and show them the source of the fake messages that appeared in their news feeds.

“Facebook and Google are now so large that traditional tools of regulation may no longer be effective.”

US policymakers can take steps to increase the transparency of online platforms. The US Congress could pass laws that would require these platforms to disclose the sources of political ads; to label digital bots, which users should have the option to block; and to explain to users in detail how platform algorithms work. Moreover, consumers should have a say in how tech companies use personal data. Finally, social media users should be able to transfer the content they create to other social networks. Meanwhile, regulators must take steps to break up the market dominance of tech giants. Since the 1980s, the basis of successful antitrust lawsuits in the United States has been the argument that a company’s monopolistic position hurts consumers financially. The same reasoning won’t work against free online services, but regulators can demonstrate that companies like Facebook harm consumers in other, less quantifiable ways: Their addictive technologies rob people of their time; their complicity in manipulating voter behavior undermines the democratic process; and their dominant market position hampers innovation in the technology sector.