Are You Sure You Want To Keep Your Facebook Account?

 In the COM 1450 class, Media Law and Literacy, the common theme is our protection of free speech as professional (and even as unprofessional) communicators. As technology continues to advance everyday, that right to free speech becomes necessary for word of mouth, in writing, and online - among much more. Well, as PBS details in its documentary "Facebook Dilemma", new media platforms are making it harder and harder for people to freely express their ideals in safe, private spaces. 

Mark Zuckerberg, the entrepreneurial Harvard student, founded Facebook on February 4, 2004. Starting off as just a website for connections between people, Facebook has become one of the Big Five technological companies in the United States. Along with this fame and popularity comes greed - and that's exactly what happened. Mark Zuckerberg wanted "to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected", and in doing that, he gained offers from several companies for money upon money. As of March 3, 2021 in the current stock market, Facebook is worth 257.32 billion dollars, and is still growing everyday. 

However, do you know how Facebook makes all that money - especially since there's no price tag for consumers to download the app?

Well, according to the graph pictured above and other research studies, we can conclude that the majority of Facebook's revenue comes from selling users personal data to other companies. Yes, that's right... Facebook sells all your data, even if they promise its "private". Out of the Facebook users surveyed, 85% of surveyors were concerned that their private information was being sold; however, none of those people are deleting their accounts or doing anything about this illegal activity because they are addicted to social media. The most common companies that Facebook shares personal data with, are Amazon, Apple, Spotify, and other popular platforms. Facebook continues to deny these claims even though there is clear data suggesting this fraud, however, the company has acknowledged its damage from giving third parties' access to users' data after claiming that they had canceled those privileges. 

Multiple board members on media companies and other technology industry officials have commented on their distrust with Facebook and its employees. 

Damian Collins MP, chair of the UK Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee says, "We have to seriously challenge the claim by Facebook that they are no selling user data. They may not be letting people take it away by the bucket load, but they do reward companies with access to data that others are denied, if they place a high value on the business they do together. This is just another form of selling." Why do you think you always get advertisements for your favorite stores or restaurants on your feed? Where else does that information come from? If there are specific ads popping up in your social media platforms, then your personal data and browsing history has probably been sold to those companies from Facebook. Insane, right?!

It's terrifying that a 17 year old innovation, only a year or so younger than me, can have all the power that it has. If life was a movie, Facebook and its lack of privacy would definitely be the villain and his sidekick! For people of my generation, Generation X, we only use Facebook in order to keep older relatives up to date or for jobs and activity groups; so, how does this affect us? Facebook has grown so strong that it now owns Instagram, Snapchat, and other apps used daily by millennials, members of Generation X, and more generations coming in the future. Taking advantage of peoples' trust (or their stupidity from signing contracts by skimming) is completely unmoral from a ethics standpoint, and it also goes against the First Amendment by having the ability to censor users. 

So, the next time you unlock your phone and debate what to do with your time - I suggest playing a game instead of scanning through all your social media accounts. I know that's easier said than done, but it's scary to think that someone could be watching me type this blog right now. I'm definitely going to pay more attention to what I post or follow on social media now, and continue to NEVER ever post important information like my bank account or social security information. Nice try Zuckerberg, but we can see past your smart exterior and look directly at the greed inside.

            Sources

                   https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/facebook-dilemma/