Russia ad scandal: With government regulation looming Facebook promises increased vigilance

Given mounting evidence that Russia used political ads on Facebook to influence voters in the 2016 presidential election, Mark Zuckerberg was forced to take responsibility for allowing Facebook to be used as a forum for lies and salacious propaganda. He pledged to defend democracy by working with governments to effect electoral integrity. As many call for regulating Facebook, John Herrman, The New York Times Magazine, October 4, 2017, writes that regulation is not likely to assume a standard profile. “It’s very likely that any approach to regulating Facebook will look more like diplomacy than anything else — a cautious search for détente with an institution that ultimately gets to set its own laws, whether a government likes it or not,” writes Herrman. “Indeed, the company has been presenting itself as a willing, generous participant in American investigations, but more generally as a supranational, self-regulating force for good, and, boldly, as indispensable for the continuation of democracy around the world.”

Marshall Connolly of California Network , (Catholic Online, September 22, 2017, makes the case for regulation citing Facebook’s domination in providing news to millions with “an echo chamber where they can reinforce their beliefs.” Anyone with a hateful message can find an instant audience. Connolly says it is time for the government to step up to make sure the public is free of manipulation that could undermine our democracy.

Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, September 25, 2017, cedes that the government may be too inept and ill-equipped to successfully regulate Facebook but thinks that it is possible to pass new laws that could preserve free speech and avoid costly lawsuits so long as the public recognizes Facebook as a broadcaster. He wrote, “If Congress is to regulate Facebook…it would require…forward-looking thinking. For it to work, lawmakers would have to tinker not just with the Federal Communication Commission rules, but also those of the Federal Election Commission, while also tweaking statutes concerning antitrust.”