Facebook Is Eager To Get Out of Trouble, but Its Mindset Is All Wrong

Published in Huanqiu
(China) on 18 October 2019
by Li Zheng (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Dagny Dukach. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
As the 2020 presidential election approaches, America’s domestic political atmosphere has become increasingly tenser, forcing all kinds of different people to pick sides. The “moderates,” who don’t want to be identified with any political party, face the most difficult situation, frequently finding themselves the targets of attacks from all sides. Today, the prime example of this phenomenon is Facebook, along with its founder, Mark Zuckerberg.

A few days ago, Zuckerberg gave a lecture at an American university with strong political undertones. The style of this talk was totally different from his past lectures: during the talk, he flaunted Facebook as an upholder of America’s liberal democratic system of values, while harshly criticizing China’s administration of the internet. This lecture attracted a lot of attention in the Western media, but it did not seem to do anything whatsoever to dispel international doubt and criticism of Facebook and Zuckerberg.

Over the past year, Facebook has become one of the most controversial companies in America. Politicians from both major parties have criticized the company. President Donald Trump has accused Facebook of party bias and of efforts to silence his supporters, while Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren has criticized Facebook for allowing politicians to publish “fake news” that benefits Trump. To quell people’s doubts regarding political prejudice, Zuckerberg met in private with many conservative news outlets, hoping that they would provide some helpful and positive press. But instead, this move led to even harsher critiscism from the Democratic Party and many progressive leaders.

In addition, Facebook has become the main target of America’s domestic purge of technology giants. When the company proposed releasing a digital currency called “Libra,” it provoked panic directed at tech monopolies from the U.S. government, Congress and society at large. Financial regulators believe that this currency could have an impact on America’s financial security, while Congress and many civil liberty organizations are concerned that it could further intensify the invasion of personal privacy by tech giants. Furthermore, Facebook and Google are both still facing nationwide antitrust investigations. No matter which party wins next year’s election, these investigations are likely to accelerate.

On an international level, Facebook has lost its luster. The so-called crisis regarding Russian intervention in the U.S. election kicked off a global era of weaponized social media. Some national governmental and political powers have begun to actively use social media to disseminate controversial, extremist content. Social media has become a tool for extremist organizations and public figures to use to incite grassroots political fervor and normalize the violence that ensues. Facebook’s passive approach to removing “extreme voices” has received harsh criticism from countries that suffer from cyberviolence. In these countries, the outcry for Facebook to more thoroughly supervise itself is constantly growing.

This situation jeopardizes Facebook’s fundamental ability to do business. Facebook’s entire business model is based on openness and connectivity. Zuckerberg believes that the internet’s openness and connectivity have created new demand for Facebook’s services, and meeting this demand is profitable for Facebook. This model is based on the fundamental assumption that Facebook can keep expanding its user base and continuously strengthen the connections among its users. Facebook is intentionally avoiding the subject of the discrepancy between this system of values and the best interests of the country. Facebook also hopes to break into the Chinese market, expanding its global user base within the confines of Chinese law in order to create further opportunities for profit.

Today, Facebook is clearly facing an insurmountable obstacle. The politicization and weaponization of social media have raised the costs of openness and connectivity. Such openness brings about disagreements among users from different countries; such connectivity brings about conflicts among users with different value systems. This has fundamentally changed the environment in which Facebook operates. Going forward, Facebook will face ever-rising supervision costs, as well as an increasingly fragmented user base. When it comes to profit, the outlook is bleak. Against this backdrop, Zuckerberg seems to be taking the approach that Facebook should vehemently cater to America’s political correctness, hoping that this will help reverse its situation, but this mindset is fundamentally wrong.

The author is a research associate at the Institute of American Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.


李峥:脸书急于脱困但心思用错了地儿
来源:环球时报
作者:李峥

2019-10-18

随着2020年大选临近,美国国内的政治气氛愈发紧绷,逼迫国内各色人等选边站队。不希望被打上政治标签的“中间派”处境最为艰难,动辄成为各方攻击的目标。眼下的脸书及其创始人扎克伯格就是典型。

扎克伯格日前在美国一所大学发表政治味道浓厚的演讲。在这次与他以往风格截然不同的演讲中,他把脸书标榜为美国“自由民主”价值观的捍卫者,同时对中国的互联网管理进行了一些措辞激烈的评论。这次演讲引起西方媒体广泛关注,但似乎并未怎么消解外部对脸书及扎格伯克的质疑和批评。

过去一年来,脸书成为美国国内最具争议性的企业之一。两党都有政客对它提出批评。总统特朗普指责脸书存在党派偏见,有意屏蔽他的支持者;民主党参议员沃伦则批评脸书放任政治人物发布“虚假新闻”,使特朗普受益。为平息外界对其党派偏见的质疑,扎克伯格私下会见多个保守派媒体人,希望他们帮着说点好话。不料这一举动遭到民主党和进步人士更为激烈的抨击。

脸书也成为美国国内整肃科技巨头的主要对象。它推出的数字货币“天秤币”倡议激起美国政府、国会及社会对于科技巨头垄断的恐慌。金融监管部门认为该货币可能影响美国金融安全,国会和民权组织则担心这会强化科技巨头对个人隐私的侵犯。另外,脸书和谷歌还正面临全国性的反垄断调查。无论哪个党派赢得明年大选,调查都有可能加速。

在国际层面,脸书脸上的包金也开始掉落。所谓的“俄罗斯干预美国大选风波”开启了全球社交媒体“武器化”的时代。一些国家政府或政治势力开始积极利用社交媒体传播争议性、极端性材料。社交媒体还成为一些极端组织和人士煽动街头政治,将其暴力行为合法化的工具。脸书在消除“极端声音”的消极态度受到饱受网络暴力之害国家的激烈批评。在这些国家,加强对脸书自身运作监管的呼声不断高涨。

这些情况危及脸书安身立命的根本。脸书的商业模式基于开放和互相连接。扎克伯格认为,互联网的开放和相互连接能为脸书提供新的服务需求,而服务需求则会给脸书带来利润。这个模式的基本动力在于持续扩大用户群体,不断加强用户间的联系。价值观和国家利益的差异是脸书有意回避的内容。脸书也曾希望开拓中国市场,在中国法律的范畴下扩展其全球用户版图,带来更多赚钱机会。

如今,脸书显然遇到一个难以逾越的障碍。社交媒体的“政治化”和“武器化”提高了开放和互相连接的成本。开放带来不同国家用户的分歧,连接带来不同价值观取向用户的矛盾,这根本性改变了脸书的经营环境。未来,脸书将面临不断提高的监管成本和碎片化的用户,盈利前景堪忧。在此背景下,扎克伯克以貌似激烈的态度迎合美国国内的“政治正确”,想借此扭转脸书的处境,根本就是心思用错了地儿。(作者是中国现代国际关系研究院美国所副研究员)
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