Every year, Facebook makes about a billion dollars in Vietnam, a country controlled by a single Communist Party. And, not to lose that profit, Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s founder and CEO, personally decided that the social network would meet government censors’ demands to block opposition content.
Second report of The Washinton Post, one of the vehicles that are part of the press consortium poring over the Facebook Papers scandal, before the Vietnam party congress in January, Facebook significantly increased the censorship of posts considered “anti-state”, giving in to the caption o Complete control over the platform. The information was revealed to the newspaper by three anonymous former officials who were aware of the decision, and was confirmed by local activists and defenders of freedom of expression in the country.
This is another of the revelations based on documents leaked by former employee Frances Haugen. The reports have shown that, contrary to what is stated in the community guidelines, the social network has a double standard for the removal of content from the platform and several times favored profit over loyalty to its own declared values.
This month, Haugen filed the charges with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which could file a formal lawsuit against the company and even remove Zuckerberg as president, depending on how much he knew about the effects and harmful platform practices. To The Post, Facebook said that its decisions in Vietnam were taken with the aim of “ensuring that our services remain available to millions of people who depend on them every day.” See below for the main complaints already published.
extreme content
Documents revealed in September showed that the company, faced with a low audience in 2018, programmed the algorithm to value posts with negative reactions. As a result, interactions fueled by anger or disgust are driven more than neutral or positive posts, favoring appealing content.
An October 22 report showed that Facebook’s leaders have long been aware that this mechanism favors the dissemination of violent content. The platform also allowed for the recruitment of drug traffickers by a Mexican cartel, as well as the attraction of women to prostitution centers with work analogous to slavery.
Mental health
An internal company report showed that Facebook was also aware that Instagram, one of its main applications, has a negative impact on teenagers’ self-esteem. A survey carried out by the social network itself showed that one in three girls felt bad about themselves. body after accessing the network.
The company also knew that the app is associated with increased suicidal thoughts for 13.5% of interviewed teenagers, and a worsening of eating disorders for 17% of users. As a result, in September, the US Senate’s Consumer Protection Subcommittee held a hearing on measures to protect the mental health of children and adolescents using the platform’s applications.
VIP list
The impression that Facebook has a double standard for prosecuting politicians and celebrities who violate its guidelines, long denounced by free speech advocates, was confirmed by the leaked documents. According to another report in the Facebook Papers series, the network has a “VIP list” that includes former president Donald Trump and player Neymar, for example. The “members” of this group have a free pass to violate company policies – or at least until they are in the company’s interests.
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