Facebook files: Social network disclosure report

In an analysis, the Wall Street Journal reveals numerous abuses of Facebook, which the social network knowingly accepts and thus causes damage.

Now, Vice President PR Nick Clegg is reacting - but he does not contradict the content.

New York City / Menlo Park, Calif .-- Facebook knows the platform has vulnerabilities that are causing damage.

This is the result of research by the

based on internal Facebook documents.

The newspaper received the information from an anonymous whistleblower.

Now the Deputy Head of PR Nick Clegg counters the report of the newspaper and accuses the

"deliberate misleading".

But he does not deny the content of the reports.

Facebook: Social platform has negative consequences, but sees no need for action

Facebook itself claims that the same rules apply to every user. In fact, celebrities on the social network have certain privileges. The rules for prominent users are stored under the program name XCheck, a total of 5.8 million people receive preferential treatment. A well-known example was a contribution by soccer star Neymar: A post by the soccer player was later classified as "revenge pornographic". The post was deleted at the end, but initially remained online and was seen by around 56 million people. Only after a special check did the post go offline. For normal users, such a post could lead to a blocking.

According to internal documents, Facebook is also aware of the harmful effects of its subsidiary Instagram. Mark Zuckerberg is aware of this data, but he officially says the apps would have a positive effect on the well-being of the users. Internally, however, the data suggests that every third girl on Instagram has a more negative perception of their own body due to the app. Thoughts of suicide are also the result. It is specifically about Instagram and not about social networks in general.

There is also talk of human trafficking: Facebook is said to have known that the platform was being used for human trafficking and slavery, but it saw no need for action.

Apple is now threatening to take the app from the store.

The

quotes

a Facebook manager

that a machine has been created that can no longer be controlled

.

There are also worrying new findings about Facebook in this country: Jan Böhmermann published a Facebook research on election advertisements on Friday.

While advertisements and advertisements by political parties are strictly regulated in Germany, these rules are not adhered to on Facebook.

Political parties try to manipulate voters through microtargeting.

Simon Kruschinski, media researcher at the University of Mainz, calls these campaigns “surveillance advertising”.

Facebook PR vice reacts: Wall Street Journal accuses Facebook of "wrong motives"

Facebook vice president for global affairs, Nick Clegg - former UK vice-premier incidentally - responded to Wall Street Journal reports in a blog post.

Basically, he sees the issues as "serious and complex" and considers it legitimate that Facebook should be held responsible for its handling of them.

However, from his point of view, the reports contain “deliberately misleading” and would assume “wrong motives” of the Facebook employees and the management team.

Nick Clegg makes it clear that Facebook conducts research and then systematically and deliberately ignores the results. This calls into question the motives of numerous employees who would struggle to “improve the quality of the products” and “understand the effects” (positive and negative). He accuses the

using only selected quotes and simplifying complex topics.

However, one detail of his statement is interesting: in terms of content, he does not question the findings of the newspaper's investigations - neither the use of the platform for human trafficking, nor the special treatment of celebrities or the negative effects on the psyche of young people.

However, he points out that just one study on the topics is not enough.

Clegg believes several studies are necessary to understand exactly "what impact social media has on people".

"I wish there were simple answers to these problems [...] But the world we live in is not like that."