Analysis | Zuckerberg Should Focus on the Midterms, Not the Metaverse - The Washington Post

2 years ago 39

You person to manus it to Mark Zuckerberg. In the look of disapproval astir the extremist strategical displacement helium has chosen for Facebook, helium is stubbornly focused connected turning it into a metaverse company. Other tech billionaires whitethorn lash out astatine dissent, but Zuckerberg remains stoic, tuning retired the sound to springiness earnest interviews and presentations astir his virtual-reality vision.

But portion helium tin get distant with ignoring the criticism, the CEO of Facebook genitor Meta Platforms Inc. should reassess his priorities implicit the coming months arsenic the US approaches potentially tumultuous midterm elections. He needs to crook his attraction backmost to Facebook, oregon hazard letting misleading videos astir predetermination fraud proliferate, perchance disrupting the antiauthoritarian process yet again.

Zuckerberg could commencement by doing what thousands of managers earlier him person done, and reconsider his tasks.

The metaverse project is inactive successful its infancy: While Facebook has astir 3 cardinal progressive users, Horizon Worlds, the VR level that serves arsenic the instauration of metaverse experience, has conscionable 200,000, according to interior documents revealed by the Wall Street Journal.

Zuckerberg has been upfront successful saying that Meta’s metaverse won’t beryllium afloat realized for 5 years oregon more. All the much reason, then, that his passionateness task tin spend to suffer his attraction for a fewer months, oregon astatine slightest during captious moments for democracy.

So far helium has shown nary motion of shifting his focus. Facebook’s halfway predetermination squad nary longer reports straight to Zuckerberg arsenic it did successful 2020, according to the New York Times, erstwhile Zuckerberg made that year’s US predetermination his apical priority.

He has besides loosened the reins connected cardinal executives tasked with handling predetermination misinformation. Global affairs caput Nick Clegg present divides his clip betwixt the UK and Silicon Valley, and Guy Rosen, the company’s head of accusation security, has relocated to Israel, a institution spokesperson confirmed via email.

Researchers who way misinformation connected societal media accidental determination is small grounds Facebook is amended astatine stopping conspiracy theories present than it was successful 2020. Melanie Smith, who heads disinformation research at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a London-based nonprofit, says the institution hasn’t improved information entree for outside researchers trying to quantify the dispersed of misleading posts. Anecdotally they inactive proliferate, she said. Smith said that she recovered Facebook groups recruiting predetermination canvass watchers seemingly for the intent of intimidating voters on Election Day.

She besides pointed to a video posted by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz connected his Facebook page, saying that the 2020 predetermination had been stolen. The video has been viewed much than 40,000 times astatine the clip of writing. Although it was posted a period ago, it doesn’t person a fact-check informing label.

Smith additionally cited caller Facebook posts, shared hundreds of times, inviting radical to events to sermon however “Chinese communists” are moving section elections successful the US, oregon posters stating that definite politicians should “go to situation for their relation successful the stolen election.” Posts made by candidates thin to dispersed peculiarly far, Smith said.

Meta has said that its main attack to handling contented done the 2022 midterms volition beryllium with informing labels. But warnings labels aren’t precise effective. For much than 70% of misinformation posts connected Facebook, specified labels are applied 2 days oregon much aft a station has gone up, good aft it has had the accidental to spread, according to a survey conducted by Integrity Institute, a nonprofit probe enactment tally by erstwhile employees of large tech firms. Studies person shown that misinformation gets 90% of its full engagement connected societal media successful little than 1 day.

The problem, ultimately, is the mode Facebook shows radical contented astir apt to support them connected the site, what whistleblower Frances Haugen has called engagement-based ranking. A amended attack would beryllium “quality-based ranking,” akin to Google’s leafage fertile strategy that favors consistently reliable sources of information, according to Jeff Allen, a erstwhile information idiosyncratic astatine Meta and co-founder of the Integrity Institute.

Facebook’s growing emphasis on videos stands to marque the occupation worse. In September 2022, misinformation was being shared overmuch much often via video than through regular posts on Facebook, Allen said, citing a caller survey by the Integrity Institute. False content mostly gets much engagement than truthful content, helium added, and truthful tends to beryllium favored by an engagement-based system.(1)

In 2020, Facebook deployed “break glass” measures to counteract a surge of posts saying the predetermination was being stolen by then-President-elect Joe Biden, which yet fed into the storming of the US Capitol connected Jan. 6.

Meta shouldn’t person to edifice to specified drastic measures again. If Zuckerberg is superior astir connecting people, and doing truthful responsibly, helium should travel retired of his virtual world bubble and re-examine the ranking strategy that keeps eyeballs glued to Facebook’s content. At a minimum helium could communicate to his employees, and the public, that helium is erstwhile again making predetermination integrity a priority. The metaverse tin wait.