I would say that a lot of the judgement hinges more on intent,
I’m assuming that this data comes from Meta’s own research. Do they glibly state that this is going on and that they have no intention to do anything about it? Or are they intending to tackle the issue as much as possible? I don’t know that it’s fair to compare them with telephone companies etc. Verizon and Comcast well be aware that criminal activity happens using their services, but could they tell you what percentage? Or exactly how much they will make from these enterprises? Do they forecast their revenue from scams?
On the making a service that is generally useful, I would say that telephone companies and ISP’s are useful. I don’t know that the same could be said of Meta, from all accounts they invest a great deal of resources on figuring out how to manipulate people into using their platforms as much as possible. There is also research that says social media is highly addictive and detrimental to mental health. I would be tempted to reclassify this useful service as an addictive medium with the potential to cause harm to a great number of people, with some mildly useful aspects such as messaging, surface level connection, community communication etc.
My gut says that they’re not exactly a ‘criminal enterprise’ as they were not set up for this purpose. However they do seem to be wandering a long way from their original intention and too close to negligence that can affect a great number of people.
I would say that a lot of the judgement hinges more on intent,
I’m assuming that this data comes from Meta’s own research. Do they glibly state that this is going on and that they have no intention to do anything about it? Or are they intending to tackle the issue as much as possible? I don’t know that it’s fair to compare them with telephone companies etc. Verizon and Comcast well be aware that criminal activity happens using their services, but could they tell you what percentage? Or exactly how much they will make from these enterprises? Do they forecast their revenue from scams?
On the making a service that is generally useful, I would say that telephone companies and ISP’s are useful. I don’t know that the same could be said of Meta, from all accounts they invest a great deal of resources on figuring out how to manipulate people into using their platforms as much as possible. There is also research that says social media is highly addictive and detrimental to mental health. I would be tempted to reclassify this useful service as an addictive medium with the potential to cause harm to a great number of people, with some mildly useful aspects such as messaging, surface level connection, community communication etc.
My gut says that they’re not exactly a ‘criminal enterprise’ as they were not set up for this purpose. However they do seem to be wandering a long way from their original intention and too close to negligence that can affect a great number of people.