The internet isn't a safe place, but if we're being completely honest, that unsafe part of it is partly what makes it valuable. Freedom and chaos are cousins, and you can't have one without having elements of the other.
Earlier on Wednesday, I watched Missouri Senator Josh Hawley effectively direct Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to apologize to the families of those who were harmed by his platforms. Many of these or their families sat in the audience during the hearing. Zuckerberg, clearly stuck between an angry mob and an angrier Senator, did what he had to do. He stood up and apologized to them, vowing to make the platform safer in the future.
WOW. @HawleyMO pushed Mark Zuckerberg to stand up and apologize to families who’ve lost children to causes linked to social media, sitting behind him in the hearing.
— Jay O'Brien (@jayobtv) January 31, 2024
Zuckerberg stood up and addressed them. pic.twitter.com/zuOGAr2vX3
I think these families definitely deserve to receive an apology from Zuckerberg. At the very least, it would afford them some sort of closure or at least make them feel as if they finally got something that would help them close this chapter of their lives.
But the brutal truth is that this is probably not going to move the needle at Facebook or Instagram. Sure, Zuckerberg will attempt to find ways to tighten certain screws on his platforms, and he absolutely should, but ultimately, there's not really much anyone can do about some of the horrid things that happen on his platforms because there's not much Zuckerberg can do about humanity.
One of the people in the crowd was the parent of a teenager who committed suicide after he was blackmailed by some peers with the release of socially damaging photos. The 15-year-old boy, scared, alone, not knowing what to do, and still in the throes of the impulsiveness of youth, killed himself.
It's tragic, and if I'm being honest, I wouldn't mind seeing situations like these come with a manslaughter or felony murder charge for those who drove someone to suicide through threats of public ruination and intimidation. But what can Zuckerberg do about that?
He can try to find a way for certain phrases or sentences to be recognized as harmful, but he's doing that already. Many people have gotten zapped by Zuck's censorship algorithms for that kind of thing. Photo and video recognition software could use some fine-tuning, sure.
But ultimately, Zuck can't do much to stop situations like this from happening unless he locks down his platform altogether. Any rule he implements, people will find a way around.
The sad fact is that people are sometimes evil and will do evil things in ways that people who run social media platforms won't expect or see coming. Sometimes, it's not for lack of wanting to stop certain things that go down on their platforms, it's the lack of resources to make sure it can be done quickly.
Zuck can't fix his platform because he doesn't have the ability to fix humanity. His apology, though a good thing, is hollow. He, too, knows that he can't stop every bad thing from happening on his platform; he can only pretend he can and hope that something develops technologically that allows him more nuanced control. The same goes for every other platform out there.
This might be controversial to say, but no one is demanding the CEO of Jack Daniels to apologize to the families of people killed in drunk driving accidents. No one is dragging the owners of various fast food chains before Congress to have them apologize to all the people who lost family members to heart disease.
To be clear, I'm not defending Zuckerberg or asking anyone to take it easy on him. By all means, let him have it. His platform is, at times, a loaded gun and he needs to be reminded constantly to practice good ownership.
But don't get your hopes up trying to get him to change something he can't. Short of nuking his own platform (I wouldn't protest), he can't do much--and any promise he makes that things are going to get better is likely a lie, or at the very least, a very slowly developing truth where many more will get hurt before it's all over.
