Decision Sheet 12

Facebook—Can Ethics Scale in the Digital Age?

Situation –
1. Facebook, a company that leads the world by providing a social media platform
and earns millions as revenues
2. Three critical issues were –
a. Control criticism over privacy issues
b. How Facebook identified and neutralized potential competitors
c. Public outrage over Facebook’s content moderation policies
3. Lack of progress of addressing the rising issues
Actors –

1. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook

2. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook
3. Sandy Parakilas, led Facebook’s efforts to fix privacy problems before its 2012
IPO
4. Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, in charge of Facebook’s ad strategy
5. Alex Stamos, head of Facebook security
6. Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s VP of Communications and Public Policy
7. Brian Acton, WhatsApp co-founder
8. CEO of snapchat
Process –
2006
1. Launch of news feed, share button
2007
1. Launch of first mobile sight
2. Enabling developers to build applications to directly integrate it with Facebook
3. Microsoft bought a 1.6% share in Facebook
2009
1. Launch of like button
2010
1. Launch of Open Graph API
2013
1. Purchased Onavo, a VPN
2. Snapchat turned down Facebook’s offer to buy the platform

2014
1. Facebook had become more concerned about data privacy

2018
1. User outrage over the exploitation of personal data was swift and vocal
2. New York Times reported up to 60 device manufacturing companies had been able
to access Facebook users’ friends’ data for nearly a decade
3. Start-ups began to emerge that specialized in assisting corporations to better
manage and fight the proliferation of targeted false campaigns.
4. Facebook released a six-point plan to prevent further abuse of the platform

2019
1. Zuckerberg announced a “pivot to privacy”
2. Antitrust investigation- Federal Trust Commission, U.S. Department of Justice
3. Facebook spent more than $3.7 billion on “platform safety”

2020
1. Antitrust investigation- European Union, U.S. federal government and 48 state
attorneys

2021
1. Facebook announced that they were planning to create a version of Instagram for
children under 13 years old

Probable actions –

1. Use of Artificial Intelligence for identifying most pornography, spam, and fake
accounts and increase in security system
2. Publishing transparency reports
3. Constantly following the trend with updates and launches like News Feed, “hit”
button, etc.
4. Keeping up with the competitors by acquisitions
5. Releasing six-point plan to prevent abuse of Facebook’s data
6. Revisiting the exemptions to existing laws for social media players
7. Implementation of data protection legislation
8. Creation of a Digital Protection Agency