Some Responsibility for Facebook’s Influence
Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg likes to write open letters during times of great import. He /react-text react-text: 219 wrote one /react-text react-text: 220 when the company went public, he /react-text react-text: 222 wrote one /react-text react-text: 223 to his infant daughter when he became a father, and he has written a new one that was published on Thursday. /react-text
react-text: 225 So why is now a time that requires /react-text react-text: 227 an almost 6,000-word essay /react-text react-text: 228 touching on world affairs, U.S. politics, the value of high-quality journalism, and the crumbling social fabric of America? Because it seems that Zuckerberg has become "woke," as the kids like to say. /react-text
react-text: 230 In other words, the Facebook co-founder seems to have awakened to some of the unintended consequences of the mega-platform that he has built. On a lot of issues, /react-text react-text: 232 he tells /react-text react-text: 233 Recode's Kara Swisher that his "views have become more nuanced." /react-text
react-text: 235 In the case of the media, for example, Zuckerberg has undergone a significant evolution from his original position just after the election, when he /react-text react-text: 237 scoffed at the idea /react-text react-text: 238 that "fake news" distributed on the social network was a problem, and reiterated his position that Facebook is not a media company—and therefore is more or less blameless when it comes to such things. /react-text
react-text: 240 Since then, Zuckerberg has admitted that disinformation spread via social media is a problem, and that Facebook /react-text REACT-TEXT: 242 ( /REACT-TEXT REACT-TEXT: 243 FB, -0.37% /REACT-TEXT REACT-TEXT: 244 ) /REACT-TEXT react-text: 245 needs to help. He has instituted /react-text react-text: 247 a series of moves /react-text react-text: 248 to help fact-check news stories on the network. Facebook also started a journalism project, and reached out to local media outlets.