Facebook has billions of users all over the world. These members of Facebook post photos, messages, and confidential data on the Facebook platform. Their words are usually directed at specific people. For instance, one may be chatting with his parent, fiancée or employer. However, these messages sometimes land in unsecured hands, referred to as third parties (Martin 56). The matter of confidentiality has become a burning issue, which has forced the owner of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, to be called by the senators to clarify the matter. When Mark Zuckerberg appeared before the senators, he was asked several questions relating to social media and its work in controlling crimes that happen because people take confidential information from Facebook (Pickard 89). For instance, one of the senators says that when he sends photos to someone during the process of chatting, the images sometimes land on shaky hands. On the other hand, Mark Zuckerberg responded to this question by saying that everyone is responsible for what he or she posts on Facebook, and he can delete it at any time. This answer suggests that the matter on Facebook is an ethical issue, not a legal issue. One should have etiquette while using the Facebook platform and control what he can access and what he cannot obtain.
Consequently, some critical questions arose during the Facebook hearing before the Senate. One of the matters is data privacy. Several users have lost trust in Facebook because their data has been used for other purposes. For instance, during the hearing, some senators questioned Mark Zuckerberg on how some companies, such as Cambridge Analytical Company, got data from Facebook and, more importantly, some of this data was used during the 2016 election, which saw the president of America Donald Trump getting the victory. However, the matter is still under investigation, but many American citizens feel that their democracy was interfered with in the process.
The founder of Facebook admits that his company might have made one mistake or another, but they are doing what they can to make data more secure than ever. Apart from that, another matter concerns the members of the Senate and the Facebook owner. Many children are using Facebook, leading to the question of how Facebook ensures age limits in their projects. The response from Mark Zuckerberg is that a good number of parents have demanded to communicate with their children using the Facebook platform. The answer means that Facebook is not responsible for any rise in irresponsible behaviour among children. This statement still suggests that ethics matters when using Facebook. Some users are ignorant and end up soliciting some nasty information (Shabani et al. 1600). Although there are some legal issues, such as how Facebook applies rules to curb other companies from getting information, the ethical question supersedes the legitimate part.
In the last part, senators ask why Facebook brings some unwanted advertisements while using the platform. However, this is how Facebook generate money, and it may not be a problem for Facebook (Weijs et al.12). Therefore, from the hearing, Facebook is accountable for many cases, but the users should ensure etiquette while applying this platform. However, due to the investigation of the analytical company, Facebook’s stock price stagnated at 16.7 per cent for several weeks.
Work Cited
Martin, Kirsten. “Data aggregators, consumer data, and responsibility online: Who is tracking consumers online and should they stop?.” The Information Society 32.1 (2016): 51-63.
Pickard, Victor. “Media failures in the age of Trump.” The Political Economy of Communication 4.2 (2017).
Shabani, Mahsa, Adrian Thorogood, and Pascal Borry. “Who should have access to genomic data and how should they be held accountable? Perspectives of Data Access Committee members and experts.” European Journal of Human Genetics24.12 (2016): 1671.
Weijs, Cynthia, et al. “The personal use of Facebook by public health professionals in Canada: Implications for public health practice.” Journal of Communication in Healthcare 10.1 (2017): 8-15.
