Facebook’s relationship with its own research is complicated

Guest: Will Oremus, tech journalist for the Washington Post

It has been a very bad few weeks for Facebook, the world’s largest social network, whose platforms also include Instagram and WhatsApp. Through a number of leaked documents, it became public that Facebook has been aware of the negative effects of its platforms on a number of levels. For instance, use of Instagram is said to have a detrimental effect on the mental health of teenage girls. and also it was reported that human traffickers were using the platform to target and recruit. The company’s own research points to problems its platforms exacerbate, and the pattern reveals that the company just moves on without making changes or addressing the known issues. Today on “This Matters,” we discuss why and how that occurs and what can and should be done about it.