The Trouble with Facebook

November 12, 2021 https://bit.ly/3qu5C9H

The recent release of the Facebook papers by a whistle-blower has confirmed that leaders at the company have long known about problems facilitated by their social media, including disinformation, misinformation, hate speech, depression, and more. There's been a lot of talk about regulators stepping in, with Facebook perhaps allowing them to inspect their algorithms for prioritizing and recommending content on Instagram and for Newsfeed. How can we as computer scientists and technologists help here? What kinds of questions, insights, or advice might our community offer these regulators?