DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK 2
Disinformation on Facebook
The article under discussion appeared in the New York Times on the 19
th
March 2018
under the title “Facebook Exit Hints at Dissent on Handling of Russian Trolls.” Facebook is one
of the largest social media platforms worldwide. It offers its services to millions of customers
spread out across the world. In spite of being among the fastest rising global companies, it has
come under scathing attacks in the recent past. Its critics argue that it is facilitating the spread of
disinformation to its users. It has further been accused of allowing some countries to misuse its
platforms in order to achieve political milestone. For instance, Facebook is accused of being
silent on the Russian interference in its systems in the run-up of the 2018 Russian elections.
The issue of disinformation in Facebook has elicited mixed reactions among its top
management. Some of the top officials are advocating for more disclosure on the Russian
interference with Facebook platforms. They further advocate that Facebook needs to do some
restructuring of its systems in order to avert further interference and the spread of disinformation
(Nicole, Sheera & Scott, 2018). However, the other Facebook officials vehemently oppose the
above approach. They fear that adopting such an approach would result to financial losses of the
company. In addition, they argue that such a move would result to Facebook having negative
publicity which is not good for business.
The allegations of Facebook spreading disinformation might have far-reaching
consequences to its wellbeing. First, the departure of high ranking officials such as Alex Stamos
who feel that the company is not doing enough to protect its users is going to taint the global
image of Facebook as a reputable organization. Secondly, the inaction of the Facebook
management is likely to increase cases of disinformation. In addition, the personal data of
