Summary
This document provides some highlights of important news and events relating to the impact of social media on society. Entries are below in chronological order with the most recent at the top. Source and date are provided in the heading of each entry.
For additional news and context, read “Social Media Report 2022.”
News
Politico (31 Dec 2023)
“Rates of loneliness, anxiety and depression have shot up across America, and social media is “absolutely” one of the causes, Gov. Spencer Cox (R-Utah) says.” [Read More…]
PBS (26 Dec 2023)
“States suing Meta accuse company of manipulating its apps to make children addicted” — Meta is the target of state lawsuits over allegations it has harmed the mental health of children and misled the public about safety. State attorneys general argue Facebook and Instagram deliberately manipulate their apps in ways that addict kids and failed to keep them off despite age limits. Stephanie Sy discussed the legal scrutiny of social media with Jeff Horwitz of The Wall Street Journal. [Sources]
MSNBC (18 Nov 2023)
“[IBM] Corporation’s dark history with Nazi Germany prompts quick rejection of Musk’s X over antisemitism” — Alex Wagner looks back at the history of IBM’s relationship with Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany and points to the company’s abrupt withdrawal from the platform formerly known as Twitter upon the discovery that its ads were appearing next to antisemitic content. [Source]
PBS (10 Oct 2023)
“Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover” — FRONTLINE traces Elon Musk’s long and often troubled relationship with Twitter, following his journey from being one of the platform’s most provocative users to becoming its owner. [Source]
David Pakman (10 June 2023)
“Twitter COLLAPSE, ad sales down 59%, executives quitting” — Twitter is collapsing under Elon Musk’s leadership, with ad sales down 59% and multiple high level employees quitting. [Source]
Bloomberg (8 June 2023)
“Twitter Founders on Musk’s Tumultuous Takeover” — In this episode of The Circuit, Emily Chang speaks with two people who know Twitter better than almost anyone: Co-Founder and former CEO Evan Williams and one of the most critical members of the founding team, Jason Goldman. They reflect on Elon Musk’s takeover, Silicon Valley’s new era of austerity, and the future of social media. Chang also sits down with former Twitter employees to hear about their experiences before and after Musk’s deal-or-no deal rollercoaster. [Source]
Katie Couric (8 Jun 2023)
“Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen on coming forward, plus the pros and cons of social media” — Just as Facebook was on the verge of becoming Meta Platforms, Inc. in late 2021, a scathing series of articles was published by the Wall Street Journal. The reporting was based on internal documents that detailed the ways Facebook’s platforms “are riddled with flaws that cause harm, often in ways that only the company fully understands.” The source for these internal documents — some tens of thousands of pages — became known as The Facebook Whistleblower. The name behind these revelations is ex-Facebook product manager Frances Haugen. On this episode, Haugen reveals why she came forward, what she hopes to accomplish with her new book, The Power of One, and what she sees as the perils — and promise — of an ever-changing technology landscape that requires transparency to keep itself honest. [Source]
Washington Post (31 May 2023)
“Meta threatens to block news in California over journalism bill” — Washington Post, Naomi Nix and Christiano Lima, 31 May 2023. Excerpt: “Meta is threatening to block users in California from sharing news articles on its social media networks to protest a state legislative proposal that would force tech companies to pay publishers for their content. The social media giant said Wednesday that if the California Journalism Preservation Act passes, the company would “be forced” to pull news from Facebook and Instagram in the state rather than agree to pay news outlets the journalism usage fee that the bill would require.” [Source]
Sky News (22 May 2023)
“Meta hit with record £1bn fine for breach of EU data regulations” — The owner of WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook has been slapped with a record fine of €1.2bn (£1.04bn) by the Irish data protection regulator. Meta has incurred the fine for transferring EU users’ data to the United States for processing, despite a 2020 verdict handed down by the highest EU court saying the data was insufficiently protected from US spying agencies. [Source]
Yahoo Finance (22 May 2023)
“EU fines Meta $1.3 billion for user data transfers” — Yahoo Finance Live discusses Meta receiving a $1.3 billion fine from the EU over data transfers to the U.S. [Source]