TikTok, 42.51%. Twitter, 44.7%. Youtube, 45%. Facebook, 46%. Instagram, 48.38%. What could possibly be the reason why these companies with billions in funding were rated so poorly? The answer to that is startling. In 2022, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD, a media monitoring organization made to defend the LGBTQ+ community on the internet, rated five of the largest tech giants on their support and protection of LGBTQ+ users. These sites were TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. All of these companies are used by millions of people daily and function as a staple of human connection. Many use them as their livelihood and a way to financially support themselves. All of these companies, every single one of them with billions of revenue, utterly failed. In another ranking by RankingDigitalRights, another media monitoring organization, not a single company managed to score above a 70% in the categories of free speech, governance, and privacy. In the grading system of many public schools, this is considered failing — a massive red-marker paper-staining F: unacceptable.
To retain audience attention and thus make more ad revenue, sites had to implement more intelligent algorithms or computer programs that filter for the best content to be in the individual’s feed. Prolonged usage of social media is not only unhealthy physically, but is also mentally taxing. With constant negativity surrounding modern-day news, the spread of false and contradicting information, and the ability to hide behind a profile picture and insult someone, toxicity can spread, be rampant, and target vulnerable communities such as racial minorities and the LGBTQIA+ community. In an article published by NPR, in a combined research pool of 600,000 teenagers and young adults, the researchers found an increase of 52% in depression in teenagers and 63% in young adults over the past decade.
And big tech knows the damage they do to people, but they purposefully leave the effects of their algorithm untransparent due to their goal of more juicy ad revenue. In 2021, Frances Haugen, originally a key insider in Facebook who monitored the algorithm for the spread of misinformation and exploitation by foreign powers, became a whistleblower. She claimed that the Facebook algorithm was spreading misinformation as well as causing harm to children. In response, Facebook denied the accusations and Zuckerberg responded with comments that, according to Ann Skeet, senior director of leadership ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, sounded like a high school debate team trying to win a competition instead of fully accepting their actions and responsibilities. Forcing big tech to make their algorithms clearer to their users will alleviate this issue, protect vulnerable users, and build trust within the community.
There have been attempts for transparency within big techs such as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, a set of guidelines implemented by the European Union to protect private information. GDPR enforces companies in the European Union to have data protection officers (DPOs), and many layers of information that clarify what information the site is taking from the individual, such as cookies. There also have been many ways that individuals have tried to break free from the algorithm’s hold. Individuals like Louis Barclay, who was addicted to Facebook, learned how to code himself and created his browser extension called Unfollow Everything. Which unfollowed everyone at once and completely cleared his feed, but was subsequently banned from all Meta sites for breaking guidelines. There are many more strategies out there used by various groups and people in an attempt to rid themselves of their algorithm addiction.
With the popularity of social media far from reaching its height, the protection and understanding of algorithms are necessary for anyone spending a prolonged time on the internet. Understanding what information is being given and what information is being taken away is necessary to protect yourself online. Small steps are being made every day to lessen the abuse of power by big tech, and the future, as dark and convoluted as it is, is still shining
Pegasus prompted my love for Theology
The path to becoming a better son
