Since the 2016 presidential election, Facebook’s drawn charges of amplifying fake news, selling political ads to Russia-associated accounts, and failing to enforce its own terms of service when it comes to bots, trolls, and harassers on its platform. Now, it turns out Facebook’s not only been serving as a platform for extremist political movements – but actively advising them. The company’s consulting arm has worked with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu Nationalist; Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who’s urged on a wave of extrajudicial killings, Germany’s new nationalist, anti-immigrant party, the AfD, and, of course, the campaign of Donald J. Trump.
Guest:
- Sarah Frier, technology reporter for Bloomberg, and author of this report on Facebook role helping tyrants and demagogues consolidate their influence.
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Music: “Scuba” by Simun Mathewson, under Creative Commons – Attribution License.