Frances Haugen has some thoughts on tackling toxic social media

Three of the top speakers at Web Summit 2021 – Frances Haugen, Amy Poehler and Thierry Henry – have some thoughts on one of Big Tech’s most pressing problems: fixing social media.

If there was one thread running through conversations about social media in 2021, it was that time is up for tech giants who continue to profit from algorithms that contribute to uncivil discourse and the spreading of misinformation.

Research has shown that polarising and emotionally provocative content spreads faster and further on these platforms. And one company in particular has been called out repeatedly for its alleged knowledge of these effects and its unwillingness to change: Facebook (now known as Meta).

What is algorithmic accountability and why do we need it?

Although the notion of algorithmic accountability has been floated for several years by researchers and technologists, it reached widespread public awareness this year through the efforts of former Facebook data engineer turned whistleblower Frances Haugen.

“Engagement-based ranking is dangerous because, right now, extreme content wins out on that basis,” she warned, pointing out that she had “found things that I thought were putting lives in danger”.

At Web Summit 2021, Frances was quick to point out the discord between the tech giant’s rebranding, its expansion into the virtual reality of the metaverse, and the recent revelations by Frances of a company aware of algorithmically driven toxic content that it was not prepared to fully tackle.

Amplifying extreme content

“There’s a Meta problem at Facebook,” said Frances, adding that, “over and over again, they choose expansion in new areas over sticking the landing on what they have already done. Instead of investing in making sure that our platforms are a minimal level of safe, Facebook is about to invest 10,000 engineers in video games. I can’t imagine how this makes sense”.

To those who say Facebook is not creating this content but simply – and benignly – hosting it, Frances said: “Bad people and bad ideas are not the problem. It’s about who gets the largest microphone.”

Furthermore, it’s not just how individuals use these platforms but how this engagement makes them feel.

Frances has gone on record saying that Facebook knew how negative the impact Instagram has on the mental health of teen girls and young women was, but did nothing to change this.

Its own research, she says, suggests that it is an addictive app – and one that is a hard habit to kick when teen girls report feeling ostracised if they don’t log in often.

The treacherous waters of social media

For these young women, social media can be treacherous says actor, director, and co-founder of Smart Girls, Amy Poehler. But she also notes that, if used right, it can be empowering. It is “both things at once”, she says.

It is a place where young women, in particular, can feel under scrutiny. The actor, who said “we live in a patriarchal society”, went on to note that, unfortunately, girls are “very used to being viewed and watched, and it’s a feeling they have from a very young age”. This, she said, is amplified on social media.

“There is a certain responsibility to realise that young women and girls are looking outward – externally – for a sense of validation and a sense of self,” she explained.

Talking about how parents should handle this, she said: “You don’t want to hand your baby over to a crowd. I’ve often said social media is like throwing your window open to a busy New York street and yelling ‘do you think I’m pretty?’. You’ll get a lot of different answers.”

But she also noted that “now young women and girls are very keen on making sure the person delivering the message is authentic. They know when people are trying to trick them, gaslight them or use them”.

Amy herself doesn’t have any social media accounts. “I’m not on Instagram. I’m waiting for its name to change,” she joked, adding that she doesn’t have a social media presence because she decided early on that “it wasn’t the way I wanted to participate in a conversation. It wasn’t for me. But I understand it from an outsider perspective”.

Giving online bullies the boot

Another public figure who has no social media accounts is Thierry Henry, which might seem unusual given that, early this year, he had close to 17 million followers across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Thierry Henry backstage at Web Summit 2021. Image: Harry Murphy/Web Summit (CC BY 2.0)

The French football icon disabled all of his accounts in March 2020 as a result of the levels of racist abuse he was receiving. He has called out both Facebook and Twitter for their inability to deal with hate speech on their platforms.

“They are doing nowhere near what is required for us to feel safe on it, let’s be honest. [Social media] is an essential tool in the world we live in, but can it be safe? That’s the big thing,” he said.

Thierry accused social media companies of profiting by not making seemingly necessary changes, saying, “when you find that they generate money through hate, it is very difficult when your medicine [social media use] is your poison. Unfortunately, being genuine and being nice don’t generate money”.

He’s glad that recent UK legislation means that online trolls can now face a two-year jail sentence for posting content or sending messages that cause harm, but he feels more needs to be done. That’s why he’s partnered with PUMA to launch a campaign to fight online harassment.

Perhaps summing up what is on all of our minds at this present moment in social media history, Thierry said: “We need help from people in higher positions. We need to come together to make sure that those people maybe legislate a law that will make [social media] platforms more accountable.”

Main image: Eóin Noonan/Web Summit (CC BY 2.0)