Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg Weighs In On Privacy and Business Ethics

Advancements in technology have made it possible for businesses to use various methods to influence consumer behaviour through social media platforms, but where do they draw the line in matters of privacy and ethics?  

The question becomes all the more important in the case of Facebook, that faced privacy issues and ethical questions after it came to light consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had mined the personal data of millions of Facebook users and used it to influence voter opinion.

Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, addressing MIT’s 2018 commencement ceremony on June 8, says the social media platform failed to recognize the risks and head them off.

“Today, anyone with an internet connection can inspire millions with a single sentence or a single image. This gives extraordinary power to the people who use it to do good–to march for equality, reignite the movement against sexual harassment, rally around things they care about and be there for the people they want to be there for, Sandberg said

“It’s painful when you miss something — when you make the mistake of believing so much in the good you are seeing that you don’t see the bad,” she added.

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“Today, anyone with an internet connection can inspire millions with a single sentence or a single image. This gives extraordinary power to the people who use it to do good–to march for equality, reignite the movement against sexual harassment, rally around things they care about and be there for the people they want to be there for, Sandberg said.

But it also empowers those who seek to do harm. When everyone has a voice, some raise their voices in hatred. When everyone can share, some share lies. When everyone can organize, some organize against the things we value most.”

She listed three options to deal with such issues. The first is to retreat, the second, to push forward with a single-minded belief in technology. The third option is to “fight like hell to do all the good we can do with the understanding that what we build will be used by people–and people are capable of both beauty and cruelty.”

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On her part, she said she would choose the third option. Sandburg urged the graduates to be optimistic about the future. She urged them to build technology that “supports equality, democracy, truth, and kindness…and throwing up every possible roadblock against hate, violence, and deception.”

In this context, she referred to former MIT faculty member David Baltimore, who helped convene a debate among lawyers, scientists, and doctors in the 1970s to discuss new gene editing technology. Recognizing the clear potential for misuse, he created an ethical framework and carried on the technology development, leading to major medical breakthroughs.

Stressing that creators of technology had the responsibility to ensure that it is used responsibly, she said, “When even with the best of intentions you go astray — as many of us have — you have the responsibility to course correct.”

“Our challenge now is to be clear-eyed optimists … to build technology that improves lives and gives voice to those who often have none while preventing misuse,” Sandberg said. “To build teams that better reflect the world around us, in all its complexity and diversity. If we succeed, we will build technology that better serves not just some of us, but all of us,” she added.(Image Source:flickr.com)