Links: WSJ Facebook Files

This week's reporting from WSJ on Facebook has been extraordinary.

I can't see a single moral argument for well-considered use of Facebook's platforms by anyone who reads the reporting. Yet, the company will continue to thrive and mint money because everyone wants the internet to be free & easy. If Rohinga, Palghar, Beacon, Cambridge Analytica, Project Alamo, and a Facebook-fueled insurrection didn't lead to a meaningful exodus, why would five WSJ pieces provide a tipping point?

I listened to Adam Mosseri's incomprehensible defense of InstaFace here https://pca.st/bwqv7rgw before reading the WSJ pieces, and while Mosseri's PR misstep (comparing the danger of social media to the danger of cars) is insane; it's satisfying to see him publicly scramble to shove his own statements back in the bottle.

Charlie Warzel went further on the ethical/moral bid, with his follow-up piece on the WSJ reporting, screen-capped above. https://warzel.substack.com/p/the-algorithm-tweaks-wont-save-us

For a listenable overview, Techmeme Ride Home pod did a decent round-up today: https://pca.st/lhmz96iv

And here are links to the five pieces, each outside the WSJ paywall:

Part 1: Facebook Says Its Rules Apply to All. Company Documents Reveal a Secret Elite That’s Exempt. - https://archive.is/rvC2t

Part 2: Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Many Teen Girls, Company Documents Show - https://archive.is/DBalO

Part 3: Facebook Tried to Make Its Platform a Healthier Place. It Got Angrier Instead. https://archive.is/HAGVe

Part 4: Facebook Employees Flag Drug Cartels and Human Traffickers. The Company’s Response Is Weak, Documents Show. - https://archive.is/3vc5S

Part 5: How Facebook Hobbled Mark Zuckerberg’s Bid to Get America Vaccinated - https://archive.is/bk2xI