Are Facebooks days in the social media sun over?
Our thoughts are our own, right? Apparently not- it’s a widely accepted fact that our behaviours, thoughts and feelings are influenced by stimuli around is. So is the question: Are our thoughts our own? Or is it actually: To what extent are we influenced by everything around us?
Facebook has ‘quietly rescinded’ their advertising policy regarding banning false claims in articles that could ‘mislead or deceive’ people according to the Guardian. In amongst the masses of newly reallowed Facebook posts are an age old favourite of many: Political posts.
That’s right, posts of a political nature are back, and according to to Facebook’s newly reviewed policy- they’re here to stay.
But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s go back to Facebook’s policy change. According to the updated policy, any Facebook post can now contain any kind of claim that has not been ‘debunked by third-party fact checkers’ i.e. rather than only claims that have been validated and substantiated with evidence being allowed on the Facebook app, so long as a claim from a post has not been disproved- it is allowed to be posted and shared across the Facebook platform. This extends to everything from advertisements, to news articles and political posts and statements made on the platform.
You may say: “So what, no big deal.” but you couldn’t be further from the truth. These new policy changes allow for the widespread distribution of misinformation without people knowing any better. You may still say: “So what, just take everything you read with a pinch of salt.” And once again, I’d tell you that you couldn’t be more wrong.
Facebook will allow for political posts containing unsubstantiated claims and information to be distributed in an uncensored and unregulated manner. This shocking and almost ignorant change allows for users of the platform to be exposed to harmful and influential propaganda that can change the way that Facebook’s 2.41 billion active users think- 1.8% or 43.38 million of whom are teenagers who are regarded as the most impressionable members of society.
These extremely harmful, influential and dangerous pieces of propaganda will be exempt from Facebook’s new third-party fact checking policy as they are classified as opinion pieces, so they can still contain false claims that can influence the decisions and views of users.
It has been proven that a subconscious stimulus such as a social media posts can influence our conscious decisions and in turn their influence can change our lives. So I leave you with this thought: With an upcoming American election, will you let this happen to you?