2018 was the year social media and tech companies like Facebook and Twitter grew up.
From the continued effects of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, to social media being used to help spur horrific violence in places like Myanmar, these tech firms are no longer considered startups run by dorky whiz kids.
They are now the favorite target of angry users and hungry politicians — wanting to make the companies pay both figuratively and literally after years of free rein.
He is still resisting several calls by UK lawmakers to answer questions in a similar format. He even failed to do so when the committee investigating the company set up shop in Washington in February for a special hearing. He did the same when it invited lawmakers from eight different countries to join them for a “grant international hearing” in November.
Hate speech
Where these platforms once saw themselves as neutral blank canvases for their users, they are now grappling with the reality that some of the lowest and worst of our societies are thriving on their platforms — and many believe it is up to companies like Facebook to control the spread.
In September, Twitter announced a new policy prohibiting “dehumanizing speech,” expanding on their hate speech conduct, banning direct attacks or threats of violence based on race, sexual orientation or gender.
Further investigations showed how the site’s algorithm often recommended conspiracy theory videos to users following major news events, even if the user had not searched for it.
On the regulatory side, Germany began enforcing a hate speech law, requiring social media sites remove hate speech within 24 hours or face fines of up to tens of millions of dollars — but thus far no company has faced major fines from the law.
Bots
Both Facebook and Twitter faced intense criticism following the revelations that foreign actors had used fake accounts, sometimes computerized “bots” to try and influence elections around the world or just to sow divisions.
The leaders
A common thread for Facebook and Twitter this year came in their CEOs: men considered amalgamations of aloof yet at times ruthless tech geniuses.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg was mocked on Saturday Night Live for appearing like a robot in interviews and in hearings — seemingly just repeating well-rehearsed talking points.
Beyond being a source of jokes, Dorsey and Zuckerberg, along with their fellow executives’ demeanor has become an issue before the people who can really control them: government regulators.
By appearing detached and repeating talking points, or in Zuckerberg’s case, not showing up at all to some hearings, politicians are getting increasingly angry and frustrated as they weigh further laws and regulations.
As Sen. Mark Warner said during a September hearing in Washington with Dorsey and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, “The era of the wild west in social media is coming to an end.”
GDPR
In Europe, the EU’s big General Data Protection Regulation was finally implemented in May. And beyond incessant pop-ups asking for consent, the law was one of the first major sweeping attempts at regulating companies that have run free with user data for years. If companies fail to prove they have been handling data correctly, don’t report security breaches within 72 hours, or hold data for longer than is necessary, they face penalties of billions of dollars.
In the waning days of 2018, a European regulator announced Facebook could be facing a multi-billion dollar fine if an investigation revealed the company failed to protect user privacy.
What’s next
2019 will be the year of regulation and taxes.
A UK committee investigating fake news and user data privacy will likely release its final report and begin proposing further rules and regulations.
GDPR will turn one and will likely begin to impose more fines.
How to tax tech companies will also become a major issue. A “digital services tax” in the UK on the revenues of profitable tech companies was proposed to come into force in 2020.
The French government has said, starting January 1, it will impose a new tax on the likes of Google and Facebook as soon as January 2019 if a broader European tax on such companies fails to pan out.
Whatever 2019 brings one thing is clear: The whiz kids are now the whiz adults.
Source : Nbcnewyork