Zuckerberg Issues New Facebook Manifesto

In a 5,500-word letter, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg writes about the backlash of globalization and the type of world the social networking giant can help create.

He is not, however, suggesting taking a hard-line approach against fake news: “Our approach will focus less on banning misinformation, and more on surfacing additional perspectives and information, including that fact checkers dispute an item’s accuracy”, he wrote. Throughout the entire letter, the CEO of Facebook fill out on five goals: to help users built communities that are supportive, safe, informed, civically-engaged, and inclusive. Zuckerberg believes that Facebook’s AI will learn to make distinctions, for example: the AI will be able to distinguish between terrorist propaganda and a news report about a terrorist attack.

“In the last few months, we have already helped our community double the number of connections between people and our representatives by making it easier to connect with all our representatives in one click”, Zuckerberg noted.

Elsewhere in Zuckerberg’s document – titled Building Global Community – the Facebook founder says his firm makes a lot of mistakes but ultimately is aiming to be “bringing us closer together”.

He further said that their greatest opportunities are now global and the greatest challenges across the globe also needs global responses such as ending terrorism, fighting climate and preventing pandemics. That is challenging not just because cultural norms are shifting, but also because Facebook “is evolving from its origin connecting us with family and friends to now becoming a source of news and public discourse as well“.

“In general, if you become less likely to share a story after reading it, that’s a good sign the headline was sensational”, Zuckerberg said. “I really don’t have much doubt that this is the right direction to go in the long term”.

In the manifesto, posted to the social media site, Zuckerberg said: “When we began, this idea was not controversial”. After all, getting more people to come together on the social network more frequently would give Facebook more opportunities to sell the ads that generate most of its revenue, which totaled US$27 billion a year ago. U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to put “America first” in his inaugural address in January.

“We are researching systems that can read text and look at photos and videos to understand if anything risky may be happening”. They range from building online social communities that strengthen traditional institutions to providing services during crises or fostering civil engagement.

His note also spoke extensively about the spread of information on Facebook, including so-called “fake news“.