[kictanet] Can Facebook fix its own bug? and what lessons for Kenya Elections 2017?

[Ali Hussein]

Listers

There's no doubt that Facebook has become THE News Platform that humanity
relies on. The numbers are staggering. Nearly 2 billion people use Facebook
every month and 1.2 billion daily. It has become a mirror of our lives. In
more ways than we can imagine.

In 2016 however, Facebook's huge influence in our lives became its biggest
liability - During the U.S. election, propagandists — some working for
money, others for potentially state-sponsored lulz — used the service to
turn fake stories into viral sensations, like the one about Pope Francis’
endorsing Trump (he hadn’t
<http://www.factcheck.org/2016/10/did-the-pope-endorse-trump/>). And fake
news was only part of a larger conundrum. With its huge reach, Facebook has
begun to act as the great disseminator of the larger cloud of
misinformation and half-truths swirling about the rest of media. It sucks
up lies from cable news and Twitter, *then precisely targets each lie to
the partisan bubble most receptive to it.*

Locally we are seeing similar versions of the problems of the US Election
being enacted. The most visible one was during the months long doctors'
strike where pro and against teams were using not only Facebook but twitter
and Whatsapp to spread truths, half-truths and outright lies.

Should Facebook be held responsible for 'fact-checking' (which by the way
they have already instituted certain measures to do this) and hire editors
to 'police' what people post? Or is this a reflection of how society is and
has nothing to do with Facebook or Social Media at large. The only problem
with this is that Pre-Social Media lies and fake news usually were confined
to certain social groups, parties, families etc. Today, you can be an
instant famous or infamous person by a click of the button.

What can we do in Kenya and Africa in general to ensure this doesn't
adversely affect our socio and cultural foundations?

Read on:-

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/magazine/can-facebook-fix-its-own-worst-bug.html?_r=0

*Ali Hussein*

*Principal*

*Hussein & Associates*



Tel: +254 713 601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
<http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>


13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing,

Chiromo Road, Westlands,

Nairobi, Kenya.

Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely
mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the
organizations that I work with.
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