Zuckerberg fires back against claims of profit over people
Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday addressed during Facebook’s third-quarter earnings call the escalated allegations, as the CEO attempted to drift recently surfaced claims from his social networking platform.
According to the Big Tech platform’s CEO, the storm hitting his company arising a wave of bad press was led by “a coordinated effort to selectively use leaked documents to paint a false picture of our company.”
Throughout the call, Zuckerberg went through an extensive list of accomplishments the networking company has taken into consideration to maintain safety and security. In addition to projects that have already been set into motion with a valuation of $5 million in 2021 alone.
“It makes a good soundbite to say that we don’t solve these impossible tradeoffs because we’re just focused on making money, but the reality is these questions are not primarily about our business, but about balancing difficult social values,” he addressed the allegations.
In parallel, Facebook’s founder addressed the effect his company has in regard to introspection, and how it is acting by example to pave the way for other companies to mirror Facebook’s contemplation towards its own conduct.
However, throughout the call, Zuckerberg’s remarks did not sound so soft on the ears nor cautious as a distinguished forceful and angry tone was escalating at times, leaving people to wonder whether he really does hold himself accountable for all the allegations surfacing on the scene.
In its place, he chose to arguably direct the blame to the media, lawmakers, and even society.
“If social media is not the main driver of these issues, then it probably can’t fix them by itself either,” he said during the call.
“I’ve repeatedly called for regulation to provide clarity because I don’t think companies should be making so many of these decisions ourselves,” he added.
Earlier this month, Frances Haugen, a former product manager at Facebook, and the U.S. Congress whistleblower gave her testimony to UK-based lawmakers to get governmental entities to act upon the social networking company’s behavior in prioritizing profit over the well-being of its users.
Haugen’s testimony shed some light on the company’s misconduct towards its userbase following The Wall Street Journal’s publication of the “Facebook Papers,” a series of documentation publicizing the platform’s stance in regard to monetary growth.
“Facebook can’t change the underlying media dynamics,” he elaborated on how his sole focus lies with the well-being of the site’s users, instead of the press, despite what news outlets are saying.
“The reason we’ve been able to succeed for almost two decades is because we keep evolving and building. Facebook started in a dorm room and grew into a global website. We invented the News Feed and a new kind of ads platform. We became a mobile-first experience. And then we grew a whole family of apps that serve billions of people,” he stated.
Experts believe that Mark Zuckerberg – despite what anyone’s opinion is or what their stance is towards the social networking company – is purposefully drifting the attention from his beloved platform by projecting the harm the company has done on different outlets or any factors for that matter.
Facebook’s own employees are coming forth and raising their voices against the unfairness in management led by the CEO and his executives, while Zuckerberg is not showing any type of remorse, or even accountability, to the rippling and damaging effect his platform has on individuals and societies altogether.