Subject category:
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Published by:
Stanford Business School
Version: 24 October 2022
Length: 16 pages
Data source: Published sources
Topics:
Ethics; Elections; Strategy; Data; Social media; Facebook; Fake news; Democracy; Politics; Rule of law
Share a link:
https://casecent.re/p/188987
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Abstract
By 2022, Meta was the world's largest social media company, with around 3 billion users sharing 140 billion messages and a billion stories a day. Over 200 million businesses used Meta apps like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Meta's primary source of revenue was advertising. Its proclaimed mission was to 'give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together' and its principles were to 'give people a voice, build connection and community, serve everyone, keep people safe and protect privacy, promote economic opportunity'. Facebook, which was Meta's original platform and, from 2004 to 2021, the source of the company's name, had 1.97 billion daily users around the world. More than 80 percent of adult social media users in the United States reported visiting Facebook at least once a week in 2022, and the platform's global penetration was nearly 40 percent. This case focuses specifically on the use of Facebook for political speech in the United States and around the world. It covers the advent of Facebook as a political tool, the 'Facebook era' in American presidential elections, including charges of Russian interference, 'fake news' and disinformation, and targeted advertising, allegations of unfair censorship and double standards, the 2021 'whistleblower', Frances Haugen, and the Facebook response to all these issues. The case also considers the role of Facebook in the Myanmar genocide and the Polish political landscape.
Time period
The events covered by this case took place in 2022.Geographical setting
Region:
Americas
Country:
United States
Location:
California
About
Abstract
By 2022, Meta was the world's largest social media company, with around 3 billion users sharing 140 billion messages and a billion stories a day. Over 200 million businesses used Meta apps like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Meta's primary source of revenue was advertising. Its proclaimed mission was to 'give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together' and its principles were to 'give people a voice, build connection and community, serve everyone, keep people safe and protect privacy, promote economic opportunity'. Facebook, which was Meta's original platform and, from 2004 to 2021, the source of the company's name, had 1.97 billion daily users around the world. More than 80 percent of adult social media users in the United States reported visiting Facebook at least once a week in 2022, and the platform's global penetration was nearly 40 percent. This case focuses specifically on the use of Facebook for political speech in the United States and around the world. It covers the advent of Facebook as a political tool, the 'Facebook era' in American presidential elections, including charges of Russian interference, 'fake news' and disinformation, and targeted advertising, allegations of unfair censorship and double standards, the 2021 'whistleblower', Frances Haugen, and the Facebook response to all these issues. The case also considers the role of Facebook in the Myanmar genocide and the Polish political landscape.
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Time period
The events covered by this case took place in 2022.Geographical setting
Region:
Americas
Country:
United States
Location:
California