Former Face(CIA)book executive, who has banned his own children from the site, says social media is ripping society apart by manipulating users
Comments were made by Chamath Palihapitiya who joined Facebook in 2007
He took particular aim at the ways people communicate via social media
He cited an incident where hoax messages led to the lynching of seven people
He believes money pumped into social sites would be better spent addressing problems like climate change and disease
By TIM COLLINS
DAILYMAIL.COM
11 December 2017
A former Facebook executive has spoken out against the social network he helped to create, saying it is ‘ripping society apart’.
The comments were made by Chamath Palihapitiya, who joined Facebook in 2007 and became its vice president for user growth.
He says he feels ‘tremendous guilt’ for the influence Facebook has had and its ability to manipulate users, suggesting users take a break from using social media altogether.
The venture capitalist, who has banned his own three young children from the site, took particular aim at the ways people communicate via social media, including hearts, likes, and the thumbs-up.
Mr Palihapitiya believes this has the power to boost the spread of misinformation and allow people with nefarious intentions to manipulate users.
He cited an incident in India where hoax messages about kidnappings shared on WhatsApp led to the lynching of seven innocent people, according to reports in The Verge.
During his talk, Mr Palihapitiya called out not only Facebook, but Silicon Valley’s entire system of funding.
He claimed money pumped into the region would be better spent addressing problems like climate change and disease.
Speaking to an audience at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Mr Palihapitiya said: ‘I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works.
‘The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we’ve created are destroying how society works.
‘No civil discourse, no cooperation; misinformation, mistruth.
‘And it’s not an American problem — this is not about Russians ads. This is a global problem.’
This is not the first time that prominent figure at Facebook has spoken out about the social network.
The Rest…HERE
