It seems that some stakeholders representing financial interests are asking platforms like Facebook and Twitter to crack down harder on misinformation in light of a mob storming the U.S. Capitol building last week.
It seems strange on the face of it for a Reuters story breaking today to characterize these parties as “pension fund managers and religious investors,” until one digs a little bit deeper and sees that reporter Ross Kerber names various New York state fund managers as well as the Unitarian Universalist Association, one of the less dogmatic groups of its kind, that is assumedly handling some kind of church-related fund.
The report also makes more sense when Kerber reveals the longer-term goal that these fund managers promote, quoting a letter from petitioners this way:
“In the longer run, boards and executives must review their ‘business model and reliance on algorithmic decision making, which has been linked to the spread of hate and disinformation online,’ the letters said.”
Some of the cognitive dissonance in today’s technology industry comes from the twin objectives of, on the one hand, promoting user privacy, and on the other hand, cracking down on fraud and misinformation.
Can you do both?
Some say that separate tracks for managing these two common problems can sort out the difference between big brother surveillance and common-sense shutdowns of violence and hate speech on the Internet.
For his part, Jack Dorsey at Twitter threads this needle pretty well in explaining that closing Donald Trump’s Twitter account was the right move, but conceding that it also sets a dangerous precedent.
Likewise, Facebook managers have stood behind their own crackdowns while also admitting that companies need to be vigilant on user rights and user privacy.
Here’s the rub for investors – the companies that will be most successful in the next decade are those that are able to manage these competing concerns well and convince the general population that they have the common good in mind. Those who have holdings in this type of equity should remain engaged to see where all of this goes in the future.
