An ugly truth: a tale of two echo chambers

Updated on: 08 September 2023

Neil C. Hughes
Contributor

Unveil the dichotomies behind Facebook's empire in our review of 'An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination' by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang. Was Mark Zuckerberg a visionary led astray or a Bond villain in the making?

Mark Zuckerberg has become a pantomime Bond villain for the digital age. But assuming that nobody thinks they're the bad guy, did he start out with honorable intentions? Award-winning New York Times reporters Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang dared to peek behind the curtain at 1 Hacker Way to learn more about high-profile dramas, from the Russian hacking of the Clinton campaign to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Four hundred interviews and thousands of hours later, the authors released a best-selling book called An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination. Much like a social media algorithm, the book is designed to strengthen any opinions you might have and succeeds in delivering a healthy portion of confirmation bias. But what did we learn?

I don't know why they trust me. Dumb f****

Most readers will already know the unsavory story of a young nerdy Harvard student who created a platform called Facemash to rate how hot the girls on campus were. Early text messages from Mark Zuckerberg highlighted his cavalier attitude toward user information, something that's become an ever-pervasive issue in the tech industry.

Zuckerberg's remarks, "Yeah, so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard, just ask me. I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS," expose not just an audacious gathering of data but a flippant disregard for the trust that users place in platforms. His subsequent comment, "People just submitted it. I don't know why they trust me. Dumb f****," lays bare a disturbing perspective that questions the ethical foundation upon which these companies operate.

While some argue that these messages are a relic from a time when the magnate was but a college student, unaware of the responsibilities his platform would later command, others see them as an ominous forewarning of the data commodification and privacy erosion that characterize our digital age. However, the origin story of Zuckerberg suggests the creation of a platform continuously accused of violating its users' privacy and promoting political biases was evident from the beginning.

The digital town square

In the embryonic stage of Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg harbored a vision that placed his burgeoning company above even national interests, encapsulated in his mantra, "Company over country." According to Kate Losse, Zuckerberg's early speechwriter, the CEO was convinced that Facebook had greater potential to shape history than any nation-state. This philosophy underscored the ethical and governance quandaries presented by the platform's immense power and influence during its meteoric rise.

Facebook was initially marketed to users as a utopian digital space for connecting with friends, communities, and shared interests. However, its nearly three billion monthly active users soon discovered that this seemingly friendly and inclusive platform harbored a more complex reality marred by bias and misleading practices.

The Ugly Truth alludes to a pivotal moment on June 18th, 2016, when a high-ranking confidant of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg disseminated a remarkable internal memo, casting a harsh light on the ethical toll of the company's unyielding pursuit of expansion. This memo is a watershed in understanding the moral compromises inherent in Facebook's meteoric rise and exposes the darker facets of a tech behemoth willing to grapple with ethical ambiguity in its insatiable quest for growth.

So we connect more people. That can be bad if they make it negative. Maybe it costs a life by exposing someone to bullies. Maybe someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated with our tools. And still, we connect people.
Andrew Bosworth's memo titled "The Ugly"

Despite what it says on the tin, there's no escaping the fact that Facebook makes money from charging businesses to access its vast user base for marketing goods and services. This presents a paradox, as the company's revenue model appears to be at odds with its purported altruistic goal of fostering genuine human connections.

These contradictions were further brought to life in leaked documents. Facebook allegedly boasted to advertisers that it could identify teenagers experiencing emotional vulnerabilities such as feeling "insecure," "worthless," and "needing a confidence boost." But these missteps were not an anomaly. It was inevitable. This is how Facebook was designed to perform, and it led us to a place where we don't know if we can believe what we see online.

How Joel Kaplan reshaped Facebook's political identity

With a user base that eclipses the combined populations of the world's two most populous nations, China and India, Facebook's influence has reached unprecedented heights. All of which made Zuckerberg's mantra of "Company over country" a ticking time bomb in the arena of global politics.

As the stealth architect behind some of Facebook's most contentious policy decisions, Joel Kaplan is painted as an unanticipated power broker within the tech giant's hierarchy. His role as head of Facebook's Washington, D.C. lobbying arm might suggest a limited scope of influence. Still, Kaplan had effectively transcended that boundary, exerting an outsized influence on core strategic choices that have shaped the company's political and social footprint.

Kaplan's connections to high-ranking political figures, including a close friendship with Justice Brett Kavanaugh, elevated his authority within the company, often making his voice more resonant than even Sheryl Sandberg's on political issues. His intricate web of influence was far-reaching, affecting Facebook's stance on hate speech and misinformation.

However, his controversial counsel to Mark Zuckerberg in 2015, advising against removing Donald Trump's call for a Muslim ban on the platform, set a precedent that arguably tilted the scales in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Moreover, Kaplan's maneuvers have consistently skewed Facebook's algorithms and policies in favor of conservative voices, sparking a complex debate about the platform's role in shaping public discourse.

Considering Facebook's unparalleled scale and reach in the digital age, these decisions carry a heavy weight, effectively making Kaplan's role not just a corporate position but a globally impactful seat of power.

Although there is an argument that Zuckerberg was motivated by a sense of idealism to improve the world, he was always destined to enhance his political bias or worldview. Even the authors of The Ugly Truth occasionally fall into the trap of promoting their own political bias of left-leaning liberal views as good and right-leaning conservatism as bad. But replacing nuance and context with binary thinking will only cause division with opposing sides entrenched in their views.

The complicated legacy of Zuckerberg and Sandberg

In "An Ugly Truth," the tech billionaire and the quintessential businesswoman quickly found themselves cornered. Sequestered within their inner circles of advisors and blinded by their ambition and hubris, they've watched as their groundbreaking technology became a weapon for hate peddlers, criminals, and nefarious political regimes worldwide, leading to catastrophic outcomes. Now, accountability comes knocking.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's COO and the author of "Lean In," has long been perceived as the steadying force behind Facebook's astronomical growth and the counterbalance to Mark Zuckerberg's more audacious tendencies. She managed critical business components like advertising, which were pivotal to the company's financial success.

However, this narrative is increasingly scrutinized in the book, as insiders reported that Sandberg often fails to challenge Zuckerberg's more controversial decisions. Revelations from an insider account suggest that their working relationship is fraught with complexities. Meetings between the two are described as dismissive, and there seems to be an undercurrent of tension wherein Sandberg hesitates to push back against Zuckerberg's decisions for fear of job security and being labeled as politically biased.

David Vladeck, the head of the Consumer Protection Bureau, reportedly said. "We were surprised that someone as sophisticated as Sheryl Sandberg could be as tone-deaf as she was." Some had a less charitable interpretation. "Arrogance is her weakness, her blind spot. She believes there is no person she can't charm or convince," a former Facebook employee observed.

A tangle of professional priorities and personal beliefs is at the core of their seemingly dysfunctional relationship. Sandberg, widely recognized as a master communicator, hasn't been able to manage the public and regulatory perception of Facebook effectively, much to Zuckerberg's disappointment. On the other hand, Sandberg finds Zuckerberg's policy decisions objectionable but refrains from voicing her concerns openly, choosing instead to vent her frustrations in private circles.

This tension is exacerbated by a work culture that seems to discourage critical feedback – employees are hesitant to deliver bad news to the leadership duo, fully aware of the immense pressure to continue Facebook's growth trajectory. As a result, the challenges confronting Facebook were exacerbated by an internal ecosystem prioritizing growth and profits over ethical considerations and effective governance.

Frankenstein's algorithm: when tech creators lose control

The authors of "The Ugly Truth" arguably have more in common with Mark Zuckerberg than they'd like to admit. Their narrative often feels like the kind of echo chamber Facebook has been criticized for creating. While the book aims to expose, it doesn't offer many startling new insights and ends up preaching to a choir of like-minded readers.

In the seemingly 'free' world of social media, it's not just your clicks but your very essence – your interactions, likes, and shares – turned into marketable goods. Astonishingly, millions remain willing to expose the most intimate aspects of their lives. They hand over this treasure trove of personal data to a largely inscrutable Silicon Valley giant, captivated by the allure of online connection and validation.

The ultimate lesson from "The Ugly Truth" is that the creator lost the reins of what can only be likened to a contemporary Frankenstein's monster. The origin story can be traced back to. 2004, in a Harvard dorm room, where a young and idealistic Zuckerberg envisioned building a digital town square for the world, blissfully unaware of the dangers it would also create. Or so we are led to believe.

It's a tale as old as time. Echoing the haunting words of comic book anti-hero Harvey Dent: "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Ultimately, it's a warning that we must think hard about who's responsible when good ideas and exciting emerging technologies evolve into big problems.

Once again, we find ourselves playing with complex technologies from AI and ML to quantum computing like small children, blissfully unaware of their potential dangers. If we're to take anything away from the "Ugly Truth" behind the Facebook story, it's to learn from the lessons of the past or inevitably repeat them. However, next time, the stakes will likely be much higher.