Facebook’s algorithm has historically drawn the ire of many critics and politicians. In a less formal sense, almost everyone knows that its algorithm sucks. Facebook was already treading on thin-ice even before the revelations of the ‘Facebook Files’ leak, as well as the testimonies of Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen. These events only worked to amplify the primary issue associated with Facebook’s “intrusive” algorithm and the US congress has finally decided to do something against it. If approved into a law, the ‘Filter Bubble Bill’ will require social platforms to provide content feeds not based on secretly-gathered data or information.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing for what it calls the ‘Filter Bubble Transparency Act’, which would require companies like Meta to give users the option to essentially opt-out of algorithmic content feeds based on personal data. You can view a copy of the proposed legislation here.
Simply put, the bill is aimed towards removing what makes Facebook and Instagram content so addictive and, as its own internal research files have revealed, harmful.
“The algorithms Facebook uses to maximize user engagement on its platform undermine our shared sense of objective reality, intensify fringe political beliefs, facilitate connections between extremist users, and, tragically, lead some of them to commit real-world physical violence, such as what we experienced firsthand on January 6th,”
The bill, introduced by Congress Representatives Ken Buck (Colorado), David Cicilline (Rhode Island), Lori Trahan (Massachusetts), and Burgess Owens (Utah) would require what are categorized as being ‘big’ online content providers to offer their users what it would call a ‘Input-Transparent Algorithm’.
As explained by Congress:
“The term ‘input-transparent algorithm means an algorithmic ranking-system that does not use user-specific data to determine the order or manner that information is furnished to any given user on a covered internet platform, unless the user-specific data is expressly provided to the platform by the user for such purpose.”
In the simplest words, what this would spell for companies like Meta is that they’ll need to provide their users with content that was not derived from personal data collected from across the internet. If, for example, Facebook tracked its users’ shopping behavior across the web, once this bill gets turned into a law, it’ll no longer be able to provide content feed material based on such data. It might even push Facebook to formulate a completely new algorithm from scratch, which can have significant impacts.
The Wrap
In the grand scheme of things, the bill wouldn’t only affect Facebook, but also extends to all platforms making use of the same kind of algorithm. It only goes to show that online space is still pretty much unexplored territory and that the shifting demands for stricter maintenance of online privacy and security will eventually require social platforms to rethink and/or reorient their approaches with regards to their data-gathering and content-delivery.
The main concern wanting to be avoided here is to continue to allow the spread of the negative impacts brought about by unregulated, highly intrusive feeds, such as the one attributed to Instagram. It’s obvious that unregulated influence, though beneficial to a platform’s reach and engagement potential, will eventually cause its user harm and bring about noticeable atmospheres of unfairness. It’s only a matter of time before other legislative bodies take action in order to bring under control the otherwise rampant growth of big social media platforms. It’s not entirely a bad thing, but it may well transform the entire social media landscape as we know it, for the better of course. Whether that will hold true, only time can tell for now.
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