#1454 The Problem with Facebook is Facebook
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 10 November 2021
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 11/9/2021
Today we take a look at the Facebook business model that is driving hate, lies, violence, extremism, and the breakdown of democracy around the world as well as some of the regulatory ideas geared toward reigning it in and mitigating the damage.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content)
BestOfTheLeft.com/Refer Sign up, share widely, get rewards. It's that easy!
BestOfTheLeft.com/Advertise Sponsor the show!
SHOW NOTES
UCLA professor Ramesh Srinivasan, who says the papers confirm what many critics have warned about for years. “This new form of digital capitalism that I believe Facebook is trailblazing is one that is playing with our intimate emotions on every level."
Tristan and Aza go behind the headlines with Frances herself. We go deeper into the problems she exposed, discuss potential solutions, and explore her motivations — along with why she fundamentally believes change is possible.
We've been hearing about revelations from the leaked 'Facebook Papers.' What has the social media giant has been doing, and what they haven't been doing, around the world? Guest: Sheera Frenkel, New York Times technology reporter.
Ch. 4: Zuckerberg's Metaverse - TyskySour - Air Date 10-29-21
Facebook is now Meta, and Mark Zuckerberg says our future is in the Metaverse. Is virtual reality the future of the internet, or Zuckerberg’s latest gimmick? With Michael Walker and Aaron Bastani.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 9: The Science Fiction Origins of the Metaverse - On the Media - Air Date 11-5-21
Why the tech moguls love science fiction so much, the perils of reading these "world-building" novels too literally, and how new forms of the genre today are already making the Metaverse look obsolete.
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 10: Final comments on Facebooks treatment of nonprofits and the actions you can take to call for regulation
TAKE ACTION!
Take part in The Facebook Logout, Nov. 10th-13th via Kairos & coalition - Read the demands
Call on DOJ, SEC, and FTC to Open Criminal Investigations into Facebook Execs via American Economic Liberties Project & MoveOn.org
Curated by BOTL Communications Director Amanda Hoffman
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: A cardboard cutout of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wearing a black shirt that says "FACEBOOK" and holding a flag (referencing his infamous July 4th video where he rode a hydrofoil on a lake while holding a giant American flag). The flag is dark blue with white text that says "I know we harm kids, but i don't care." with a Facebook icon. A roadway with cars and a building with scaffolding can be seen in the background.
Credit: "Zuckerberg_Sum_Of_Us_2" by SumOfUs, Flickr | License | Changes: Cropped, enhanced brightness, contrast and saturation
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award winning best of a left podcast in which we shall |
| 0:07.0 | take a look at the Facebook business model that is driving hate, lies, violence, extremism, |
| 0:12.8 | and the breakdown of democracy around the world as well as some of the regulatory ideas |
| 0:17.6 | geared toward raining it in and mitigating the damage. |
| 0:21.8 | Clips today are from Democracy Now, Your Undivided Attention, The Brian Lerror Show, and |
| 0:27.4 | Tisky Sour with additional members only clips from Your Undivided Attention, and on the media. |
| 0:39.4 | Thousands of pages of internal documents leaked by former Facebook product manager, |
| 0:44.2 | turned whistleblower Francis Hogan. |
| 0:46.7 | Are now the basis of a damning series of reports called the Facebook papers being published |
| 0:51.7 | this week. They show how the company's choices prioritize profits over safety and how it |
| 0:57.8 | tried to hide its own research from investors in the public. |
| 1:01.0 | A new story published this morning by the Associated Press finds the Facebook documents show |
| 1:06.6 | the platform ignored some of its own research suggestions for addressing vaccine misinformation. |
| 1:13.0 | Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg pushed back Monday during an earnings call with investors |
| 1:18.5 | calling the reports published, quote, coordinated efforts to selectively use leaked documents |
| 1:23.2 | to paint a false picture of our company, unquote. |
| 1:26.4 | But fallout from the Facebook papers continues to generate political support for increased |
| 1:31.4 | regulation. After testifying before Congress earlier this month on Monday, Hogan testified |
| 1:36.6 | for more than two hours before the British Parliament as the United Kingdom and the European |
| 1:41.4 | Union are both planning to introduce new digital and consumer protection measures. |
| 1:46.8 | What you spoke about the social harm generated when Facebook's platform is used to spread |
| 1:52.6 | hate speech and incite violence without adequate content moderation and local languages such |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jay Tomlinson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jay Tomlinson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.