BRUSSELSTALKING:
EUROPE,MEDIAANDSOCIETY
2020-2021
MASTERNEWMEDIA&SOCIETY PROF.MORGANTI
D.L.Y.
,
BRUSSELSTALKINGLECTURESERIES
EXAMQUESTIONS
LECTURE1:ELIANAGARCES
1.AccordingtoGarces:“Facebookdoesnotselldata”.Contextualiseandassessthisclaim.E.g.explain,accordingtoGarces,
whatFacebookshareswithitspartners(advertisers)andconnecttheclaimtothecambridgeanalyticascandal.Presentand
motivateyouropinion.
● AccordingtoGarces:Facebookdoesnot/cannotselldataever!
○ Misconceptionthatpeoplehave →dataisnotsold,sometimessharedinpartnerships
○ Theactualdataitselfisbarelyshared→shareoutcomeofdata,nottheinformationaboutthepeople→helpthem
reach,butwon’tprovidetheinformationabouttheusers
○ Userleveldataisnotshared,allowthepartnercompaniestoreachpeoplebasedonprofilinguserdata,butdon’t
sharethedata/characteristics
● Facebookanddata
DATAGATHEREDBYFB DATAUSEDBYFB
○ Information provided when you’re using the ○ Improveandpersonalisecontent(includingads)
product(e .g.sharing,likes,pictures,uploads) ○ Provide a service to commercial partners → tell
○ Behaviourisfollowed(e .g.pagesvisited,metadata) them what kind of peoplevisitthem,engagewith
○ When you use Facebook login, like something → them,likeyou,howtheyreacttoit
operatinginFacebookecosystem(attheedgesofit) ○ Safetyandintegrityofplatform
→someofyourbehaviourwillthenbecollected ○ Research: sometimes available to non-profit
○ Turns data into something that is acted on by entities
commercialpartners
● Facebookenablespartnerstobenefitfromthevalueofdata→aggregatedataissharedinpartnerships
○ Veryrarelyshare/openupindividualdata→aggregatedataofferbacktobusinessesthatworkwiththem
■ Becauseofprivacyconstraintsdonotsharedataunlessunderverytightconstraints
○ Whatisthis‘aggregatedata’→ifyouhaveapage/businessonFacebook
1. Audienceinsights(product)accessibleonline
■ Gotothistool,descriptionofwhoisengagingwithyou
■ Whattypeofpeople(e .g.age,gender,wheretheylive,whattheirincomelevelis,…anythingintheprofile)→in
aggregateversion
■ CanseewhoelseisonFB→lookforpeoplethatlooklikeyouraudiencetotargetthem
■ Evenifcompanyoffivepeople,wanttogrow→freetool
2. A/Btestingtools
■ AllowcompaniestoexperimentonFB
■ Product online, modify it in two different ways (two subsets of audience), see their reaction, what
transformation/modificationisthemostattractive
■ Waytoletproductsevolveandtestingthem,experimenttowhatitisthatpeoplelike
■ Providethesecapabilitiestoevolveproductstofittheusersbetter
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3. E.g.CrowdTangle:publicinsightstoolthatmakesiteasytofollow,analyseandreportonwhat’shappeningwithpublic
contentonsocialmedia(FB,Instagram,Reddit)→organisationsprimarilyuseCrowdTangleto
■ Follow public content real-time across socialnetworks,analyseandcompareperformanceofpublicaccounts
overtime,report→findlargertrendstounderstandhowpubliccontentspreadsoversocialmedia
■ Usede.g.byjournaliststotrackcontent/socialconversation;bycontentmakers;forresearch(whatinformation
isspreadingandhow)
● CambridgeAnalyticascandal(2018,NYTandObserver→CAacquiredandusedpersonaldatafromupto87millionFB
users(via‘YourDigitalLife’)fromanexternalresearcherwhotoldFBhewascollectingitforacademicpurposes)
○ Opensourcecapabilities→somethingmostplatformshave,toolstocreateanenvironmentofdevelopersthatcan
buildservices/productsusingthesetools(e .g.objectrecognition,gothroughalotofpicturesandknowwhat’sinthe
picture;videoclassificationtools,…)
○ Accesstodatatoresearcher,thatthenresoldittoaconsultancy→violationoftheircontract,FBinwrong
■ Shouldhavepreventedit,moresupervisionoverdataandthirdparties,butnotanintentionalsalebyFB
○ FBdidn’thavethegartrailstopreventthat→thatiswhytheywereinvolved,Facebookwasinfault
○ Sincethen→FBdramaticallydecreasedthedatathatitprovides(surelydoesn’tprovideuserleveldataanymore)
2. “As digital networks carrymoreandmoreeconomictransactions,theeconomicpowerofnetworkhubs,whichconnect
consumers, firms, and even industries to one another, expands. Once a hubishighlyconnected(andenjoyingincreasing
returns to scale) inonesectoroftheeconomy(suchasmobiletelecommunications),itwillenjoyacrucialadvantageasit
beginstoconnectinanewsector(automobiles,forexample).”Criticallyassessthisexcerptfrommanagingourhubeconomy
(Iansiti&Lakhani,2017,Harvardbusinessreview)andexplainwhichspecificnetworkeffectsareexploitedbyFacebook.
Hubeconomy
● Winner-take-allworld→smallnumberof“hubfirms”
○ They create real value for users but also capture disproportionate and expanding share of value which shapes
collectiveeconomicfuture
○ Thetechnologiesthatpromisedtodemocratisebusinessisnowthreateningtomakeitmoremonopolistic
● Don’tcompeteintraditionalfashion
○ Use network-based assets that have already reached scale in one setting and then use them to enter another
industry
○ Buildinguponalreadyvastuserbasetotransfertootherindustries
○ →advertisingbusinessmodel(lookatquestionbelow)
■ Increasingreturnstoscale:getbetterasmoreandmoreusersattractmoreandmoreads+asnumberofads
increasessodoestheabilitytotargettheadstotheusers,makingindividualadsmorevaluable
■ The economics of traditional decreasing returns make it possible for several competitors to coexist and
providedifferentiatedvaluetoattractusers,butdigital→advantageofcompetitorwithlargestscale,largest
networkofusersormostdat
● Authors argue that if these current trends continue, the hub economy will spread across moreindustries,further
concentratingdata,valueandpowerinhandsofsmallnumberoffirmsemployingtinyfractionofworkforce
WhichnetworkeffectsareexploitedbyFacebook
● Concerns aboutmarketpower(abuseofdominantposition):excessiveconcentrationofpower,about“gatekeeping
role”,aboutasymmetricbargainingpower(withbusinesspartnersandwithusers)
● Networkeffectsandefficiency→createsvalue
○ Regulatorsarguments:competitionpolicy→that'saproblem
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○ Becomingverybig=becomingentrenchedsonoonecaneverreplace/displaceyou
○ Regulatorydiscourse=almosteverythingaboutthedynamicsofnetworkeffectsandsuchisaproblem
○ Platformgrows,getsusers→becomesmorevaluable,remaininguserstendtogotothatplatform→getsdata→has
betterproduct→usersanddata:goesintodynamicsthatcannotbebeatormatched
○ Butcompetitionpolicy:abuseitandthenitisaproblem(notbefore)→adhoc
■ Allegedabuse:collectingtoomuchdata,pricing→peopleforcedtoprovidedata→evenmorecontestable
■ FB won the case where they argued they weren’t essential services (people can live without FB) →itwas
unclearthatusersweregettingbaddealbecauseofdata
■ Furtherappeal:FCOwon→newtheoryofharm:FBintentionallycollectingdatatoleveragemarketpoweron
multitudeofmarkets→issueofexploitationofpower
■ Butit’sdifficulttoindicatewhattherightlevelofdatais,howmuchprivacyuserswant
○ “Themoredataisused,theworseofftheuseris”→anacceptedreality(Garcessaysopportunisticandsimplistic)
○ Privacywasopportunisticallyusedforcompetitionpolicy
● It’sstatedthatplatformsusedatatoconquerotherplatforms
○ E.g.FBdatausedtoopenshoponInstagram→leveragesdominantpositionfromonemarketintothenext,platforms
becomeincontestable
○ Don’tseethathappening,FBshopiscompetingwithEbay,Amazon,…→Garcesdoesn’tseeitasavaluedargument
○ But we will see regulation inthatfront→probablywillbeaskedtosharedatawithbusinesses(whichiscounter
privacy)whichwillopenupnewdiscussions
○ Garcesthinksreflectionneedstogotowhathappenstodata
● Thelimitsofcompetitionpolicy
○ Tooslow,toohard→unabletointervenepreemptivelytostoptippingofmarkets(i.e.whenabusehasnotoccurred)
○ Unabletoimposetherightremedies→preferenceforex-anteregulationongatekeepingcompanies
3.Criticallyassessthedebatearoundtheproblemofmoderationofonlinecontentondigitalplatforms.Inwhatsenseisthe
pointofviewofGarcesdifferentorsimilartothatofVermeulen?
Garces
● Contentmoderationo
utsourcedatlevelofmoderators(reviews)+internalatlevelofgovernanceofmedia
● Content:d
ebatewhatisrightornotontheplatform+towhatextentareplatformsresponsibleforthecontent
○ Evolutionofliabilityregimeofplatforms
■ Platformsarenotresponsiblebutmustmonitorandtakeaction
■ Moderationissue:piracyandcounterfeit
■ Nowfakenewsandhatespeechissue
○ Difficultiesinexercisingacontentpolicingroleonline→shouldnotbeuptothecompanies
■ Askedforregulationofcontent:Zuckerbergexplicitheshouldnotbetheonedeciding
■ Legalenvironment:notifiedtotakesomethingdown→extremistcontent,propaganda(takedowninanhour)
■ FBlefttodecideandbuildownpolicy→notagoodplace,cannotpleaseeverybody
■ FBwouldwelcomemoreregulation,notcoming,nomatterwhatyoudo→attacked
● Polarisation
○ Facebook has a policy of what is allowed andnotallowedonline→removeshatespeechandharmfulspeech→
difficulttodrawtheboundary(ineyesofthebeholder,differentbyplaces)
○ Misinformation:whatistheboundarybetweenmisinformationandopinion/legitimateinterpretation
○ Criticisms
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