Facebook Becomes Even More Culture Crime-Friendly

The darkness within

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has revealed a series of changes to the firm's portfolio of social platforms, including Instagram and Whatsapp (Zoe Kleinman, 'Facebook boss reveals changes in response to criticism', BBC News 30 April 2019)

The new designs and features for its apps are a direct response to widespread criticism of how the firm protects user data. Mr Zuckerberg said the company plans to put privacy first. [...] "The future is private," Mr Zuckerberg said - adding, in a nod to the tech giant's stream of privacy scandals [...] The design changes are the biggest refresh in around five years. It puts greater emphasis on groups and private interactions, encrypted messages that Facebook itself won't be able to access.

Which will make policing illicit antiquities sales there even more challenging. As Gretchen Peters (@GretchenSPeters) points out: "Zuckerberg  says “the future is private” groups. But that’s where all the organized crime on FB occurs. Child sex trafficking, opioids, ivory, rhino horn, human remains, antiquities. Read more at @CounteringCrime @riptari @karaswisher @aarti411 @HannahBloch @JoshMeyerDC @savetherhino"

There will be more "ephemeral" ways to share content in messages - meaning there will not be a permanent record of them A WhatsApp secure payment service trialled in India is to be rolled out to other countries later this year.  

ACCO ‏ @CounteringCrime comments:

Let’s get this straight, when #zuck says “the future is private” he is pivoting. He is taking responsibility away from #facebook. He is still collecting information on you to sell you ads. He didn’t announce a changed revenue model, just a new disguise. The sad thing is this #pivot will hurt the most vulnerable of us. Private and secret groups all over #facebook perpetuate some of the worse crimes, from selling ivory to antiquities and humans. Facebook isn’t changing for the better, they are making the problem worse.