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The Facebook Dilemma<\/em>, Frontline, PBS, October 29-30, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The End Of Civilization As We Knew It, Part Eleven.<\/strong><\/p>\n “If we survive the process of the forces of global exploitation being defeated by the inexorable movement toward global equality, the tools that connect the world are making it a brave new world of addicts in denial while the architects and even the architecture of the new world technology itself can become the ultimate exploiters. The lines between our intelligence and artificial intelligence and who controls what are harder and harder to locate. Science fiction becomes more and more reality every day. This presents challenges to human rights and even the definition of being human in countless ways.”<\/em><\/p>\n –We Are One: A Reflection, World Campaign, Spring, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n We have referenced 2016 as the location in time from which we launched our reflections on the end of civilization as we knew it, explained in Part One and since. That will continue to be expanded on.<\/p>\n A brief comment on the last week before proceeding.<\/p>\n In the US, guns, again. As we noted before, the moment almost came at Parkland, in a process in which the revolt against this kind of weaponry will soon, in the eye of history, overcome. But how much more blood first? Eleven murdered in a synagogue, which among other things demonstrated care for refugees, uniting the anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant bigotry of the murderer. Bombs mailed to two former US presidents and the last presidential candidate who won the popular vote but lost the election, and a number of other prominent opponents of President Trump, attempted by a deranged supporter, another bigot. It would have been a group assassination unprecedented. Troops threatened to be sent to the Mexican border to stop a fake invasion of the desperate nowhere near the border. An unconstitutional threat to change the constitution by executive order. The Reagan-Gorbachev treaty vastly reducing nuclear weapons threatened to be torn up. The anchor of stability in Europe, Angela Merkel, beginning an exit, unimaginable at a moment of enormous instability. Hope in Ireland, which left the anachronism of blasphemy behind as it has led toward a progressive future in vote after vote in recent years. Continued lying from the Saudis and a Middle East in growing danger while more children die from war and hunger. A virtual fascist elected in Brazil, because of the usual dynamics of desperation and rage covered before, threatening human rights and the planet itself.<\/p>\n Only a partial list.<\/p>\n Back to our current reflection on the end of civilization as we knew it.<\/p>\n The above quote from our reflection in Spring 2016, was the most current at that point of many over the years in the same vein.<\/p>\n Sometimes we like being prescient. Sometimes we don\u2019t.<\/p>\n For the current installment on the end of civilization as we knew it, the last before the mid-term elections in the US, which will be pivotal one way or another in US and world history, we turn again to the best ongoing television documentary journalism series for decades in our view, Frontline<\/em> on PBS.<\/p>\n Last night and tonight, Frontline<\/em> aired one of its rare two-part series, episodes 4 and 5 of season 37,\u00a0The Facebook Dilemma: A Two-Night Special Event.<\/em><\/p>\n This is not just a review of the impact of social media on the election of 2016 in the US, the 2018 election next week, elections and policies globally before and since, genocide, those with power and those without, and the global conflicts over power in various ways.<\/p>\n That would be enough to take a good hard look at, right?<\/p>\n Well, this is all that and more.<\/p>\n As noted in previous reflections, we live in the digital age,\u00a0which we\u2019ve covered extensively.<\/p>\n This two-night blockbuster from Frontline<\/em> is an expanded eye-opening look at the power of the digital age and how it has changed and is changing everything, for all humanity and all life on earth.<\/p>\n Its like taking a breath and suddenly realizing you\u2019re submerged in ice-water as it fills your lungs. Not because the program in or of itself creates this as a reaction to an exquisitely-crafted journalistic art form, but because it\u2019s a wake-up call to reality.<\/p>\n Want a chance to get to the surface and live?<\/p>\n Watch the program.<\/p>\n The Facebook Dilemma: A Two-Night Special Event<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Here’s the online introduction:<\/p>\n “The promise of Facebook was to create a more open and connected world.\u00a0But from the company\u2019s\u00a0failure to protect millions of users\u2019 data, to the proliferation of \u201cfake news\u201d and disinformation,\u00a0mounting crises have raised the question: Is Facebook more harmful than helpful? On Monday, Oct. 29, and Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, FRONTLINE presents The Facebook Dilemma.<\/i> This major, two-night event investigates a series of warnings to Facebook as the company grew from Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s Harvard dorm room to a global empire. With dozens of original interviews and rare footage, The Facebook Dilemma<\/em> examines the powerful social media platform\u2019s impact on privacy and democracy in the U.S. and around the world.”<\/p>\n The remainder of our post consists of related content, print and video, to the broadcasts.<\/p>\n Tonight, \u201cThe Facebook Dilemma\u201d Begins: A Note From FRONTLINE\u2019s Executive Producer<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n October 29, 2018, by Raney Aronson-Rath<\/p>\n I\u2019m often asked, \u201cHow do you choose topics for FRONTLINE documentaries?\u201d<\/p>\n In the case of our new, two-part documentary, The Facebook Dilemma<\/em>,<\/a> which begins tonight at a special time (9\/8c; check local PBS listings<\/a>), our investigation was sparked by the extraordinary impact Facebook has had here and abroad. We were particularly interested in a central question: what did Facebook know about the consequences of its mission to connect the world, and how did it address these issues?<\/p>\n As we dug deeper, producers James Jacoby and Anya Bourg found many people from across the globe \u2014 from Egypt, to Ukraine,<\/a> to the Philippines \u2014\u00a0\u00a0to former company insiders, who had sounded alarms to the highest levels of the company, but who said their warnings had gone unheeded. And what started as a basic accountability question became an examination of Facebook\u2019s core algorithm \u2013 the \u201csecret sauce\u201d as one insider told us \u2013 and the role that technology companies like Facebook play in our democracy.<\/p>\n Our team on the film also includes Dana Priest. Dana, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter at the The Washington Post<\/em><\/a>and professor at the University of Maryland\u2019s Philip Merrill School of Journalism, was drawn to this project because, in her mind, Facebook had built the largest intelligence-gathering operation in the world, and yet was operating with very little oversight.<\/p>\n In addition to our two-part film on what we found, which will air tonight, Oct. 29, and tomorrow, Oct. 30, we will also soon be adding new content to our Transparency Project, where you can explore our interviews in depth, and see more of the context to our reporting.<\/p>\n This investigation wouldn\u2019t have been possible without the amazing team at FRONTLINE \u2014 and, of course, the support of viewers like you. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to ask tough questions, and follow the story, wherever it might lead.<\/p>\n Part one of The Facebook Dilemma<\/em><\/a> premieres tonight at 9\/8c on PBS\u00a0(check your local listings) <\/a>and online, and tune in for part two tomorrow at 10\/9c.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Facebook Dilemma\u201d Continues Tonight: A Note From Our Executive Producer<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n October 29, 2018, by Raney Aronson-Rath<\/p>\n As you saw in part one of\u00a0The Facebook Dilemma<\/em><\/a>\u00a0last night, the social media platform has had historic and far-reaching impact both at home and abroad.<\/p>\n Our challenge, from the start, was how to distill such a sprawling and consequential story \u2013 and a year\u2019s worth of deep investigative reporting\u00a0\u2013 into a coherent, fair and well-told narrative.<\/p>\n What we came to see was that although Facebook has more than two billion users, on many levels the story was about leadership, and the decisions made by a man on a mission to make the world \u201cmore open and connected.\u201d So while this two-hour special covers years and many topics, Mark Zuckerberg is central to it all.<\/p>\n Our team collected an extensive archive of Zuckerberg\u2019s public comments, appearances, and interviews over the years. His rise from college student to leader of a more-than-$400-billion company has been uniquely public and richly documented, so we had extensive footage and his own words to draw on to tell this story.<\/p>\n Tonight, in part two of\u00a0The Facebook Dilemma<\/a><\/em>, you\u2019ll see how Zuckerberg responded after the 2016 election, when Facebook came under scrutiny for its role in disseminating disinformation \u2014 including false stories propagated by Russian operatives seeking to exploit divisions in American society and influence the election.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll see\u00a0how Facebook is preparing for next week\u2019s midterm elections,<\/a>\u00a0how it\u2019s trying to tackle a range of issues including hate speech and the spread of misinformation, and the way Zuckerberg views his company\u2019s role in our country and our world.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a story that impacts every one of us \u2013 whether we have Facebook accounts or not.<\/p>\n We hope you\u2019ll join us tonight for the gripping conclusion of\u00a0The Facebook Dilemma.<\/em><\/a> If you missed part one,\u00a0stream it online now.<\/a>\u00a0And, watch part two starting tonight at 10\/9c on PBS stations\u00a0(check local listings)<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0online.<\/a><\/p>\n