FB will stop suggesting political groups to users in order to burnish its image. But is the genie out of the bottle? already?

 Almost every culture has a story about too much knowledge. This is manifested in tales like Pandora’s Box all the way to the Biblical myth of Adam and Eve tasting the forbidden fruit. All these myths and stories have several concurrent themes, the first of course is about too much knowledge ruining innocence and the second is that once an action is done it’s consequences will last for all time. Let us not forget that these tales from ancient books and scriptures are anchored to an element of truth. Which brings us to the news that Facebook will henceforth stop recommending political groups to its users. On the face of it, this is a welcome move but in reality it might be too little, too late. The internet has, pretty much since its inception been a place where crazy conspiracy theories have done the rounds, but for years these were at the fringes, such as on message boards like 4chan where only those actively searching for such material would find it. Facebook changed that by recommending groups that even a barely technology literate person could join and they didn’t even need to search for it. Facebook would suggest such groups on the basis of their friends circle and purported interests. Many of these groups took someone who might have some unsavoury views that he or she couldn’t air out in public and turned them into an extremist because they were in a group of their peers, people who agreed with them. This allowed things like the ‘QAnon movement’ in America to gain momentum and has helped the spread of misinformation from all sides in India.

The problem is that as some of these groups have been shut down, not only have new ones been created rapidly, many groups have moved onto other platforms where shutting them down is nearly impossible, such as WhatsApp. The truth is that the large technology companies who have by acts of omission and commission killed the news industry and fostered the rise of misinformation are starting too late to realise that their actions in the name of “freedom of speech” and “democratising information” have serious consequences. But much like Pandora’s Box, we can’t put everything back to where it was and the truth is that the internet has been a huge boon for millions and we can’t just shut it down, although that is what the authorities try. The only way to combat misinformation is with reliable and truthful information. And that has to start today.