Playing down the uproar over the psychological experiment carried out by the Facebook on its users, which apparently manipulated the users’ moods on the social networking website, the company’s COO Sheryl Sandberg said it was merely a “product testing” activity that aimed to improve the quality of service for users. However, she regretted her company’s “bad communication” on the issue.
“This was a one-week study a long time ago and it was like any product. We were testing different aspects of a product so that we could provide instant communication on it. I think we communicated really badly on this subject. People are concerned and we never want them to be concerned,” Sandberg told a gathering at FICCI.
Facebook had conducted a study in 2012 that influenced the news feeds of nearly 7,00,000 global users. However, the details of the experiment have emerged recently and have triggered debate over the privacy of billions of netizens. According to reports, UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has already begun investigation whether the social networking site broke data protection laws while allowing researchers to conduct the experiment. Sandberg, while addressing reporters, stated that her company has been working closely with the global regulators and fully complying with the laws to protect its users’ privacy. “We take privacy very seriously and that is the hallmark of our service. We work very closely with regulators all over the world and are fully in compliance with the laws,” said Sandberg, who’s currently in India on a five-day trip.
Sandberg is also expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and has called him the “second most popular politician” across the globe. Modi has over 18 million Facebook friends and he is just behind US President Barack Obama. Talking about the Indian Prime Minister’s active participation in social media, she said, “Internet brings in transparency. Politicians should use Facebook and share what they are doing. A perfect example is Narendra Modi, who has extensively used Facebook in his electoral campaign. His post with the picture of him seeking his mother’s blessings is incredible and my personal favourite,” she said.
Sandberg, who was here in early 90s for a World Bank project, feels India will soon emerge as the biggest market for Facebook. The California-based company also has major plans for India and wants to collaborate with cellular operators, handset makers, brands, NGOs besides the government.
“We have been investing in India and we are really willing to invest more because the returns are so great to our global and local business. We have started expanding our R&D slowly beyond the US. India is certainly a market we would look at,” she said.
According to Registrar of Companies, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Facebook’s Indian wing recorded a revenue of Rs 75.64 crore in 2013, a 68 per cent jump from the previous year. Unknown to many, Facebook’s founder and chairman Mark Zuckerberg also visited India a few years ago.