Zucked by Roger McNamee

ZUCKED by Roger McNamee is subtitled “Waking up to the Facebook Catastrophe” and is certainly a timely text. McNamee was an early investor and consultant to Facebook and although he has not been very involved with the company in the last decade, he is not shy about calling its actions “an unmitigated disaster.” He offers background on the early days of the company and eventually devotes an entire chapter to “Cambridge Analytica Changes Everything.”  McNamee writes about Facebook’s original mission: “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” He notes that there were “negative side effects on far too many users,” particularly the easy manipulation of massive automation and artificial intelligence, “leaving citizens ever less capable of thinking for themselves, knowing who to trust, or acting in their own interest.” McNamee labels Facebook a “threat to democracy” and outlines both direct and indirect effects on the four pillars of democracy (free and fair elections, active citizenship, equal rights for all, and rule of law). He continues with comments about Facebook’s threat to the powerless, to privacy, and to innovation, arguing that it (and other tech companies like Google) have not done enough to protect us and our children.  Unfortunately, McNamee “see[s] no easy solution to the problems posed.” ZUCKED is a thought-provoking tirade which will hopefully prompt more discussion and coverage like the recent Wall Street Journal article “Why Facebook Still Seems to Spy on You” by Katherine Bindley.  Those interested in more info will also want to watch the PBS Frontline documentary on Facebook which originally aired last November; here are links for part 1 and part 2.