Has Facebook become the internet’s super villain?

In today’s Big Story podcast, the history of technology in the 2010s is dotted with dozens of Facebook scandals—but for most of the company’s lifespan, it’s maintained the veneer of plausible deniability. That was a slip-up, one apology might claim. Another might promise the company was working to fix the problem. Facebook’s leader, Mark Zuckerberg, was frequently front and centre to reassure users that Facebook had their best interests at heart.

It’s hard to believe any of that anymore. In 2019, Facebook stopped pretending. No, it would not police outright lies in political ads, nor would it bar publishers known for racist messages from being listed as a ‘trusted’ source. No, Zuckerberg would not be appearing to address the concerns of politicians in the UK and Canada ahead of their elections. Oh, and also Facebook is making its own money now, OK. Now that the facade has come down, what’s Facebook’s next move? And how can users be aware of what the company is doing with their data?

GUEST: Jesse Hirsh, futurist and researcher

You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify

You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.