In yet another bid to prevent fake news and foreign interference in upcoming elections globally including in India, Facebook on Monday announced a new initiative to help provide credible research about the role of social media in elections.At the heart of this initiative will be a group of scholars who will define the research agenda; solicit proposals for independent research on a range of different topics; and manage a peer-review process to select scholars who will receive funding for their research\u2014as well as access to privacy-protected datasets from Facebook which they can analyse.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goals are to understand Facebook\u2019s impact on upcoming elections\u2014like Brazil, India, Mexico and the US midterms\u2014and to inform our future product and policy decisions,\u201d Elliot Schrage, Vice President of Communications and Public Policy, and David Ginsberg, Director of Research at Facebook, said in a blog post.<\/p>\n
\u201cFacebook will not have any right to review or approve their research findings prior to publication,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n
Facebook claimed it has made real progress since Brexit and the 2016 US presidential election in fighting fake news, as well as combating foreign interference, in elections in France, Germany, Alabama and Italy.<\/p>\n
\u201dBut there is much more to do – and we don\u2019t have all the answers. This initiative will enable Facebook to learn from the advice and analysis of outside experts so we can make better decisions – and faster progress,\u201d the post further read.<\/p>\n
Facebook will invite respected academic experts to form a commission which will then develop a research agenda about the impact of social media on society – starting with upcoming elections.<\/p>\n
The initial term of the commission will be one year and membership will be determined in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
The commission will exercise its mandate in several ways. This will include prioritisation of research agenda, solicitation of independent research and providing access to information while protecting privacy, among others.<\/p>\n
\u201cFacebook and our funding partners recognise the threat presented by the recent misuse of Facebook data, including by an academic associated with Cambridge Analytica,\u201d the blog post noted.<\/p>\n
Any proposal submitted through this process must first have been reviewed by a university Institutional Review Board (IRB), or the international equivalent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Facebook data is requested, proposals will be subject to additional review by Facebook\u2019s privacy and research review teams\u2014as well as external privacy experts that the commission identifies,\u201d the post said.<\/p>\n
Facebook has said that it will begin connecting with the 87 million users – including 562,455 in India – from Monday if their personal data was \u201cimproperly shared\u201d with the British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.<\/p>\n
Those affected by the data privacy breach will see a detailed message at the top of their newsfeeds.<\/p>\n
A Facebook spokesperson said a possible breach of data of 562,455 users happened after 335 Facebook users in India installed a quiz app, \u201cthisisyourdigitallife\u201d between November 2013 and December 2015.<\/p>\n
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