by President Donald Trump’s
campaign, had access to the private
data of 50 million Facebook users,
scaring users who were apart of
one of the network’s largest data
breaches.

That
led
to
a
two-day

congressional
hearing,
which

ended Tuesday, to gauge just how
much control Facebook users have
over their data. No consensus
in terms of future legislation
resulted
from
the
hearings,

though Zuckerberg agreed “some
regulation” is needed.

Representative Debbie Dingell,

D-Mich., expressed the frustration
felt by many University students at
the hearing.

“Some
things
are
striking

during this conversation,” she said.
“As CEO, you didn’t know some
key facts.”

Facebook said it is weeding out

fake accounts and news to prepare

for the 2018 midterm elections and
prevent its 2016 election mistakes.
The social media platform is using
machine learning to identify these
accounts rather than relying on
user reports, product manager
Samidh Chakrabarti said in a
conference call with Detroit News.

University of Michigan librarian

Jo Oehrli teaches the class “Fake
News, Lies, and Propaganda:
How to Sort Fact from Fiction,” in
which students learn how to
identify false or misleading news,
examine media biases across
the political spectrum and fact-
check
information
found
in

articles. Oehrli said people have
the tendency to view free social
media platforms as public utilities
rather than for-profit companies.
Facebook
generates
revenue

from advertisements, which can
perpetuate the fake news problem.

“We’re
in
this
in-between

state right now where we aren’t
realizing
that
these
(social

media) companies are for-profit

companies … ” Oehrli said. “They
aren’t utility. They are a company
and even though you don’t pay
for them, when you sign on for
the Terms of Service, you are the
product.”

As part of its anti-fake news

efforts, Facebook plans to go
beyond
fact-checking
written

posts and expand into fact-
checking photos and videos. The
company also plans to create an
archive in which the public can
access information about the
target
audience
demographics

for election-related ads and how
much money was spent on each of
the ads.

In
February,
Mueller’s

special
counsel
released
an

indictment
that
confirmed

Russian agents had been using
Facebook and other social media
platforms to disseminate fake
news and politically persuasive
messages,
possibly
interfering

with election results.

Trump himself attributed part

of his success in the election to
social media platforms such as
Facebook and Twitter.

“The fact that I have such

power in terms of numbers
with
Facebook,
Twitter,

Instagram, etc.,” Trump said
on CBS’ “60 Minutes.” “I think
it helped me win all of these
races where they’re spending
much more money than I
spent.”

In an interview with The

New York Times, Facebook
CEO Mark Zuckerburg said
now that the company is


aware of how Facebook was
abused, they are better able
to develop the tools necessary
to prevent it from happening
again. He said he is assured
by the elections that have
happened since 2016, such
as the French presidential
election and the Alabama
special election.

“The new A.I. tools we built

after the 2016 elections found,
I think, more than 30,000 fake
accounts that we believe were
linked to Russian sources who
were trying to do the same
kind of tactics (in France) they

did in the U.S. in the 2016 election,”
Zuckerburg said. “We were able
to disable them and prevent that
from happening on a large scale in
France.”

Morse said that given its scope,

the onus is on Facebook to monitor
the quality of news content being
shared on the platform.

“When they create something

like (Facebook) that has the effects
that it has on millions and millions
of people in America, and billions
of people worldwide, they have a
responsibility to us as voters, to
us as citizens, to us just as having
Facebook accounts, to be honest
with us, to be upfront about what
they’re doing with our data, and to
monitor what goes on on their own
sites,” Morse said.

For
those
who
work
on

political
campaigns,
Facebook

carries potential to influence
campaigning
efforts.
Adam

Joseph, communications director
for Abdul El-Sayed’s gubernatorial
campaign, says the onus is on
Facebook to prevent the fake news
circulating on the site.

“The
revelations
about

Facebook are deeply disturbing,”
Joseph said. “It’s time they accept
that they have a role in protecting
our democracy from the fake news
that threatens its very core.”

The University Chapter of

College
Republicans
did
not

respond to requests for comment.

While Facebook has seemingly

been the foreground of fake
news, it has also been a place
of positive political action and
community-building. On the end
of the Facebook users, Oehrli said
it’s important to approach news
with a critical eye and review it
thoroughly before sharing it.

“That’s why we have our own

critical thinking skills, right?”
Oehrli said. “If (social media
companies) are going to be so
influential and if it’s going to take
so long for Facebook to catch up
and try to address this in a way
through technology, which I’m
not sure what this will look like,
we have to use our own critical
thinking skills and not turn our
thinking over to the technology or
to the platform.”

2 — Thursday, April 12, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

FRIDAY:

Behind the Story

News

TUESDAY:
By Design

FACEBOOK
From Page 1

WEDNESDAY:

This Week in History

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PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION

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NEWSROOM

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CORRECTIONS

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The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the
fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is available
free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for
$2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long subscriptions are $275.
University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions

for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid.

DAYTON HARE
Managing Editor haredayt@michigandaily.com

RIYAH BASHA and SOPHIE SHERRY
Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com

Senior News Editors: Andrew Hiyama, Carly Ryan, Kaela Theut, Matt Harmon,
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Assistant News Editors: Jordyn Baker, Remy Farkas, Riley Langefeld, Elizabeth
Lawrence, Rachel Leung, Molly Norris, Maeve O’Brien, Shannon Ors, Amara
Shaikh, Katherina Sourine

ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY and ASHLEY ZHANG
Editorial Page Editors
tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Senior Opinion Editors: Elena Hubbell, Emily Huhman, Jeremy Kaplan, Tara
Jayaram, Ellery Rosenzweig

MIKE PERSAK and ORION SANG
Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com

DANIELLE YACOBSON and MADELEINE GAUDIN
Managing Arts Editors
arts@michigandaily.com

Senior Arts Editors: Becky Portman, Sam Rosenberg, Arya Naidu, Dominic
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Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com

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Managing Design Editors
design@michigandaily.com

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Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com

Deputy Editors: Colin Beresford, Jennifer Meer, Rebecca Tarnopol

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Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com

Senior Copy Editors: Emily Stillman and Allie Bopp

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Managing Online Editors
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Senior Web Developers: Patricia Huang, Abna Panda, Hassaan Ali Wattoo,
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Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com
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Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Angelo McKoy, Kareem Shunnar, Maya
Mokh, Priya Judge, Efe Osagie

ANNA HARITOS and KAYLA WATERMAN
Managing Social Media Editors

Editorial Staff

Business Staff

EMILY RICHNER

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Production Manager

Senior Photo Editors: Amelia Cacchione, Emma Richter, Evan Aaron
Assistant Photo Editors: Claire Meingast, Sam Mousigian, Aaron Baker, Ryan
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Senior Sports Editors: Laney Byler, Mark Calcagno, Robert Hefter, Max
Marcovitch, Paige Voeffray, Ethan Wolfe
Assistant Sports Editors: Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Tien Le, Anna Marcus, Ethan
Sears, Jacob Shames

THURSDAY:
Twitter Talk

grave
@gravegoddess

i was facetiming adam while
i was walking home from
work and a squirrel literally
squared up on me

elaine
@elainejacq

if i ever have a son who
grows up to be a skeeps
lurker i am disowning him

Austin McCoy
@AustinMcCoy3

Then, I received this email. I
will be donating my personal
papers to the Bentley
Historical Library @umich.
I could barely process the
news, it was so cool

Dr. Mark Schlissel
@DrMarkSchlissel

The powerful, shared commitment
of the @UMich community drives
our progess towards sustainability.
We have more work to do, butwe
begin our third century with strong
momentum.

Phancie
@Phncie1997

I’ve been so busy building a strong
resume and trying to be financially
stable that I never actually took
time to take advantage of the
other stuff that Umich has to offer.
Like free sports games or checking
out amazing books for free.

Garrett Moores
@gmoores11

Absolutely devestating news
today that I’ve been disqualified
from IM flag football in the middle
of playoffs. Heartbreaking @
UMich.

WOLVE RINE OF THE WE E K

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Wolverine of the Week
Question: What do trees
have on their trunks?

“Bark.”

Perry the Puppy

MONDAY:

Looking at the Numbers

4

2
3

8
5

2

6

1
3

7

1

5
2

4

1
2
4

9
6
1

1

3
2

7
8

6

5
4
2

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