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:
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FACEBOOK
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WEDNESDAY:

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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 
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ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY and ASHLEY ZHANG 
Editorial Page Editors 
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Senior Opinion Editors: Elena Hubbell, Emily Huhman, Jeremy Kaplan, Tara 
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Senior Arts Editors: Becky Portman, Sam Rosenberg, Arya Naidu, Dominic 
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design@michigandaily.com

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Deputy Editors: Colin Beresford, Jennifer Meer, Rebecca Tarnopol

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ANNA HARITOS and KAYLA WATERMAN
Managing Social Media Editors

Editorial Staff

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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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