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 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com ARTS SECTION arts@michigandaily.com SPORTS SECTION sports@michigandaily.com ADVERTISING dailydisplay@gmail.com NEWS TIPS news@michigandaily.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR tothedaily@michigandaily.com EDITORIAL PAGE opinion@michigandaily.com NATHAN GUPTA Business Manager 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 nathankg@michigandaily.com ALEXA ST. 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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. 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