Facebook’s algorithm monetizes misery

Democracy Labs
7 min readOct 7, 2022

“British Ruling Pins Blame on Social Media for Teenager’s Suicide” — NYT

An inquest ruled that harmful online content contributed to the 14-year-old’s death. Ian Russell accused Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, of guiding his daughter on a “demented trail of life-sucking content”, after the landmark ruling raised the regulatory pressure on social media companies. — The Guardian

Molly Russell’s father accuses Facebook of “monetizing misery” after an inquest ruled that harmful online content contributed to his 14-year-old daughter’s death.

How do social media algorithms work? How do Facebook and YouTube profit by sharing disturbing content? How do social media firms fan political violence? Should social media companies be held responsible for the harm they cause by spreading hate and misinformation? How does their greed divide people and polarize politics? What is blood money? What is Section 230? What’s the case before the Supreme Court?

Profiting from anger and misery

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