Introduction
The entire goal of Facebook’s business strategy is to boost user engagement and growth. Its algorithms are good at accomplishing this. The structural problems at the core of the situation are so complex that they cannot even begin to be resolved, since Facebook exists only to address them. Therefore, due to the recently revealed information about Facebook’s harmful practices, the company should suspend advertisements on the platform until measures to eliminate the issue are taken.
Lack of Accountability in Addressing Harmful Content
Evidence demonstrates that the business is deceiving the public about making progress against hate, violence, and false information. These records demonstrate that Facebook is aware of the harm it is doing. Most of the time, the business has not taken any meaningful action to stop it. These papers discovered new information on the weighting of Facebook’s algorithm (Knutson, 2021). Additionally, information about the usage of Instagram by criminals for human trafficking and its effects on mental health was disclosed.
Unethical and Risky Business Engagement
Therefore, it would not be beneficial for the company to engage with Facebook for several reasons. Firstly, knowing that it causes harm to the people, even if they are not the targeted audience of the organization, it still seems unethical to support the platform in this case. Secondly, there is also freedom for criminal actions and fraud, which may lower the credibility of the businesses that market through Facebook. Potential customers might not willingly trust the brands they see on the platform, which could reduce the strategy’s efficiency.
Unfair Enforcement and Selective Rule Application on Facebook
Facebook does not uphold rules and regulations for many of its community members. In contrast to the rest of the community, these individuals are not penalized for breaking the rules (Knutson, 2021). There is a white list of Facebook users who can post whatever they want, break the rules, and not get immediately banned or removed from their postings (Knutson, 2021). Due to this unfair advantage, employing a platform for promotion is not advantageous.
Conclusion
Overall, Facebook’s business strategy is to increase user growth and engagement. Promoting the platform in this situation seems immoral, knowing it hurts individuals, even if they are not the organization’s intended audience. There is also a possibility of fraud and illegal activity, which might damage the reputation of companies that use Facebook as a marketing tool. Therefore, the firm should ban advertising on the platform until steps are taken to address the issue in light of the recently released facts regarding Facebook’s detrimental activities.
Reference
Knutson, R (Host). (2021). The Facebook files, Part 2: ‘We make body image issues worse’ [Audio podcast episode]. The Wall Street Journal. Web.