Innovations & technologies

The Fate Of Democracy And National Security Runs Through Silicon Valley

The challenges facing Silicon Valley today are not dissimilar to those facing television news divisions in the 1950s. Once television became America’s dominant news medium, new “rules” to ensure the integrity of broadcast journalism had to be adopted. Today, comparable standards for civil communications need to be embraced by digital and social media providers without impinging on First Amendment freedoms. It’s a narrow tightrope.

Zuckerberg and Facebook, to their credit, have begun to seize a larger leadership role on these issues. Instead of shying away from the Russian and hate group controversies, Zuckerberg has taken ownership over them, admitting certain missteps, vowing to strengthen Facebook’s accountabilityand transparency, and seeking partnerships with private and public advocates. The risk for Zuckerberg and Facebook, in particular, is if last week’s successful “open kimono” strategy on Capitol Hill proves not to have been open enough. If more Russian bots are found, tracing back to the 2016 election, Zuckerberg will likely find himself in the unenviable Lucy Ricardo conundrum, with “some explaining to do.”