Debate on Facebook: Ethics vs. Legality

This article explores the debate on Facebook's ethical and legal issues, including data privacy, age limits, and responsibility for user behavior. The article discusses Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before the Senate and the questions raised by senators regarding Facebook's role in controlling crimes that happen because of people taking confidential information from Facebook. The article concludes that while there are some legal issues, the ethical question supersedes the legitimate part.

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Debate on Facebook
Facebook has over billions of users all over the world. These members of Facebook post
photos, messages and some confidential data on the Facebook platform. Their words are usually
directed at specific people. For instance, one may be chatting with his parent, fiancée or the
employer. However, these messages sometimes land into unsecured hands referred to us the third
parties (Martin 56). The matter of confidentiality has become a burning issue, which has forced
the owner of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg to be called by the senators to clarify the matter. When
Mark Zuckerberg appeared before the senators, he was asked several questions relating to the
social media and its work in controlling crimes that happen because of people taking confidential
information from Facebook (Pickard 89). For instance, one of the senators says that, when he
send photos to someone during the process of chatting, the images sometimes land to shaky
hands. On the other hand, Mark Zuckerberg responds to this question by saying that everyone is
responsible for what he or she posts on Facebook and he can delete it at any time. This answer
suggests that the matter in the Facebook is an ethical issue, not a legal issue. One should have
etiquette while using the Facebook platform and control, what he can access and what he cannot
obtain.
Consequently, during the Facebook hearing before the Senate, some critical question
arises. One of the matter is that of the data privacy. Several users have lost trust in Facebook
because their data have been used for other purposes. For instance, during the hearing, some
senators questioned Mark Zuckerberg on how some companies such as that of Cambridge
Analytical Company got data from Facebook and more importantly, some of these data was used
during 2016 election, which saw the president of America Donald Trump getting the victory.
However, the matter is still under investigation, but many American citizens’ feel that their

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democracy was interfered with in the process. The founder of Facebook admits that his company
might have done one mistake or the other, but they are doing what they can to make data more
secure than ever. Apart from that, another matter concerns the members of the Senate and the
Facebook owner. Many children are using Facebook leading to the question of how Facebook
ensure age limit in their project. The response from Mark Zuckerberg is that a good number of
parents have demanded to communicate with their children using the Facebook platform. The
answer means that Facebook is not responsible for any rising of irresponsible behavior among
the children. According to this statement, it still suggests that when using Facebook, ethics
matters. Some users are the ones ignorant and end up soliciting some nasty information (Shabani
et al. 1600). Although there are some legal issues such as how Facebook applies rules to curb
other companies to get information, the ethical question supersedes the legitimate part.
On the last part, senators ask why Facebook brings some unwanted advertisement while
using the platform. However, this is how Facebook generate money, and it may not be the
problem of Facebook (Weijs et al.12). Therefore, from the hearing, Facebook is accountable for
many cases but the users should ensure etiquette while applying this platform. However, due to
the investigation of the Analytical company Facebook stock price is still stagnant at 16.7 percent
for several weeks.

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Work cited
Martin, Kirsten. "Data aggregators, consumer data, and responsibility online: Who is tracking
consumers online and should they stop?." The Information Society 32.1 (2016): 51-63.
Pickard, Victor. "Media failures in the age of Trump." The Political Economy of
Communication 4.2 (2017).
Shabani, Mahsa, Adrian Thorogood, and Pascal Borry. "Who should have access to genomic
data and how should they be held accountable? Perspectives of Data Access Committee
members and experts." European Journal of Human Genetics24.12 (2016): 1671.
Weijs, Cynthia, et al. "The personal use of Facebook by public health professionals in Canada:
Implications for public health practice." Journal of Communication in Healthcare 10.1
(2017): 8-15.