Facebook Acknowledges Election Manipulation

This is pretty enormous news in the tech world.  I think this is an existential threat to the existence of Facebook and that might be why the Zuck is travelling around the country meeting every day people.  If the Facebook marketing systems can be used in a devious way to push outcomes of Democratic elections that is ... a problem.  Now Facebook itself is stating this happened.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Without saying the words "Russia," "Hillary Clinton," or "Donald Trump," Facebook acknowledged Thursday for the first time what others have been saying for months.

In a paper released by its security division, the company said "malicious actors" used the platform during the 2016 presidential election as part of a campaign "with the intent of harming the reputation of specific political targets."

Here is the entire story:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-for-the-first-time-acknowledges-election-manipulation/

My thoughts are this fits with the pattern we continue to see in history, as I've written about previously.  Any new technological advancement will take time before all of the opportunities around that advancement can be figured out.  If nefarious uses are available folks will figure it out and begin using it to advance their interests.  There is no going back, of course, rather we must learn, acknowledge, and adjust.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant