ON NOVEMBER 1st, Facebook was pulled between two cities and two divergent realities. In Washington, DC, Colin Stretch, the company’s general counsel, was chastised during two Congressional hearings about how the social network, along with Twitter and Google, had failed to detect Russian meddling on their platforms in the run-up to the 2016 election. Furious senators issued stern warnings to Mr Stretch and his counterparts at Google and Twitter, who tried to appear humble in their responses. “You have to be the ones who do something about” the misuse of online platforms “or we will,” warned Dianne Feinstein, a Democratic senator.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s boss, was explaining the social networking firm’s record results. The political “techlash” in Washington, DC seems to have had no impact on the company’s business. Facebook’s quarterly profits rose around 80% and sales were up almost 50%, to $10.3bn. Its shares surged to an all-time high. Mr Zuckerberg’s decision...Continue reading
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