FRONTLINE: The Facebook Dilemma The promise of Facebook was to create a more open and connected world. But from the company's failure to protect millions of users' data, to the proliferation of "fake news" and disinformation in the U.S. and across the world, mounting crises have raised the question: How has Facebook's historic success as a social network brought about real-world harm?
Drawing on dozens of original interviews and rare footage, this documentary investigates a series of warnings to Facebook as the company grew from Mark Zuckerberg's Harvard dorm room to a global empire.
The Facebook Dilemma describes how Facebook's leaders developed a multi-billion dollar business model that mined its most valuable asset - the personal data of its users - and how the addition of Newsfeed in 2006 and the new "Like" button in 2009 turned the platform into a goldmine.
From how Russia weaponized Facebook to spread "fake news" in the Ukraine years before the term was popularized, to data breaches that would expose the accounts of millions of users, to Facebook's role in disseminating misinformation in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, The Facebook Dilemma reveals how a platform initially aimed at uniting us has often instead divided us - and how Facebook has responded to challenges ranging from hate speech to election interference.
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