I don’t understand. In what way is staying out of news and politics influencing anything?
I do wonder (though not necessarily think) that some regulation of social media might be required...if for no other reason than when Facebook stops allowing news (incl. fake news) it’ll just appear elsewhere.
The Australian Government has proposed - or plans to pass - legislation which will compel tech giants such as FB and Google to share some of their advertising revenue with the publications and regional news media that actually generate the news (for which the tech monsters don't pay) across their platforms.
It is not just that FB (entirely characteristically) is putting profit before freedom of speech (by denying or blocking access to professionally produced news content and denying permission to those who use the platform to share it with one another - although it is doing this), and not just that it thinks it has the right to news content without having to pay anything for it (sources, stories from news media, or reporters, copyright, or share advertising revenue - although, again it does), and not just the fact that it is attempting to bully an elected government - although it is trying to do that, too.
Rather, it is the fact that it is doing all this, while simultaneously providing a platform (citing freedom of speech) for hateful, abusive, content, disinformation, lying ads, or ads that repeat known lies, toxic political perspectives, all sort of "fake news", and downright mendacity, and enabling the activities, agendas, and presence of - without batting an eyelid or accepting so much as a soupçon of responsibility for outcomes or smidgeon of accountability for practices - of those who would seek to undermine democratic elections, institutions and systems.
