Nick Clegg defends Facebook, saying it is not in the company's interest, financially or reputationally, to continually push users toward more extreme content

In — a recent article for The Atlantic, Adrienne LaFrance compared Facebook to a Doomsday Machine: “a device built with the sole purpose of destroying all human life.”

Medium 2021-04-01 Nick Clegg

Context & Ripple Effects

Clegg's defense is part of Facebook's broader effort to make content-governance decisions legible through public commitments: he had already said the company would restrict content circulation during election-related unrest, and his global-affairs role included helping create the Oversight Board. The argument matters because it puts Facebook's business incentives at the center of its response to claims that its systems reward extremity.

Related coverage later casts Clegg as the executive leading Facebook's case that its products are compatible with liberal democracy, while a subsequent News Feed plan emphasized more friends and less politics.

First-order effects

Facebook's public defense against the critique now rests on Clegg's assertion that continually steering users toward extreme material would damage both its finances and reputation.
Clegg becomes the named executive accountable for translating Facebook's content-governance posture into a credible external case, rather than leaving the issue solely to product teams or Zuckerberg.

Second-order effects

Facebook's stated incentives raise the reputational cost of product choices that appear to amplify political or toxic material, making changes such as reduced politics in News Feed easier to frame as business-aligned governance.
Critics assessing Facebook's safeguards gain a clearer test: the company's moderation and ranking decisions can be measured against Clegg's claim that extremity is contrary to its interests.

Third-order effects

If senior-policy leaders increasingly serve as the public face of platform governance, responsibility for contentious content decisions becomes more institutionalized but may also become less visibly tied to the founder who retains voting control, as later coverage of Clegg's promotion and Zuckerberg's control suggests.
The wider shift is toward platforms defending content rules through incentive alignment and governance structures, not only through individual enforcement decisions.

The trend: Large platforms are increasingly treating content governance as a corporate-legitimacy function, with senior executives arguing that safety and business incentives converge.

Discussion

@nick_clegg Nick Clegg on x
But the caricatures of social media's algorithms don't tell the full story: You are an active participant in the experience. The personalized “world” of your News Feed is shaped heavily by your choices and actions.
@nick_clegg Nick Clegg on x
The debate over social media's role in society often centers on concerns that people are being manipulated by algorithms they can't control. Some say the machines have already won. Read my take here: https://nickclegg.medium.com/ ...
@jjvincent James Vincent on x
Facebook's big defense of charges of algorithm-driven polarization and amplification of extremist content is essentially “well you clicked on that shit” https://medium.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@etherington Darrell Etherington on x
Facebook just wants to offload responsibility while not actually addressing its core problems https://twitter.com/...
@nick_clegg Nick Clegg on x
This piece is lengthy, but the questions surrounding technology's power - and the companies behind it - are complex and require thoughtful consideration.
@nick_clegg Nick Clegg on x
Some of this criticism is fair: companies like Facebook need to be frank about how the relationship between you and their ranking systems really works. And they need to give you more control.
@nick_clegg Nick Clegg on x
People are only going to feel more comfortable with the algorithms behind News Feed if they have more visibility into how they work and more control over what they see. So we're rolling out new tools to help people better understand and control what they see in their News Feeds.
@andymstone Andy Stone on x
.@nick_clegg's essay is worth a read as it addresses some of the macro charges levied against Facebook, and social media more generally, of late. It acknowledges where critics have a point, where they simply miss the mark and how Facebook is charting a course forward. https://twi…
@carolecadwalla Carole Cadwalladr on x
Nick Clegg lives in Silicon Valley but has dropped his new 5,000-word opus in the middle of his night to ride the waking US news cycle. So while the west coast sleeps, allow me to kick things off by saying this attempt to manipulate the media is all too transparently obvious http…
@olifranklin Oli Franklin-Wallis on x
Nick Clegg's long and boring defence of Facebook essentially boils down to “it's not our fault, it's yours”. In particular, he blames legacy media, while totally ignoring the fact that mass media has totally transformed in order to please FB's algorithm. https://medium.com/...
@edbott Ed Bott on x
“Well, he would say that, wouldn't he?” I mean, how many millions does Facebook pay Nick Clegg to say exactly this sort of thing? https://twitter.com/...
@imbadatlife Luke Bailey on x
Nick Clegg is saying here that radicalisation is the fault of users https://twitter.com/...
@matt_muir Matt Muir on x
Expect a LOT more of this from Facebook in the coming months. “Yes, this stuff IS complex, and DOES have socioeconomic implications - but you don't understand it, do you? So make sure you let us work with you to sort it out (or else)”: https://about.fb.com/...
@psawers Paul Sawers on x
It's his job to defend Facebook, he gets millions to do so. Would expect nothing else really. https://twitter.com/...
@katiecollins Katie Collins on x
My issue with this analogy is that the decision making takes place in a context where trust is established — you understand your partner and feel your partner understands you. Whereas users' relationships with FB today are shaped by historic distrust and lack of transparency http…
@jtemperton James Temperton on x
Nick Clegg has published a very long Medium post about why Facebook is, in fact, really great and not a threat to democracy. His argument is flawed! First up, he blames humanity, not Facebook, for making Facebook a polarising hellhole. Nice try, Nick! https://medium.com/...
@dannypage Danny Page on x
Tangent: Between Jay Carney and Nick Clegg, this week has been a reminder of how many 2010s centrist politicians have ended up at big tech companies. https://twitter.com/...
@mtrc Mike Cook on x
Nick Clegg really has perfected the art of locating the absolute worst people he can find and then enabling and defending them to the hilt. https://twitter.com/...
@adrianweckler Adrian Weckler on x
Here's Nick Clegg's full piece on this. “People are portrayed as powerless victims, robbed of their free will. Humans have become the playthings of manipulative algorithmic systems. But is this really true? Have the machines really taken over?” https://nickclegg.medium.com/ ...
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
Facebook defends itself, on Medium: https://nickclegg.medium.com/ ...
@shiraovide Shira Ovide on x
It would be helpful if Facebook acknowledged that a large number of the changes it made to ranking posts happened because of outside pressure to change. https://nickclegg.medium.com/ ...
@mattnavarra @mattnavarra on x
Facebook's got Nick Clegg to post another eloquently worded mini-essay I'm starting to wonder what else he actually does for Facebook https://about.fb.com/...
@zilevandamme Phumzile Van Damme on x
.@nick_clegg as a former politician, I know you you know that there's a very thin line between spin & misleading. This, here is misleading. I hope it's rather an instance of not being provided with the right info because this misleading? It only serves to widen FB's trust deficit…
@abelardinelli Alex Belardinelli on x
Announcing a bunch of new controls for Facebook users - including being able to choose who can comment on your public posts + a simple way to change your News Feed from algorithmically ranked to chronological: https://about.fb.com/...
@aurasalla Aura Salla on x
Don't want #algorithms control your #Facebook news feed? The Feed Filter Bar offers now easy access to ‘Most Recent’, making it simpler to switch between an algorithmically-ranked news feed and a feed sorted chronologically with the newest posts first. https://about.fb.com/...
@fboversight @fboversight on x
Hi Facebook. The issue is not (only) what WE see, courtesy of your algorithm. It's what YOU see and harvest. https://twitter.com/...
@adamholmes010 Adam Holmes on x
Having spent the evening dealing with harmful transphobic and racist comments on our Facebook page, this will be a welcome feature https://twitter.com/...
@manjusrii Belinda Barnet on x
You can finally turn them off—a win for news media outlets who were in the ludicrous position of having to monitor a vast number of stories. This was so stupid and unfair https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@flipprior @flipprior on x
Woahhhhhh this is moderation solution news orgs have asked for for years!! Hot off the press - Facebook now lets users and pages turn off comments on their posts - seeya trolls! https://www.theguardian.com/ ... https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@benv_w Ben on x
We should applaud the slow wind back of Web 2.0, but our work is not finished until everything is, at most, a static HTML page again (dial in BBSs delivering niche plaintext files preferable) https://twitter.com/...
@missrobinson Amber Robinson on x
OMG OMG OMG. This is huge, and will bring a great sense of relief to organisations who have had a defamation burden on them for social media comments made by other users. https://twitter.com/...
@quiip @quiip on x
This is a fantastic and long-awaited development for Facebook Page owners - although risks will still remain https://twitter.com/...
@earleyedition Dave Earley on x
oh, and this is what the options will look like. It's basically like @Twitter's option to limit who can reply to your tweets https://www.theguardian.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Vox Rebecca Heilweil on x
Facebook is defending its algorithms. Critics aren't buying it.
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Quintessential Facebook. Dropped War and Peace overnight - going on offense to shape a public narrative about what you can see yet entirely ignoring FB's core biz model underneath - surveillance pickpocketing your data when you're not even choosing to interact with the company. h…
@jjvincent James Vincent on x
The big change is that Facebook users can now switch between algorithmic, chronological, and favorite versions of the News Feed. Nick Clegg told us these filters will “always be there,” but they will actually disappear from the Feed if not used for 7 days https://www.theverge.com…
@mathewi Mathew Ingram on x
This piece is long, to make it look like Facebook is taking criticism seriously, but the bottom line is the same as it has always been: FB uses magical algorithms to give you what you want, so if you see bad/wrong things it's because you wanted to see them https://nickclegg.mediu…
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
I talked with @nick_clegg about his Medium post, the evidence that social networks are polarizing, and what it would mean for Donald Trump to come back to Facebook. https://www.theverge.com/...
@dsquareddigest Dan Davies on x
I've just read the thing and he is literally suggesting that we form a coalition with the machines in which we will gain most of our agenda and they will in no way seek to undermine and destroy us. He's learned *nothing* https://twitter.com/...
@marietjeschaake Marietje Schaake on x
Most claims made in this piece are impossible to verify without independent research of data & ever evolving algorithms. It also shows how many public policy decisions Facebook privately makes on content you see but also data that is gathered> impacts individuals & communities ↘️…
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
Wonder how much someone gets paid to publish “lengthy medium posts” under their name so the multibillionaire controlling shareholder doesn't have to
@jesselehrich Jesse Lehrich on x
Facebook's Nick Clegg wrote a lengthy defense of surveillance advertising & FB's algorithms: https://nickclegg.medium.com/ ... it's wildly disingenuous & littered with strawman attacks, contradictions, & outright lies. THREAD...
@redsteeze Stephen L. Miller on x
Hi Andy. Did you ever complete the fact check on the New York Post story you banned from your platform? Curious to see those results. https://twitter.com/...
@markseddon1962 Mark Seddon on x
Americans have a word for what Cleggy is; a ‘Flack’. And that is quite polite. https://twitter.com/...
@jeffjarvis Jeff Jarvis on x
Facebook head of policy & PR @nick_clegg responds to moral panic about the net, saying we do have agency. I agree. But I hate this sentence: “Should governments set out what kinds of conversation citizens are allowed to participate in?” Don't even ask. https://nickclegg.medium.co…
@ggreenwald Glenn Greenwald on x
This is the life-long Democratic Party operative who now works for Facebook. He was the one who announced Facebook would suppress any discussion of the Hunter Biden docs pending a “fact-check.” He lied. The fact-check never came. You know why? Because the docs were authentic. htt…
@yoda Drew Olanoff on x
Nick's angling for that Substack $$$ https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
So question to ask here is why today? Is this a response to last week's hearing? Is this to try to prevent a bill about to be dropped? Distract from pending Trump decision? To push debate towards algorithms determining what we see rather than FB's data abuses we don't see? 3/3
@andrewchen Andrew Chen on x
Nick Clegg (VP of Global Affairs, Facebook) writes on the interaction between algorithmic feeds and individual choice. In response to a recent Atlantic article about the product being a “Doomsday Machine” - worth a read. https://nickclegg.medium.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@carolecadwalla Carole Cadwalladr on x
Hey Andy, Fixed this for you: .@nick_clegg's essay is worth a read because he's my boss ur welcome https://twitter.com/...
@janoschdelcker Janosch Delcker on x
Previously, Facebook's line was (in my words): We don't like it if our platform is used to accelerate political polarisation. And we're doing our best to stop that. Clegg's piece strikes a different tone. He's asking: Is Facebook really to blame? https://twitter.com/...
@craigsilverman Craig Silverman on x
It's striking that right after a section when Clegg emphasizes that FB downranks clickbait and sensational and false content in News Feed, he acknowledges that websites with sensational and spammy content disproportionally get their traffic from... Facebook. https://twitter.com/.…
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
Yes, people post the content. But the way Facebook builds system incentivizes certain types of posts, and the algorithms sort them in a very particular way. Facebook knows well the behavior it's asking for and encouraging. https://nickclegg.medium.com/ ...
@joannastern Joanna Stern on x
Facebook's making some product changes to give us more control of our Newsfeed and more transparency into what we see, including making it much easier to get to the chronological timeline https://nickclegg.medium.com/ ...
@craigsilverman Craig Silverman on x
Extreme filter bubbles do seem rare for ppl on social media. And still lots of research to be done. But! FB's internal research shows groups recommendations and other systems push people to extremes and elevate polarizing content. Of course, this is not part of FB's messaging.
@janoschdelcker Janosch Delcker on x
(That follows a PR playbook developed by Facebook executives, and leaked to @RMac18 and @CraigSilverman https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... )
@janoschdelcker Janosch Delcker on x
In other words: Facebook is feeling the heat. And its new PR strategy seems to say: Show us the evidence that we're *really* a reason for societies to become more Polarized, rather than just a symptom. https://twitter.com/...
@craigsilverman Craig Silverman on x
This is part of a larger pushback campaign re: polarization underway at FB. We revealed the internal “playbook” that was shared with employees recently. FB wants to counter accusations that its products are harmful to society. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@craigsilverman Craig Silverman on x
The shift in tone and approach is notable, as pointed out in this very good thread: https://twitter.com/...
@janoschdelcker Janosch Delcker on x
Silicon Valley is waking up to a long piece by Nick Clegg — Facebook's foreign minister, if it was a nation state — on the company's role in deepening social divisions. It seems to indicate a turning point in the company's PR strategy. Here's why: https://nickclegg.medium.com/ ..…
@craigsilverman Craig Silverman on x
Nick Clegg's Medium opus on polarization is classic content strategy. It's the touchstone FB will cite in testimony, comms etc. The goal is to establish it as a definitive post on par with independent reporting. Its length is a proxy for comprehensiveness and credibility.
@silvermanjacob Jacob Silverman on x
my meager little choices vs. the news feed designed and constantly fine-tuned by one of the world's biggest companies to keep me engaged https://twitter.com/...
@damiancollins Damian Collins on x
My thoughts on @Facebook ‘favorites’ and @nick_clegg blog today. Rather that ‘two to tango’ it's more accurate to say Facebook is ‘dancing in the dark’ with your data. @FBoversight https://nickclegg.medium.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@joshsternberg Josh Sternberg on x
A Facebook executive's frame: Don't blame Facebook, blame yourself https://nickclegg.medium.com/ ...
@mikarv Michael Veale on x
@nick_clegg for example about 43% of all Android apps contain a facebook tracker https://arxiv.org/... https://twitter.com/...
@ceciliakang @ceciliakang on x
“lengthy medium post” is not a great selling point
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
Note from @jjvincent: not clear if these algorithm controls are always there, or disappear after 7 days. We're running it down. https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Nailed it. And we know of Parliamentary evidence Facebook tracks users across more than 8 million publishers. And from antitrust report that a majority of Facebook's data on us comes from third parties (aka surveillance) and not when we actually choose to use Facebook services. h…
@hypervisible @hypervisible on x
Facebook can only *show* you hate and disinformation. They couldn't do that if you weren't on Facebook, so that's on you. 🙄 https://twitter.com/...

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