Close Menu
  • Home
  • Technology
  • Science
  • Space
  • Health
  • Biology
  • Earth
  • History
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms and Conditions
What's Hot

Florida Startup Beams Solar Power Across NFL Stadium in Groundbreaking Test

April 15, 2025

Unlocking the Future: NASA’s Groundbreaking Space Tech Concepts

February 24, 2025

How Brain Stimulation Affects the Right Ear Advantage

November 29, 2024
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
TechinleapTechinleap
  • Home
  • Technology
  • Science
  • Space
  • Health
  • Biology
  • Earth
  • History
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms and Conditions
TechinleapTechinleap
Home»Technology»Big Tech’s Manipulative Research: Exposing the Need for Independent Oversight
Technology

Big Tech’s Manipulative Research: Exposing the Need for Independent Oversight

October 5, 2024No Comments3 Mins Read
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Telegram

Researchers have found that social media platforms, like Facebook, disproportionately amplify low-quality content and misinformation. However, a recent study funded by Facebook’s parent company, Meta, claims the platform’s algorithms have “no detectable impact on polarization, political attitudes or beliefs.” This article explores how big tech’s control over research and data access allows them to shape public perception and delay much-needed transparency and oversight.

algorithm
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Biased Research — An Illusion

In the last 10 years, researchers have been accumulating evidence that social media platforms — Facebook foremost among them — tend to disproportionately amplify low-quality content and misinformation. Therefore, the revelation in 2023 that Facebook’s trending algorithms had “no detectable impact on polarization, political attitudes or beliefs” during America’s election year of 2020 was astonishing.

(Co-authors of the paper included several Meta employees and others, such as Pennycook, who were doing similar research but were not directly funded by this study or any other Meta entity in relation to it.). This immediately elicited alarm bells over the objectivity and impartiality of the study. This was given some weight a few days later when researchers led by Chhandak Bagch from the University of Massachusetts Amherst concluded that Facebook had probably been experimenting with its algorithm at the same time Amazon had been trying to collect its data. The original study’s authors acknowledged their findings could have been different had Facebook not temporarily altered its algorithm.

Huge Tech Dominance In Academia

Given the Meta-funded study debacle, there is a larger issue of the impact that big tech companies have on academic research. Platforms such as these are now pouring money into academic endeavor; big tobacco did, in the 1950s, to create confusion about smoking and its associated health effects.

Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to over 100 colleges and universities nationwide. The big tech companies are able to both control access to data and put their thumb on the scale of systems being studied, which obviously affects what gets found by the research they fund. In addition, these corporations can also support specific research campaigns on their platforms, this as a way to anticipate possible public rebukes and to create an atmosphere where skepticism related to malice from algorithms disappears.

Independent Oversight is Required

Big tech has more control to shape the narrative around how their platforms affect society than any other industry ever. Not even the tobacco companies were able to mold public opinion of themselves as well as today’s social media giants have.

This further highlights a critical need for more independent oversight of these platforms. Researchers need complete access to data, while social media companies should have to inform us in real time about changes made on their algorithmic systems. Whenever this happens we can understand the full impact of social media platforms and be able to hold them accountable.

Indeed, the profit can trump the people in big tech self-research funding models and respect for transparency and independent oversight is pushed aside. Dealing with these criticisms head-on, will help to ensure that research on the effects of social media is actually as fair and ethical; for the public interest.

adaptive algorithms big tech independent oversight research manipulation Social Media
jeffbinu
  • Website

Tech enthusiast by profession, passionate blogger by choice. When I'm not immersed in the world of technology, you'll find me crafting and sharing content on this blog. Here, I explore my diverse interests and insights, turning my free time into an opportunity to connect with like-minded readers.

Related Posts

Technology

Unlocking the Secrets of Virtual Reality: Minimal Haptics for Realistic Weight Perception

November 2, 2024
Technology

Particle-Filled Sandwich Composites: A Game-Changer for High-Speed Machinery

November 2, 2024
Technology

Intelligent Clustering Technique

November 2, 2024
Technology

Movie Recommendations with AI and the Internet of Things

November 2, 2024
Technology

Mine Safety: Innovative Noise Reduction for Wind Speed Sensors

November 2, 2024
Technology

Revolutionizing Insider Threat Detection with Deep Learning

November 2, 2024
Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Top Posts

Florida Startup Beams Solar Power Across NFL Stadium in Groundbreaking Test

April 15, 2025

Quantum Computing in Healthcare: Transforming Drug Discovery and Medical Innovations

September 3, 2024

Graphene’s Spark: Revolutionizing Batteries from Safety to Supercharge

September 3, 2024

The Invisible Enemy’s Worst Nightmare: AINU AI Goes Nano

September 3, 2024
Don't Miss
Space

Florida Startup Beams Solar Power Across NFL Stadium in Groundbreaking Test

April 15, 20250

Florida startup Star Catcher successfully beams solar power across an NFL football field, a major milestone in the development of space-based solar power.

Unlocking the Future: NASA’s Groundbreaking Space Tech Concepts

February 24, 2025

How Brain Stimulation Affects the Right Ear Advantage

November 29, 2024

A Tale of Storms and Science from Svalbard

November 29, 2024
Stay In Touch
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Subscribe

Stay informed with our latest tech updates.

About Us
About Us

Welcome to our technology blog, where you can find the most recent information and analysis on a wide range of technological topics. keep up with the ever changing tech scene and be informed.

Our Picks

Controversial Breakthrough: Scientists Unravel Secrets to Halt Malaria Transmission

October 3, 2024

Breakthrough: Brain-Computer Interface Restores Speech for ALS Patient with 97% Accuracy

September 12, 2024

Unveiling the Hidden Boundaries: A Morphological Approach to Identifying Coal and Rock

October 16, 2024
Updates

The Surprising Link Between Solvation Kinetics and Electrocatalyst Performance

September 27, 2024

Reviving Frozen Rat Embryos: A Game-Changer for Genetic Research

October 16, 2024

The Double-Edged Sword of Passion in Team Innovation

October 5, 2024
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
  • Homepage
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
© 2025 TechinLeap.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.