Facebook has been under fire ever since news spread about the Cambridge Analytica privacy breach that saw millions of users’ data passed onto a third party unwillingly. While it has been talked about at length in the media, those who are really feeling the pressure are businesses. Businesses are plagued with ethical concerns as to whether advertising on Facebook is worth it. Now that this scandal has been brought into light the everyday Facebook user has become a little wearier of Facebook and could lead to decreased usage of the platform.
As was shared on this article from Tech Crunch Mozilla Firefox has decided to pull advertising on Facebook as a result of this scandal. What this situation highlighted was how Facebook’s privacy settings were not strong enough for the technologically advanced world we live in today where data is collected left right and centre. A major reason behind their decision to refrain from advertising on Facebook was how many third party apps could gain access to information such as your location, you education, work as well as posts you’ve made on Facebook. These third party applications include news articles, games and quizzes that you access through Facebook.
While Firefox has announced they will stay away from Facebook until privacy settings have been changed, there is the possibility that other companies are thinking the same way. The ethical dilemmas and questions that have been highlighted are definitely something companies should think about as its not best practice to be extracting this information from users who innocently wanted to see or engage with your content. It also raises the question of whether other companies should also pull their advertising dollars and utilise it in other platforms that don’t take advantage of their users.
Facebook is a great channel to advertise through, but with the PR storm they’re in right now and the threat of users deleting their accounts or reducing time spent on this platform, is it still sustainable to use your precious funds on this type of advertising? I think businesses should assess and consider other platforms and invest less in Facebook, at least in the mean time, as there are ethical dilemmas I cannot push aside and the seriousness of the accusations to the extent of Facebook having to testify in front of Congress. Its definitely not something Facebook should be proud of.
If you have any opinions about this topic I’ll be glad to hear about it in the comments below.
Image sourced: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/935009/Cambridge-Analytica-what-is-Facebook-data-breach-scandal
Social Nimash 
Interesting read! Advertisers must be put in a very difficult place as Facebook is one of the largest websites, if not the largest on the internet. However, I can see where you are coming from with the need for trustworthiness. What other platforms do you think will work the best for brands if need to move away from facebook?
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The decision on whether to stay on Facebook may not be a tough decision for all, but companies that really care about ethics will need to consider whether or not to stay. I think in terms of other platforms, Facebook owned Instagram is a very effective place to advertise along with other smaller apps and websites that are relevant to different businesses. Thanks for your comment!
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