Monday, 12 May 2014

Facebook, a doubled-edged sword

Over recent years, Facebook has become one of the most popular social media in many countries around the world. While it provides a lot of benefits and entertainment, it is also used in inappropriate way.

According to "Facebook Gun Clubs Buy, Sell, Trade, And Cause A Stir", some people in the U.S. are worried about posting gun advertisement on Facebook and they urged Facebook to ban the post. However, Facebook replied that it wouldn't do that, but it would tighten the rules.


After reading this article from NPR, it reminded me several ways of using Facebook illegally in Thailand. For example, I have ever read the news that people use Facebook for prostituting herself. They can upload pictures to show their shape and leave contacts on their pages. Moreover, some people use Facebook for promoting their gambling business such as illegal lottery, football betting, and etc. 


In my opinion, 
it's fairly difficult to control all Facebook users which currently have more than 1 billion users around the world. When the users are deleted, they can register the new one immediately with different email. Consequently, we need more strict rules to regulate this issue. For instance, it may require an ID card to register new account. This could help officer to track people who commit a crime, and force all users to use Facebook in the proper way.



Reference
Graff, S. (2014, May 11). Facebook Gun Clubs Buy, Sell, Trade, And Cause A Stir. Retrieved May 11, 2014 from NPR website : http://www.npr.org/2014/04/26/306845758/facebook-gun-clubs-buy-sell-trade-and-cause-a-stir

14 comments:

  1. An excellent start to the new week's blogging. Thank you Ben.

    But I can't agree with your proposed solution to the problem you discuss, unless I've misunderstood. Your exposition of the issue is very well done, being clearly presented with a useful range of examples that I'm sure we can all relate to. It's just your solution in the fourth paragraph that worries me. But maybe that's just me.

    I'm curious to see how others respond.

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    Replies
    1. I’m just curious. What do you worry about the fourth paragraph?

      Delete
    2. I worry about Ben's suggestion that something like an ID card be required to register an account. This is something that a few of the comments have addressed very well.

      More generally, I'm not sure that it's a good thing to require the use of real names on Facebook and other places. This is in fact Facebook's policy, as it is with Google+, but both are, probably because of the practical difficulties involved, somewhat relaxed about enforcing this requirement, and as they've grown, I think they've become more tolerant of the use of pseudonyms, which I see as a positive change.

      Would we want people in despotic countries that do not allow free speech on some political or public issues to be forced to use their "real" name when they make illegal comments? For example, I've sometimes said such things as that "Christianity and Islam are full of false beliefs and often commit evil." If this were written on Facebook in some countries, it would be a serious criminal offence. Similarly, if anyone in North Korea made any negative or critical comment about their Dear Leader, who is loved by all North Koreans, that person would be thrown into prison for years. Should such laws be respected by Facebook and other multinational social network providers?

      Facebook is, of course, banned in China precisely because the Chinese government does not want it's citizens to have informed opinions on many topics, or to freely associate and share ideas. I'm pretty sure that Facebook does not exist in North Korea, either.

      Delete
    3. That last blog comment was a relaxing break from my current work: I'm reviewing your first drafts of the paragraphs that answer Hartmann's question in Part 5 of chapter 1. And this is much harder work, as you will discover tomorrow.

      In fact, I might stop now and continue tomorrow.
      If I continue working, there is a danger that my brain will turn to mush and I'll write something really stupid, which I would prefer to avoid.

      Delete
  2. I think Facebook.Inc should monitor it's consumer on abusing Facebook for some sinister propose. If they don't they will loses it reputation

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  3. I don't think that ID card requirement is the right solution, because it may lead people to steal and copy other ID cards just to make Facebook accounts for themselves. Another reason is we have a lot of internet hackers nowadays. If the Facebook started to require ID cards, they would hack into the database, either your computer or Facebook, and snatch out your data.

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    Replies
    1. I agree with you that ID card numbers isn't the solution because it can be easily faked. For example, if someone just put simply keywords “ID card generator” on Google, the search results will return a list of websites that can generate the ID card numbers. By this scenario, I think that it is too easy to use the ID card.

      Delete
  4. I agree with you that controlling all user is very difficult but I don't think that using an ID card is the best way to protect doing illegal business on Facebook. I think it isn't useful to register an new account with an ID card because there are many people around the world using Facebook,so the company can't control anything better than banning some of them. It's right that the company should more worried about it but I think they don't have time to do all of that. However, an idea that requiring an ID card might be very useful for websites using in their country. I mean that if websites from Thailand use by Thai people,or maybe few people from another country. It is good for protecting this problem because the police can find someone who breaks a law easier and after I read Petch's comment, she lets me think about another trouble following an ID card requirement because many people who have a knowledge in Technology use it in the wrong way like Petch said. Therefore,This issue needs to be worried by everyone.

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  5. In my opinion, I think that the biometrics identification - use of human characteristics such as voice, finger print and person face, to identify person - is promising because it’s unique for each person and hard to fake. However, it’s also like a double-edged sword since how we can trust other persons to store our biometrics information as Petch mentioned. If our biometrics information has been leaked, what the consequence will happen? I think it’s going to be serious problem for sure.

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  6. I don't agree that we have to insert ID number for registration because the base information can be easily hacked and forged for the other purpose such as register a credit card by using the others' ID number which is illegal. I've seen one sentence that people complain about social network that "โลกนี้มันอยู่ยากขึ้นทุกวัน" (Our world is getting harder to live in) which sounds funny but I agree with this.

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  7. In my opinion, it is difficult to control all of Facebook users. I like P'Ben idea that Facebook need more strict rules to deal with this situation. I did not know that there are people who use Facebook for prostituting herself, I think they will get caught easily because police can call her and send appointment place to arrest. However many people use Facebook for business. We have to agree that Facebook is a doubled-edged sword.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perhaps the problem with the prostitution situation is not women and men doing it, but the law that makes it illegal. If people freely enter into a contract with which both are happy, and neither is being forced or enslaved, why should the law interfere to stop it? How is it different to a lawyer selling her skills or a cook selling his skills or an actor selling himself for an agreed price?

      Prostitution is legal in some countries and illegal in others. I think this means that one set of countries has the wrong idea and is acting immorally.

      The situations where Facebook is used to commit fraud or other crimes seem more serious to me.

      Delete
  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. You remind me the solving fake id card on Pantip website, being a member must use id card to register, user has to hold one's id card and then take a photo to assure the rightness. I think this solution is proper for this case because it is only available in Thailand. Conversely, Facebook is worldwide, I am afraid that checkers will overwork to approve of registration.

    ReplyDelete

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