Is Facebook really that bad?

Dylan, German, and Dara talk about Facebook and the controversy surrounding it in recent weeks. They cover just how much — and how little — we know about Facebook’s impact on the world and talk about whether there are good policy solutions to Facebook’s problems. For the white paper of the week, they break down a study on free school lunch programs.

References:

The Wall Street Journal’s reporting on how Facebook’s efforts to improve the platform backfired 

The Washington Post’s reporting on how Facebook prioritized “angry” over “like”

The Washington Post’s reporting on Facebook picking engagement over fighting misinformation

Section 230 basics, explained 

Vox’s Recode Daily podcast

What happened when experimenters paid people to deactivate Facebook before the 2018 midterms

Max Fisher and Amanda Taub on Facebook-inspired anti-Muslim violence in Sri Lanka

Facebook did enable the Arab Spring

Farhad Manjoo on how bad regulations could make Facebook worse

A child psychologist on what we don’t know about Instagram’s effect on teen girls 

Kevin Drum’s counter-takes on Facebook

NBER study on school lunch programs reducing grocery costs

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

German Lopez (@germanrlopez), senior correspondent, Vox

Dara Lind (@dlind), immigration reporter, ProPublica

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer & engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial advisor

Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

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