Former Facebook Exec Feels ‘Tremendous Guilt’, Says Social Media Is ‘Ripping Apart’ Society

Former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya recently described his regrets in helping to build the company, stating that he believes social media is “ripping apart” modern society.

Fast Company reports that Facebook’s former Vice President for User Growth Chamath Palihapitiya spoke to a group of students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he expressed his regret at helping Facebook become the giant that it is today. Palihapitiya stated that he felt “tremendous guilt” over Facebook,  saying, “I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works.”

Echoing a sentiment from former Facebook President Sean Parker about the psychological effects of Facebook, Palihapitiya stated, “the short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we’ve created [including the hearts, likes, and thumbs up of various social media channels] are destroying how society works.” He added, “[There’s] no civil discourse, no cooperation; [only] misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem – this is not about Russians ads. This is a global problem.”

Palihapitiya discussed how easily fake news and misinformation can spread rapidly through social media, using the specific case of a recent incident where seven innocent Indian men were lynched to death due to a viral hoax about kidnappings that spread via the Facebook-owned instant messaging platform WhatsApp. “That’s what we’re dealing with. And imagine taking that to the extreme, where bad actors can now manipulate large swathes of people to do anything you want. It’s just a really, really bad state of affairs,” said Palihapitiya.

When asked if his own children would be participating on the likes of Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, Palihapitiya bluntly replied that they “aren’t allowed to use that shit.”

The full talk from Palihapitiya can be watched below,