In a postapocalyptic novel he published earlier this year, legendary science fiction writer Neal Stephenson described a future where the American heartland has become a violent right-wing hellscape known as “Ameristan.” People living there enforce the laws of Leviticus literally, crucifying those who disobey. Stephenson describes these people as having been “Facebooked” into oblivion, their savage theocracy spurred into existence by a massive fake news campaign on social media. As shared reality crumbles, people who rely on social media for news slide into tribal barbarism. While this may be a hyperbolically negative illustration of America's future, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's fake Facebook ad shows how easily the real-life social network can be manipulated.
Considering the way Facebook has made billions of dollars by encouraging people to post misleading information that then goes viral — and fiercely resisted any attempt to rein in this scourge — and Stephenson may not be so far off the mark. Just last week, Facebook announced that it would allow politicians to make false claims in paid ads. The announcement came after controversy erupted around a Trump campaign ad titled “Corruption,” which falsely claimed that Vice President Joe Biden had offered $1 billion to the Ukrainian government in order to assist his son Hunter Biden.
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