Today, Facebook officials reported the technical issue that triggered a widespread outage earlier this week had been fixed. The interruption also impacted Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, and is believed to be the biggest interruption ever for the massive social media company.
Lee McKnight is an associate professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies. He says we may never know the precise cause of the 22-hour Facebook and Instagram outage, but it does raise other questions about Facebook’s public obligation to report to regulators.
McKnight says:
“The recent Facebook and Instagram outage is blamed not on a virus, malware, or DDOS cyberattack, but a ‘server issue.’
“The fact that a network of billions of users could seize up – because of a typo in a line of code, other random human or machine error, or a malicious actor intending to disrupt Facebook’s servers – should not surprise us since we have been here before. We may or may not ever know the precise cause of the epic 22-hour outage. Because it is a private firm operating private networks, there is no public service obligation on Facebook to report on its performance to regulators as there is for a telecommunications firm or other service providers. Should there be?
“In sum, yesterday’s outage and people’s reaction that something vital was taken from them suggests it is time to broaden the regulatory debate around the new dominant platforms of our times, and our lives, to include both privacy and data protection, and perhaps other additional reporting and performance obligations.”
To request interviews or get more information:
Daryl Lovell
Media Relations Manager
Division of Marketing and Communications
T 315.443.1184 M 315.380.0206
dalovell@syr.edu | @DarylLovell
The Nancy Cantor Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St., 2nd Fl., Syracuse, NY 13202
news.syr.edu | syracuse.edu
Syracuse University
Many notable brands have taken public stances in favor of Americans protesting racial inequality. The pressure that companies feel to speak out on these important issues has greatly increased. As such, some of the biggest companies are quickly reacting on the…
The controversial New York Times op-ed from U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), which called for a military response to protests across the nation sparked by the murder of George Floyd, is creating plenty of debate about what is appropriate for…
Reporters looking for expert insight on the role of military powers during times of national emergencies and public protests should contact Syracuse University Professor William Banks. Banks is the co-author of “Soldiers on the Home Front: The Domestic Role of the…
MATS and Mercury in Context Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of mercury in the U.S., accounting for approximately 48% of mercury emissions in 20151. The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) were finalized in 2012 to regulate emissions…
Just a few weeks ago, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it was pulling 12 products off the market that contained pesticides that were harmful to the honeybee. This week, the agency made an emergency exception for nearly a dozen states…
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
