Facebook needs a white hat Cambridge Analytica

If tech companies and their investors cant foresee and stop these problems, it will likely lead to damaging regulation, costing them billions.

The argument that the problem lies with third-party abuse of their tools is wearing thin, not just with the media and politicians, but increasingly with the public as well.

If the tech giants dont want regulators to step in and police, they need to do much more to predict, and stop the abuse, before it even happens.

Advocacy group Avaaz is calling attention to what the groups says are hundreds of millions of fake accounts still spreading disinformation on Facebook.

Finally he told his campaign manager to start a massive rumor campaign about his opponents life-long habit of enjoying carnal knowledge of his barnyard sows.

Holiday would then anonymously share photos of these defaced posters into Facebook groups, forums and Twitter to stoke fights, encouraging both sides to get outraged.

But it was clearly abuse of social networks, and ultimately damaging to society, because it created controversy where none previously existed.

But new problems are constantly being created, and to regulators, it appears the tech companies arent learning from their mistakes.