In the 12 years since Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook, the global media landscape has changed beyond recognition. This is in no small part due to the social media platform that he started as an undergraduate, which is now one of the biggest global distributors of news.
Where printed newspapers were traditionally constrained by the cost of physical distribution, Facebook and other social media are, by contrast, equipped with the power to transmit information across borders at limited or no cost. This has brought undoubted benefits to millions of users who can access information more readily than before. It has also brought with it responsibilities.
Such obligations will become increasingly difficult for Facebook to brush aside in light of the controversy generated by its role in the spread of misinformation.