Facebook Slammed for User Experiments

Facebook is facing increasing heat for its social experiments on users without their direct consent. After initially receiving flak last week for a study conducted via Facebook on emotional state transference, the practices of Facebook's Data Science team, a group of about three dozen researchers, has received increasing scrutiny. For example, in 2012, these scientists sent messages to thousands of users saying they were blocked from Facebook because they were believed to be robots. In actuality, it was a test of antifraud measures. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Cheryl Sandberg admitted on Wednesday that Facebook’s experimental studies were "poorly communicated" and that the company is “taking a very hard look at this process to make more improvements."