During his weekly program ‘The World to Where’ on RT Abu-Ghazaleh: Mark Zuckerberg Shapes Public Life Worldwide

Abu-AMMAN - Well-known Arab economist and prominent businessman, Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, founder and chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global (TAG.Global), talked about the power of ‘Facebook’ and its great influence on the world, describing Mark Zuckerberg, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Facebook, as the most powerful personality on the planet. 

In a new episode of his weekly program (The World to Where?) on Russia Today (RT), Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh warned against the powerful impact of social media platforms, including Facebook, on public opinion.

He also considered Zuckerberg as the de facto leader and the strongest person in the world, although he was ranked No. 13 by the American magazine ‘Forbes’ on the ‘List Of The World's Most Powerful People’. “ however Zuckerberg would not be compared to other global personalities such as the Secretary-General of the Communist Party, the Secretary-General of the United Nations or even the US President himself, just because he owns Facebook.” Abu Ghazaleh said.

Furthermore, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh referred to democracy as an ambiguous phenomenon in light of the influence of the social media on people’s opinions to achieve particular interests, noting that Zuckerberg singlehandedly could reshape societies, redefine privacy, change our relationship with one other, experiment with our mental and physical health and even  incite hatred.

Regarding Zuckerberg’s role in the current US presidential election, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh said that Facebook’s founder is the greatest force in determining countries' trends or elections as democracies could not stand up to an unregulated ‘Facebook’. 

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh inquired if Zuckerberg would use his capabilities to guide the upcoming US elections, indicating the importance of data specially the database of Facebook users, describing it as ‘the most powerful tool, even more than money.’

He also warned that in addition to what the world is facing as a result of social media impact on people already, there are the other existing challenges including the environmental, economic and Coronavirus (COVID-19) crises.

On the other hand, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh said that the world should impose accountability and tax systems on leaders of the world’s social media platforms and tools, noting that America should embrace professionalization, based on the ideas of Ms. Jumana Talal Abu-Ghazaleh in her (PIVOT) project, who affirms that professionalization enables setting ethical standards that prevent elimination of all negative practices against individuals and states, as well as stop abuse, attack and defamation that lead to the expulsion of of social media abusers as applies to the  other respectable professions.