But they were specifically taunting them and influencing them. They put up posts with negative emotions. If just one post caused someone to commit suicide in the negative study group, and facebook showed it to them one time more than normal, they are culpable. Given the large N value, I find it difficult to believe this didn't happen.
Negative emotions is already a significant chunk of social media in general and news media as well. So...very slippery slope definition for culpability you've got there.
That's why social media feeds must use a dumb algorithm.
"Normal" is already determined by their AB testing which is already massive scale human experimentation.
I wonder at what point people will be able to say "It's not my fault, the Algorithm made me do it" and have that accepted as a valid excuse by a majority of society.
Isn't that just the generalisation of 'it is only business' which the majority of society already accepts as a valid excuse for some pretty unethical behaviour.