Facebook, Google, et al

[CrimsonNBlue]

Counterpoints and only for the sake of argument (particularly talking about social media now):

I struggle to believe the tech industry is sincerely that concerned about misinformation and the role they play in it.

Should they? And why?

Rather, I think tech considers misinformation to be an acceptable collateral damage that does not otherwise warrant actual independent oversight of their industry

Are they wrong?

[ousdahl]

Isn’t big tech the ones testifying before Congress that big tech, not the gummint or anyone else, should be the ones overseeing themselves, they’re in the best position to self-regulate, not the gummint, and not any actual independent anyone else with no conflicting interests? Trust me!

[Deleted User 89]

i think they are, CnB

i think, at minimum they should be flagging content that is demonstrably false. in some instances, i think they should be removing such information altogether

obviously it’s a slippery slope with grey area and subjectivity, but i also think there are enough clear-cut instances of falsehoods that warrant policing. i think they have a social obligation to police themselves...particularly when they have algorithms in place that magnify falsehoods and amplify circles of misinformation by just feeding the consumers similar bs

[CrimsonNBlue]

I agree there is some level of responsibility. Where I stop short is shifting 100% of the blame from source to medium.


The misinformation is certainly interesting, though. I would imagine most of it is pretty easy to spot, but I feel very confident that I would score less than 100% if 10 social media links were put in front of me and I was supposed to identify the real vs. fake ones. The damn Russians are getting too sophisticated.

[ousdahl]

I think it’s not difficult to spot if you actually pay attention. Does it have quotes from reputable people? Mention vetted sources? Take a neutral journalistic tone or start the article with “Crooked Hillary” again?

It’s a tricky issue, and yeah I dunno how much the medium itself should take responsibility, except that their algorithms effectively value fake news over actual facts.

Maybe, at the very least, they could neutralize their algorithms again? Just let users see everything they sign up for, rather than let the medium’s own agorithms decide. That could at least give them more plausible deniability?

[CrimsonNBlue]

I have to plead a lot of ignorance on this stuff. I only use instagram and twitter, and I purposely don't see anything outside of the accounts I follow (which is mostly fisherwomen).

[ousdahl]

Ohh

I would POTD but I 1. already gave it to mich and 2. Yeah they get lots of likes in bikinis but most of them don’t actually know how to fish

[ousdahl]

I’d be curious whether the social media self-oversight has any slant to it of its own.

For instance, I just posted in the other bored about how Zuck manually approved a controversial Trump post even tho FB’s own algorithm flagged it

[Deleted User 863]

I’d be curious whether the social media self-oversight has any slant to it of its own.

For instance, I just posted in the other bored about how Zuck manually approved a controversial Trump post even tho FB’s own algorithm flagged it

Are you suggesting facebook is a conservative/republican leaning company?

[ousdahl]

Not explicitly, no.

But I do think it may be more…establishment-leaning? and is more likely to flag e.g. a BLM post than some more blatant lobster white power shit, but even that may be tricky to quantify.

It might not be quite so intentional, either - perhaps it’s just that the white power lobster bullshit is the most likely to go viral. Even if social media doesn’t necessarily like white power, they do like clicks and likes and shares.

ETA or perhaps it totally does have a lean to it, but the only reason it’s difficult to quantify is that there is no real independent oversight

[Deleted User 89]

[ousdahl]

Who knows, man

[Deleted User 89]

going another direction, i’ve been wondering what Anonymous has been up to

https://gizmodo.com/anonymous-claims-to ... 1847673935

[Deleted User 863]

Not explicitly, no.

But I do think it may be more…establishment-leaning? and is more likely to flag e.g. a BLM post than some more blatant lobster white power shit, but even that may be tricky to quantify.

You can't possibly be serious.

I personally know multiple people (all white Republicans) who have been put in facebook jail just this week. All for dumb covid misinformation or hateful memes about Biden.

I am not sure what you're basing your assumptions on? Imo FB is far more likely to flag and ban "white power stuff" than BLM stuff.

For one, most BLM stuff wouldn't even qualify because it's not violent hate speech.

[twocoach]

Not explicitly, no.

But I do think it may be more…establishment-leaning? and is more likely to flag e.g. a BLM post than some more blatant lobster white power shit, but even that may be tricky to quantify.

You can't possibly be serious.

I personally know multiple people (all white Republicans) who have been put in facebook jail just this week. All for dumb covid misinformation or hateful memes about Biden.

I am not sure what you're basing your assumptions on? Imo FB is far more likely to flag and ban "white power stuff" than BLM stuff.

For one, most BLM stuff wouldn't even qualify because it's not violent hate speech.

How many blatantly obvious fake news articles did those two people successfully share on their journey to getting in Facebook jail?

[Mjl]

Not explicitly, no.

But I do think it may be more…establishment-leaning? and is more likely to flag e.g. a BLM post than some more blatant lobster white power shit, but even that may be tricky to quantify.

You can't possibly be serious.

I personally know multiple people (all white Republicans) who have been put in facebook jail just this week. All for dumb covid misinformation or hateful memes about Biden.

I am not sure what you're basing your assumptions on? Imo FB is far more likely to flag and ban "white power stuff" than BLM stuff.

For one, most BLM stuff wouldn't even qualify because it's not violent hate speech.

You just lie. Like, without thought. It's just an impulse. Show me one case where someone was banned for an anti-Biden meme that wasn't, like, explicitly calling for violence.

[Deleted User 863]

Not explicitly, no.

But I do think it may be more…establishment-leaning? and is more likely to flag e.g. a BLM post than some more blatant lobster white power shit, but even that may be tricky to quantify.

You can't possibly be serious.

I personally know multiple people (all white Republicans) who have been put in facebook jail just this week. All for dumb covid misinformation or hateful memes about Biden.

I am not sure what you're basing your assumptions on? Imo FB is far more likely to flag and ban "white power stuff" than BLM stuff.

For one, most BLM stuff wouldn't even qualify because it's not violent hate speech.

You just lie. Like, without thought. It's just an impulse. Show me one case where someone was banned for an anti-Biden meme that wasn't, like, explicitly calling for violence.

Plenty of people have been banned for spreading fake news/misinformation about Biden (which i consider hateful, sorry if that word choice wasn't ideal for you, so call it whatever you want). Most regular people don't have articles written about them so not sure how to show you what these people i know posted to get them banned....but here are some examples with articles written about things being banned to get you started.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/20 ... d-troemel/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co ... 552101.amp

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes ... ou-to/amp/


Show me one example of someone getting banned for a pro BLM post (that wasn't an accident and later fixed by facebook)...

I will wait...

[Deleted User 863]

Not explicitly, no.

But I do think it may be more…establishment-leaning? and is more likely to flag e.g. a BLM post than some more blatant lobster white power shit, but even that may be tricky to quantify.

You can't possibly be serious.

I personally know multiple people (all white Republicans) who have been put in facebook jail just this week. All for dumb covid misinformation or hateful memes about Biden.

I am not sure what you're basing your assumptions on? Imo FB is far more likely to flag and ban "white power stuff" than BLM stuff.

For one, most BLM stuff wouldn't even qualify because it's not violent hate speech.

How many blatantly obvious fake news articles did those two people successfully share on their journey to getting in Facebook jail?

Multiple daily i am sure.


So you agree with Ousdahl that Facebook is pro republican and is tougher on BLM posts than "white power" posts? Or are you just taking that side for arguments sake?

[twocoach]

You can't possibly be serious.

I personally know multiple people (all white Republicans) who have been put in facebook jail just this week. All for dumb covid misinformation or hateful memes about Biden.

I am not sure what you're basing your assumptions on? Imo FB is far more likely to flag and ban "white power stuff" than BLM stuff.

For one, most BLM stuff wouldn't even qualify because it's not violent hate speech.

How many blatantly obvious fake news articles did those two people successfully share on their journey to getting in Facebook jail?

Multiple daily i am sure.


So you agree with Ousdahl that Facebook is pro republican and is tougher on BLM posts than "white power" posts? Or are you just taking that side for arguments sake?

No, I just believe that it is more nuanced than a one line answer. Their policies have both benefitted and punished Republican users more than they have Democratic users. The two groups seem to use the same tool differently so they are impacted differently.

Then you have to factor in the fines and fees that Facebook has incurred over the years as well as the remediation steps they have put in place to avoid similar incidents in the future.

[Deleted User 89]

wait...it’s not black/white or all/none?

illy’s head is going to explode