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Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News

gizmodo.com

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Re: Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News

#81
post #62

What if it were liberal news? This is basically the filter bubble problem. All filters have biases whether they are human or algorithmic.

This is basically the monopoly problem.

The problem isn't that FB is slanted, but that FB has a near-monopoly on user attention, which allows its slant to be both covert and disproportionately influential.

If FB was one of a selection of companies competing in the same space, political bias would be less of an issue, because it would be more like the print magazine and blog space.

But then you have the problem that the US gov has an entire network of foundations, think-tanks, blogs, PR companies, astroturfers, bought-and-paid-for journalists, and other "thought leaders" who exist solely to present a specific agenda - usually a pro-corporate one.

In the same way that you can't argue with the Fed, you can't argue with a state-organised propaganda machine - not easily, anyway.

So the problem is much wider than FB.

Re: Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News

#83

> “It was absolutely bias. We were doing it subjectively. It just depends on who the curator is and what time of day it is,” said the former curator. > Other former curators interviewed by Gizmodo denied consciously suppressing conservative news, and we were unable to determine if left-wing news topics or sources were similarly suppressed. The conservative curator described the omissions as a function of his colleagu…

Or Facebook has learned the art of Plausible Deniability. If the bias happens during hiring (by preferring candidates who naturally lean left), then Facebook merely needs to give them curation power without giving explicit instructions.

I can't stress enough how powerful an argument I think this is.

Re: Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News

#84

> “It was absolutely bias. We were doing it subjectively. It just depends on who the curator is and what time of day it is,” said the former curator. > Other former curators interviewed by Gizmodo denied consciously suppressing conservative news, and we were unable to determine if left-wing news topics or sources were similarly suppressed. The conservative curator described the omissions as a function of his colleagu…

Just because the evidence isn't there doesn't mean there wasn't downward pressure from management. Look at the art of dodging blame as practiced by VW.

Re: Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News

#86

People are people. In a way this isn't news at all. The problem is that these companies are hiding behind the "But it's all just an algorithm" defense, when, in fact, as we all suspected, there are real people behind the scenes slanting things. My gut tells me that a lot of tech companies are subtly controlling the types of news their consumers get. Overall this is probably a good thing -- helps keep the quality high…

But that's not what the article said. They had a conservative on staff who was in charge of these feeds, and he wasn't cutting out conservative articles, he was cutting out articles that supported candidates he didn't like.

As long as you choose to consume their product, you get the results of their work. Don't like it? Go somewhere else. You should appreciate that as a libertarian.

I see no harm in excluding articles from Breitbart, Washington Examiner, and Newsmax. Or Alternet for that matter. Those aren't news organizations. They're propaganda tabloids which consume the work of Reuters and the AP and regurgitate it with a ton of spin.

Re: Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News

#87
So what.

The day Bill Clinton got elected, Rush Limbaugh started counting the days of "America Held Hostage".

Today Fox News leads every day with how there is a Nggr in the White House and we all hate Obama and everything he stands for, and it is a tragedy we will get four years of Hillary because the Republicans are so screwed up, and...

Right wing "thinkers" get unlimited funding from the likes of the Koch Brothers and free copies of their books get mailed to all the public libraries in America. Even on "liberal" CNN they regularly have panels of "conservative thinkers", and the Economist features a "conservative thinker" who is a Senator from Nebraska.

When they bring a "liberal" on it is always somebody who works for a campaign or the Democratic party.

Conservatives get all the breaks but they are always bitching they aren't treated fairly. It worked for Nixon but hasn't worked for any Republican candidate ever since.

Re: Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News

#88
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes libertarians would be pissed if right-leaners control news. But the topic here is facebook. Let's stay on topic.

I am staying on topic. That I ask a followup to identify the extent of where someone stands on an issue isn't going off-topic. The parent made a statement about ideological leaning informing their ire toward information suppression. I was curious if it was one-way ire. Since you aren't the parent, I don't think you're able to answer my question. Moreover, the topic here isn't just Facebook, but their suppression and…

I believe both right and left news medias filter out stories to meet own agenda. No question about that imo.

The problem here is Facebook never claimed to be a news site but a connector for people. But here we find out they were acting as a left leaning news site or a powerbroker.

Re: Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News

#89

Anecdotal: apparently this isn't work for me. My news feed is FILLed with conservative election news. How can I enable this feature ;)

Different feature: trending is a box full of subjects, none of which you may be subscribed to.

Re: Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News

#90
Is this even in the top fifty of shitty things facebook does? I ask that as someone who has visited the site four or five times in my life. Every time has confirmed how horrible it is. Every item about FB I see in the rest of the media is a complaint of some sort. What is going on?
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