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Facebook admits rogue employees may have shown bias against conservatives

washingtontimes.com

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Re: Facebook admits rogue employees may have shown bias against conservatives

#181

Post by atf104 »

dreamsofdragons wrote: post #49
atf104 wrote: post #10

I'm still waiting for the Fox News bias probe.

It is interesting, how we collectively accept news organizations of having bias and falsifying news. And yet a social media site, with no need to be balanced, this bias is seen as unacceptable. Maybe because we can easily see the blatant bias of the news organizations, but the thought of being subtly manipulated irks us.

This is exactly the point. Fox carefully manipulates, coverage, actual delivery by journalists and counter points to advance their agenda, as I'll admit MSNBC does as well. Crying wolf on Facebook is ridiculous in the grand scheme of things imho.

Re: Facebook admits rogue employees may have shown bias against conservatives

#183

Post by dragonwriter »

redthrowaway wrote: post #90
hackuser wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> pervasive liberal bias in the MSM The biggest cable news channel, the most popular newspaper (I think WSJ leads; EDIT: and certainly it dominates the business world), and almost all talk radio are highly conservative. They try to paint themselves as underdogs, but it's a little silly.

Yes, the big ones are conservative, because every other one is liberal. Conservatives flock to places like Fox and WSJ because they're a refuge from the liberal bias that pervades the rest of the media. If you're a liberal and you want to watch news that doesn't offend you, you can choose from any of the major networks save Fox. If you're a conservative and want the same, you're stuck with Fox.

The big corporate old media (including the so-called MSM) has a conservative bias overall, individual outlets ranging from the rightward half of the space covered by the Republican Party through the rightward half of the space covered by the Democratic Party.

The far right considers everything but the most right-wing fringe of that to be the "liberal" mainstream media

Re: Facebook admits rogue employees may have shown bias against conservatives

#184

Post by nametakenobv »

gnaritas wrote: post #178
nametakenobv wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Comcast could carry only conservative channels without issue. This is nonsense. When there is concentration in information distribution, the distributor must allow anyone and everyone equal access to the channel.

According to what, your gut? If you're going to keep insisting that companies "must" do this or that, you need to cite the law that requires them to do so.

According to anti-trust law.

Re: Facebook admits rogue employees may have shown bias against conservatives

#185

Post by sgeisenh »

talmand wrote: post #96
sgeisenh wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the perspective of an American, the American MSM has a liberal bias. From the perspective of a citizen from most other first-world countries, the American MSM has a hardcore conservative bias.

That's because it's comparing apples to oranges. Liberal/Conservative in America is not necessarily the same as Liberal/Conservative elsewhere.

That's literally the point I was trying to make. I don't think it's valuable to place media outlets on an isolated spectrum. Global information sharing is a reality. I gather my news from sources situated in various countries. And I judge their bias according to a somewhat global spectrum. The American spectrum is so perverted (mostly due to religious beliefs) that I often find it hard to place international sources within it.

Re: Facebook admits rogue employees may have shown bias against conservatives

#186

Post by DanielBMarkham »

ChrisArgyle wrote: post #174
chimeracoder wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Admitting the possibility of bias is very different than admitting bias in every single trending content decision. They don't have to admit bias in every content decision. They have to admit systematic bias in content decisions in the aggregate, which does not necessarily imply bias in every content decision. While it is technically, theoretically possible that their system is open to the introduction of these bias…

> While it is technically, theoretically possible that their system is open to the introduction of these biases but does not actually exhibit those biases in the aggregate, it is astoundingly unlikely. We're in agreement there. A company that is progressive-liberal by nature is going to show some of that bias the company's actions. Even with a conscious effort to avoid bias they'll fall prey to biases they aren't awa…

Reading this thread, I'm tempted to think the real headline should be "Facebook screwed over conservative media outlets, but didn't mean to"

This seems to be a game of how much complexity and nuance one can add to a simple story. By introducing "bad actors" and "systemic risk", I'm not sure we're helping anybody understand anything better and instead most sixth-grade readers are probably just going to tune out.

Re: Facebook admits rogue employees may have shown bias against conservatives

#188

Post by talmand »

vkou wrote: post #164
talmand wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, courts have established that the first amendment does not necessarily allow anyone to lie and distort things as much as they wish. There are limitations. It's just that some people are better than others at skirting along that line.

Only in a very few select contexts. 1. When you have a fiduciary duty. 2. When you are on a witness stand. 3. When you are speaking to a federal agent. 4. When you are committing fraud. (See #1) 5. ??? None of these are relevant to mass media.

There is libel and slander, which are relevant to mass media.

Re: Facebook admits rogue employees may have shown bias against conservatives

#189

Post by talmand »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #132
talmand wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can generalize all people in a wide-area political spectrum as all are "ends justify the means", then I would suggest you meet more people in that spectrum before denouncing them as a group.

I know dozens, and do not denounce them. It's a valid philosophy.

Well then, if you know dozens then I stand corrected.

Re: Facebook admits rogue employees may have shown bias against conservatives

#190

Post by talmand »

sgeisenh wrote: post #185
talmand wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because it's comparing apples to oranges. Liberal/Conservative in America is not necessarily the same as Liberal/Conservative elsewhere.

That's literally the point I was trying to make. I don't think it's valuable to place media outlets on an isolated spectrum. Global information sharing is a reality. I gather my news from sources situated in various countries. And I judge their bias according to a somewhat global spectrum. The American spectrum is so perverted (mostly due to religious beliefs) that I often find it hard to place international sources…

>> American spectrum is so perverted

As compared to what?

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