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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

#201

Post by nametakenobv »

gnaritas wrote: post #200
nametakenobv wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to anti-trust law.

Anti-trust laws are about preventing monopolies, which Facebook is not, and have nothing to do with mandating any kind of fair service for non monopolies. No case can be successfully made calling Facebook a monopoly on social networks, you don't have to use them there are many other options.

Anti trust law does not deal only with monopolies. It is about companies with dominant positions.

Is facebook a company with dominant position?

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

#202

Post by redthrowaway »

drewrv wrote: post #197
redthrowaway wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parroting lines from the Daily Show/Colbert Report only makes you seem credible to other young lefties. You're not going to win any converts from the other side; we'll tend to roll our eyes and dismiss the speaker.

The line stuck so well because it was so poignant when Colbert said it. This was a time when Karl Rove was criticizing people in the "reality based community" who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." Since then the republican party has gone even further off the deep end.

>Since then the republican party has gone even further off the deep end.

Which you say, sincerely, because you're a liberal and the GOP is the other "team" or "tribe". There are plenty of us who don't think of ourselves as Democrats who see plenty of insanity on the left--look at the resurgence of socialism or the social justice crowd on campus and in the media.

Both parties have completely lost touch with voters, which is why we saw populist insurgencies in both. If there were more candidates in the Democratic primaries, we could just as easily have seen a Sanders nomination as we did a Trump one.

Claiming that political insanity is endemic to only one side ignores the batshit lunacy emanating from both camps.

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

#203

Post by hackuser »

soundwave106 wrote: post #159
redthrowaway wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Personally, I will say that the notion of news "offending" due to editorial stance strikes me as an awful attitude to have. I am only "offended" by poorly thought out, sensationalist, over-emotional reporting that is devoid of facts and plays on fears (this type of "reporting" occurs on both sides, unfortunately). I may disagree with a well thought out opinion, but a well thought out opinion being actually offensive?…

Thanks; those are excellent points IMHO. One important nit:

> poorly thought out, sensationalist, over-emotional reporting that is devoid of facts and plays on fears (this type of "reporting" occurs on both sides, unfortunately)

I think it's important to point out that this is a false equivalency. The conservative outlets that do reporting like this, such as Fox, Rush Limbaugh, the WSJ (it's editorial page, at least) etc. have far more audience than the liberal equivalents (the Huffington Post might be one, but I think even they are better than the three I mentioned).

If we try to be extra fair and say it's equivalent, we hide from what I think is the U.S.'s and world's biggest problem.

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

#204

Post by hackuser »

sremani wrote: post #162
hackuser wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought Bezos overstepped the bounds of a newspaper owner, though Trump did attack his publication. But what does that prove or disprove about the comments above? The Washington Post wasn't mentioned.

That's exactly the point, WaPo is actually leading the lynch mob against Trump, NYT's efforts look pale. There was time during Bush presidency when WaPo could have been centrist-ish. Even before Bezos stepped in to it took a left turn and after Bezos (a guy known for his Union busting tactics - well anti-union formation tactics), it became even more Leftist (the Corporate version). You did not mention WaPo and NYT in…

> You did not mention WaPo and NYT in liberal publications and if you do not consider them liberal, then your politics are pretty hard core Leftist

Hard core leftists almost universally think the NYT is conservative, bought and paid for by corporations and the establishment. Hillary Clinton supporters think the Times is out to get her (they broke the email server story, for example). Of course, conservative ideologues love to demonize the Times.

If you're looking for an apolitical news source, it's a good indicator when ideologues on all sides think the publication is biased against them. So I disagree about the NYT, regardless of the oft-repeated common wisdom about them.

Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of the Post; it was shrill and sensationalist for awhile after Bezos took over, but now has calmed down. Certainly their editorial page has been anti-Trump recently, but many on the right share that perspective.

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

#205

Post by protomyth »

JupiterMoon wrote: post #157
protomyth wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but the Reuters' headline writer has a hate on for Israel. "Palestinian Dies in Ramming Attack" was one such title.

Way to start a flame war.

No, I just believe calling Reuters unbiased is not true. They do have a lot of anti-Israel headlines to the point its become a joke.

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

#206

Post by dragonwriter »

sremani wrote: post #162
hackuser wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought Bezos overstepped the bounds of a newspaper owner, though Trump did attack his publication. But what does that prove or disprove about the comments above? The Washington Post wasn't mentioned.

That's exactly the point, WaPo is actually leading the lynch mob against Trump, NYT's efforts look pale. There was time during Bush presidency when WaPo could have been centrist-ish. Even before Bezos stepped in to it took a left turn and after Bezos (a guy known for his Union busting tactics - well anti-union formation tactics), it became even more Leftist (the Corporate version). You did not mention WaPo and NYT in…

Being corporatist and union-busting isn't exactly a sign of being a leftist.

And, while many leftists are anti-Trump, some of his most strident opponents have been movement conservatives.

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

#207

Post by siegecraft »

Maybe one could let organizations register with social media platforms as a political speech organization. This would opt them out of algorithmic timelines and ensure that their followers always see their broadcasts. There would have to be some sort of downside, though, otherwise everyone would sign up as a political entity. Maybe if you're political you never show up in suggestions/organic recommendedations? The decision to self-identify as political speech would have to be in the hands of the indivudual orgs, otherwise you'd have the same filtering problem where people would just make speech they don't like as non-political.

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

#208

Post by drewrv »

redthrowaway wrote: post #202
drewrv wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The line stuck so well because it was so poignant when Colbert said it. This was a time when Karl Rove was criticizing people in the "reality based community" who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." Since then the republican party has gone even further off the deep end.

>Since then the republican party has gone even further off the deep end. Which you say, sincerely, because you're a liberal and the GOP is the other "team" or "tribe". There are plenty of us who don't think of ourselves as Democrats who see plenty of insanity on the left--look at the resurgence of socialism or the social justice crowd on campus and in the media. Both parties have completely lost touch with voters, wh…

There are plenty of republicans who believe their party is going off the deep end, Mitt Romney for example.

And I think there's a lot of insanity on the left too.

Thinking a liberal satirist made a good point does not make one a mindless tribal zombie.

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

#209

Post by ryanl0l »

unlinker wrote: post #42
duaneb wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, but not their own recognition of the bias (which is the useful part).

Do you think they'd recognise their own bias? That would be like saying "we can't do journalism properly", because proper journalism is unbiased.

Without bias how do you pick your stories? Without bias how do you pick your sources? Bias towards official sources is ubiquitous.

Bias is an integral part of journalism, it's up to the reader to understand this fact and collect information from multiple sources (if they're so inclined).

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