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Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

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Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#121

Post by 234dd57d2c8db »

Spellman wrote: post #87
AlexC04 wrote: post #76

I think it would be relatively easy to have an "auto-snopes" feature which detects a URL being shared and immediately attaches a post that says "this has been debunked by X" For example - I've seen dozens of links to Michael Moore's trumpland speech which strategically ends with the phrase "America will elect Trump and it will feel great" Sample: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-25/michael-moore-trump... He conc…

I have personally asked an individual why they don't trust snopes. Their claim is that it's a Democrat rag towel and shill. I then ask, then what fact-checker would you trust? Their response: None of them. Congratulations. We've reached a point, for this individual, where "facts" as decided in the common forum are suspect and the only thing they trust is themselves (and whatever non-Mainstream Media they listen to).…

Have you done any research at all on snopes? I just spent 5 minutes on google and found that one of snope's main "fact-checkers" is Kim Lacapria. She used to write for a blog called "The Inquisitor", a site known for posting bad news stories, similar to the right-wing Alex Jones programme. They have published fake quotes and stories without doing research: http://www.inquisitr.com/670091/retraction-and-apology-to-ro... http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/story-about-costco-pulling-d...

As for Kim, she describes herself as "...an openly left-leaning individual myself", if you ctrl+f for those words here: http://www.inquisitr.com/402558/scandal-envy-behind-petraeus...

As you can see, journalistic integrity is lacking from both sides of the political spectrum. Please do not get all high-and-mighty and think you're better than everyone else, because you would be falling into the same trap you mock others for. I hope in the future you will examine sources with a more objective view and keep an open mind, and not just believe whatever someone wants you to believe so they can make a quick buck off of your ignorance.

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#123

Post by strictnein »

btilly wrote: post #11

This article criticizes Facebook for firing the human editors that had been keeping things sane. However they were pushed to that by accusations of bias in the right-wing media. Accusations that looked likely to lead to a Congressional investigation. See, for example, http://thehill.com/policy/technology/279361-top-republican-d... . Now they are in a situation where they are damned if they do, damned if they don't. A…

It's amazing how much Trust Me, I'm Lying explains 90% of what you see shared on social networks these days. A great book, and still really relevant.

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#124

Post by ethbro »

ThrustVectoring wrote: post #66
ethbro wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook completely controls the presentation priority, no? Bolt a Watson-like truth scoring system on to evaluate content and use the resulting confidence to boost or bury content in other's feeds. It would absolutely have to be automatically generated, but it doesn't seem impossible (just much harder NLP that Watson playing Jeopardy).

If the scoring system does anything other than maximize engagement with Facebook, Facebook ends up making less money and performing worse on KPIs than they otherwise would. It'd be very difficult for any decision maker at Facebook to build, deploy, and maintain that feature. It'd be the sort of thing that'd only be there if otherwise the company would be under existential threat.

> under existential threat

You mean government regulation a la China because some memes really are dangerous? If you increase the velocity of transmission, then even in a free system there are some dangerously infectious falsehoods that it might be in the public good to slow. Think War of the World on Facebook.

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#125

Post by gph »

Bud wrote: post #108
gph wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First of all your use of biased language is ridiculous, you are as bad as the 'alt-right white-nationalish thug media' and I wish people like you had no place in rational discussions. Second if you tell them to "Fuck off" you risk losing a significant chunk of your user base who believes their content and information is being manipulated against them. Facebook isn't in the politics business, they are in the social ne…

You're right. Telling bullies "no" does risk that other bullies will leave your site. But that risk is already there. And Facebook is already seen as political; that ship has sailed.

>And Facebook is already seen as political; that ship has sailed.

I don't think that's true. Certainly the extremes on each side will say that. But I think everyone in the middle doesn't. I don't. Certainly not in the same way as I see Fox News/CNN/MSNBC as political.

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#126

Post by EdiX »

legodt wrote: post #9
6d6b73 wrote: post #2

So they admit they want to censorship FB.

"waahhh somebody told me Breitbart is racist and now I'm being CENSORED"

Facebook is located in the USA, if Facebook institutes its own ministry of truth do you think its more likely that they will antagonize the government or work with it like they have done thus far and comply with the requests of Trump Administration?

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#127

Post by quirkafleeg »

tnones wrote: post #88
Bud wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a proper response to "accusations of bias" from alt-right white-nationalist thug media. Never mind whether the accusations "looked likely to lead to a Congressional investigation". The response is to tell them to fuck off, and that the professional editors in your private company will continue to do their job however they see fit. Period, paragraph.

The only reason it looks alt-right white-nationalist to you is because anyone on the left who disagrees with prevailing left wing dogma is branded a heretic and a bigot, and shut down quickly. Take The Guardian. They employ people like Jessica Valenti and Laurie Penny who publish feminist clickbait. Then they aggressively moderate comments which explain why those two are ill-informed at best and dishonest manipulator…

I may be missing something here, but what do your two paragraphs of axe-grinding about women have to do with his remark about American "alt-right white-nationalist thug media"?

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#128

Post by DenverR »

btilly wrote: post #11

This article criticizes Facebook for firing the human editors that had been keeping things sane. However they were pushed to that by accusations of bias in the right-wing media. Accusations that looked likely to lead to a Congressional investigation. See, for example, http://thehill.com/policy/technology/279361-top-republican-d... . Now they are in a situation where they are damned if they do, damned if they don't. A…

It's seems pretty obvious to me that they replaced the human curated news section with a far (and intentionally) inferior product. They knew people would eventually begin complaining about the new system and ask for the old system back.

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#129

Post by grzm »

strictnein wrote: post #123
btilly wrote: post #11

This article criticizes Facebook for firing the human editors that had been keeping things sane. However they were pushed to that by accusations of bias in the right-wing media. Accusations that looked likely to lead to a Congressional investigation. See, for example, http://thehill.com/policy/technology/279361-top-republican-d... . Now they are in a situation where they are damned if they do, damned if they don't. A…

It's amazing how much Trust Me, I'm Lying explains 90% of what you see shared on social networks these days. A great book, and still really relevant.

Not only in social media. The trend of the news in what were once subscription-only papers is disturbing as well now that they're online and supported in part by online advertising and eyeballs. I agree. Great book, written by someone who's been there.

Re: Facebook admits it must do more to stop the spread of misinformation

#130

Post by nostrademons »

BurningFrog wrote: post #114
nostrademons wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a problem with human wetware - there are several cognitive biases [1][2][3][4] that make people engage more strongly with ideas that fit their preconceptions and discount ideas that don't. Add information-sharing to the mix and the aggregate effect you get is large information cascades that fracture the population into tribes that believe things not necessarily because they're true, but because they are state…

Fact check: Copernicus was not killed. He died of natural causes at 70. According to viral stories at the time, moments after having seen the first print of his book.

See, just like that. Would be more effective with sources, though.
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