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As Google Fights Fake News, Voices on the Margins Raise Alarm

nytimes.com

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Re: As Google Fights Fake News, Voices on the Margins Raise Alarm

#11

Post by uoaei »

jankotek wrote: post #10
trendia wrote: post #2

By no means do I agree with much of what is on the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS). However, from a purely algorithmic standpoint, their website has content that should rank very highly: 1) Much of their content is original (i.e. not copy-pasted from other sites) 2) A majority of the page is composed of text, rather than images or ads 3) Where there are ads, they are minimal and largely hidden from view. 4) Their web…

> from a purely algorithmic standpoint You could use the same argument on any extremist site. Algorithm can parse content. It probably has list of bullshit related keywords. Just the title: > Marxist analysis, international working class struggles & the fight for socialism

How are these 'bullshit'?

Re: As Google Fights Fake News, Voices on the Margins Raise Alarm

#12

Post by perlpimp »

Imo these filter blocks are problematic. Maybe google can flag the content with a visual cue instead of participating in censorship. I remember in high school we had a class 'critical thinking', wonder if it is still is taught and whether it is so in other places of education. People should filter content or at least be helped to instead of hering people away from 'harmful' topic. Behind fake news idea there is an elephant in the room - feeble minds, perhaps this is the real problem.

this goes without saying google should promote higher quality content regardless and spammy content should be rated as such.

Re: As Google Fights Fake News, Voices on the Margins Raise Alarm

#14

Post by ThomPete »

Fake news isnt done to convince you about a poltical opinion its mostly done to get you to click the link or share it and through that make money on advertising. Judging it on some truth parameter is absurd instead it should be judged on its advertising strategy IMO.

Re: As Google Fights Fake News, Voices on the Margins Raise Alarm

#15

Post by bad_user »

ThomPete wrote: post #14

Fake news isnt done to convince you about a poltical opinion its mostly done to get you to click the link or share it and through that make money on advertising. Judging it on some truth parameter is absurd instead it should be judged on its advertising strategy IMO.

Also, people should appreciate that fighting fake news hurts Google's bottom line in the short run.

I guess in the long run they are better off with legitimate traffic, since scamy websites and shitty ads are the reason for why many people now install ad blockers. But it's actually rare to see a company thinking ahead of the next quarter.

Re: As Google Fights Fake News, Voices on the Margins Raise Alarm

#16

Post by wallace_f »

Jerry2 wrote: post #8

I think we're close to 1984 world and thought control... but coming from tech giants like Facebook and Google.

Ever once in a while I link someone or mentioned what is in articles such as these, below, and I rarely find people believe it until they read it in name-brand media. Maybe I am wrong but from 9/11 to the Snowden leaks to now it feels like we are on some accelerated path towards 1984 where conspiracy theories are becoming reality.

For example: the US gov actively influences movies and TV scripts for propaganda purposes: https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/exclusive-documents-...

Another: US Gov created an incredibly false narrative about Iraq to set the stage for the War on Terror. https://theintercept.com/2016/12/15/if-donald-trump-is-so-up...

DoD spent millions researching how to manipulate Twitter users: https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/08/darpa-social-n...

We need more decentralized power in media, not less.

Re: As Google Fights Fake News, Voices on the Margins Raise Alarm

#17

Post by magicalist »

trendia wrote: post #2

By no means do I agree with much of what is on the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS). However, from a purely algorithmic standpoint, their website has content that should rank very highly: 1) Much of their content is original (i.e. not copy-pasted from other sites) 2) A majority of the page is composed of text, rather than images or ads 3) Where there are ads, they are minimal and largely hidden from view. 4) Their web…

> However, from a purely algorithmic standpoint, their website has content that should rank very highly

But why? None of those things are reasons to link to it for any particular terms, just reasons not to not link to it.

Re: As Google Fights Fake News, Voices on the Margins Raise Alarm

#18

Post by bad_user »

Jerry2 wrote: post #8

I think we're close to 1984 world and thought control... but coming from tech giants like Facebook and Google.

1984 is very unrealistic. I personally found it boring.

People should study what happened in the Easter European countries from the Warsaw Pact, like Romania.

The interesting thing about our former communists and their security apparatus was that they did not need high tech gadgets, video cameras or online social networks to keep tabs on everybody, you simply need an army an informers. And in a society where people want to be more equal than others, you'll find plenty of people that want to be informers, on every street, in any apartment building, in any group, people that will betray their friends and colleagues for free.

Plenty of unrealistic things in the 1984 novel actually. "Newspeak" for example doesn't need to happen because of a government mandate to ban words. Oh no, there's no need for that. Language simply gets stupid over time, as the public discourse simply becomes "wooden language", from the French "langue de bois", as a natural consequence of having uneducated people in charge yielding unlimited power and controlling the media.

The threat is actually not Facebook or Google, but rather the people, which are guilty of normalizing behavior that should not be normalized ;-)

Re: As Google Fights Fake News, Voices on the Margins Raise Alarm

#19

Post by vkou »

Animats wrote: post #3

Google isn't doing very well on "socialist". One of the "Top Stories" is WorldNet Daily: "Chilling! Left on brink of socialist victory in U.S. 'We have to have the courage to say something is wrong. This is insanity' Published: 6 days ago" That's not even fake news. That's like news from an alternate universe in which Bernie Sanders won.

Sanders? Surely, with a headline like that, you must mean Karl Marx, with his recently exhumed running mate, Joseph Stalin.

Re: As Google Fights Fake News, Voices on the Margins Raise Alarm

#20

Post by vkou »

wallace_f wrote: post #16
Jerry2 wrote: post #8

I think we're close to 1984 world and thought control... but coming from tech giants like Facebook and Google.

Ever once in a while I link someone or mentioned what is in articles such as these, below, and I rarely find people believe it until they read it in name-brand media. Maybe I am wrong but from 9/11 to the Snowden leaks to now it feels like we are on some accelerated path towards 1984 where conspiracy theories are becoming reality. For example: the US gov actively influences movies and TV scripts for propaganda purpos…

None of these adventures are anything new. The US government had been responsible for blatant propaganda in film and print, lied about causes of wars, and spied on, sabotaged, suppressed, and manipulated domestic political movements for decades. This has been happening since the Red Scare gave the ruling classes something to lose sleep over.
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