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Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

nytimes.com

61–70 of 436 posts

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#61
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the "breaches" and "abuses" aren't breaches or abuses, it's Facebook's business model working as intended.

Exactly, and sites like Reddit make money on the same sort of thing. It wasn't controversial when Facebook and Google became arms of the Obama and then Clinton campaigns, but now more people are turning on Facebook after learning that their info was sold to the Trump campaign and companies and so on through companies like CA.

Who remembers how the Obama campaign's social media analytics and strategy were breathlessly praised?

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#62
I guess this had already been brewing for a while:

"After his day-to-day responsibilities were reassigned to others in December, Mr. Stamos said he would leave... He was persuaded to stay through August to oversee the transition... executives thought his departure would look bad".

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#63
post #11

Stamos had been actively engaging with security researchers on Twitter over the past few days about CA with heated discussions: > I have deleted my Tweets on Cambridge Analytica, not because they were factually incorrect but because I should have done a better job weighing in. https://twitter.com/alexstamos/status/975069709140877312 Archive of those deleted tweets: https://twitter.com/aprilaser/status/975078309930311…

Wondering what he thought would be him doing "a better job weighing in"? It seems like his deleted tweets were apparently too honest? i.e. in arguing that there was no data breach, he argued that FB's API and TOS allowed (without oversight) for all app developers to do the kind of data harvesting Cambridge Analytics did? That was well-known by developers, but I guess it's different stating it as an official policy.

Its corporate speak for "The PR department and/or my boss gave me marching orders to delete them."

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#64

CEO of Cambridge Analytica caught on camera saying they have used bribes and sex workers to entrap politicians. https://www.channel4.com/news/cambridge-analytica-revealed-t...

No different than Spez @ Reddit saying he knows the Facebook accounts of anonymous users accessing adult content and can cross-reference that with their reddit accounts when they are logged in and sell that information to third parties. Reddit probably makes more money that way than any other, but that's just my guess because they clients are loaded and include sovereign states. Tons of sites are no better, probably worse. A huge chunk of the internet is about trusting to few untrustable flawed human beings (that's everybody) with way to much information, and therefore power.

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#65
post #16

Didn't he also leave yahoo for practically the same reason?

Kind of, and it's why I liked him initially. But with every Facebook screwup and his defense of that screwup with bogus excuses (possibly directly from Zuckerberg, but irrelevant), I gradually started losing my respect for him, just like I've lost my respect for Carmack. Carmack could have been working for SpaceX and living his biggest dream (working on space stuff), but instead he's wasting his time and potential in a democracy-destroying company like Facebook.

History will not be kind to those that continue to help or defend Facebook to keep its influence in the world and power.

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#66

I’m sorry but show me even 10 voters nationwide who were going to vote for Hillary, and then saw a Russian-created fake news post on Facebook and changed their vote to Trump. This Security Chief was clearly upset that his candidate lost, but blaming Facebook or the Russians is ludicrous. It seems that they attempted to influence the election, but there is zero evidence that they were successful in changing the outcom…

I don't think the argument was that Clinton voters switched to Trump. More that Clinton voters were persuaded to stay home. Which is a perfectly valid campaign strategy -- e.g. why campaign funds are so vital to a successful campaign. But political advertising is required to have disclosures. That foreign actors were allowed to push propaganda with the aim of influencing the election with the unknowing assistance of Facebook can still be considered a problem, no matter which candidate it was for.

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#67

CEO of Cambridge Analytica caught on camera saying they have used bribes and sex workers to entrap politicians. https://www.channel4.com/news/cambridge-analytica-revealed-t...

No different than Spez @ Reddit saying he knows the Facebook accounts of anonymous users accessing adult content and can cross-reference that with their reddit accounts when they are logged in and sell that information to third parties. Reddit probably makes more money that way than any other, but that's just my guess because they clients are loaded and include sovereign states. Tons of sites are no better, probably…

Very different. CA offered an unethical and possibly illegal service for sale.

Show me where Spez did that and I'll agree with you.

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#68
post #17

There's breaking reporting that Facebook just had personnel in the Cambridge Analytica offices before the UK authorities could get there with warrants. https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/975844154361221121 > BREAKING: Facebook WAS inside Cambridge Analytica's office but have now "stood down" following dramatic intervention by UK Information Commissioner's Office.. https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/9758…

"stood down" sounds very waltish behavior to be.

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#69

I’m sorry but show me even 10 voters nationwide who were going to vote for Hillary, and then saw a Russian-created fake news post on Facebook and changed their vote to Trump. This Security Chief was clearly upset that his candidate lost, but blaming Facebook or the Russians is ludicrous. It seems that they attempted to influence the election, but there is zero evidence that they were successful in changing the outcom…

This is the elephant in the room. U.S. based interests spent billions to influence public opinion here and abroad. But less than $1 million spent by a Russia media organization (to maybe attract viewers?) and some trolls tossed the election? I’m more than skeptical. This is a distraction campaign if here ever was one.

Isn't the low amount of money a key part of the allegation? That foreign actors were able to have such (alleged) influence so cheaply and without disclosure is a problem. If it had cost them billions to have that kind of influence, then it would have been an unfeasible or at least inefficient strategy.

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#70

I’m sorry but show me even 10 voters nationwide who were going to vote for Hillary, and then saw a Russian-created fake news post on Facebook and changed their vote to Trump. This Security Chief was clearly upset that his candidate lost, but blaming Facebook or the Russians is ludicrous. It seems that they attempted to influence the election, but there is zero evidence that they were successful in changing the outcom…

Not sure where you got most of that from the article, but I think we’re going to find that the data does support the theory that voters were intensely profiled and targeted with stories to make one candidate seem “unpalatable” or another one more attractive.

We’re fortunately deep enough in this story that we may get a concrete answer as to what the extent of the efficacy of this operation was.

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