Ad Boycott of Facebook Keeps Growing • Hacker News Board

Re: Ad Boycott of Facebook Keeps Growing

#11

Post by dmos62 » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 2:19 PM UTC

ecmascript wrote: post #5

So because Mark Zuckerberg won't censor people with different opinions he is complacent in spreading fake news and hate? Wow, that kind of rhetoric is dangerous imo. For once I actually think Facebook have made the right call. Censoring people is wrong and Facebook should refrain from doing it. Let me decide what is true and false, I don't need Facebook or other people to decide that for me. Good job Facebook, thanks…

Well that's good and well that you are independent, but the sad fact is that on average misinformation works, especially at scale. We don't really have a good grasp on the issue. It's in our culture to not regulate entertainment and media, but we're coming to terms with the fact that this can be turned against us.

Re: Ad Boycott of Facebook Keeps Growing

#12

Post by abtom » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 2:20 PM UTC

ecmascript wrote: post #5

So because Mark Zuckerberg won't censor people with different opinions he is complacent in spreading fake news and hate? Wow, that kind of rhetoric is dangerous imo. For once I actually think Facebook have made the right call. Censoring people is wrong and Facebook should refrain from doing it. Let me decide what is true and false, I don't need Facebook or other people to decide that for me. Good job Facebook, thanks…

Facebook as a bastion of free speech? That's not something you hear often. I don't even even want to dig up the old examples of Zuckerberg bending over backwards for China, here's a recent example from Vietnam - https://in.reuters.com/article/vietnam-facebook/exclusive-fa...

Re: Ad Boycott of Facebook Keeps Growing

#13

Post by ecmascript » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 2:20 PM UTC

fennecfoxen wrote: post #9

ecmascript wrote: post #5

So because Mark Zuckerberg won't censor people with different opinions he is complacent in spreading fake news and hate? Wow, that kind of rhetoric is dangerous imo. For once I actually think Facebook have made the right call. Censoring people is wrong and Facebook should refrain from doing it. Let me decide what is true and false, I don't need Facebook or other people to decide that for me. Good job Facebook, thanks…

Liberal society is ending, and you must swear allegiance to the People's Party, comrade. Otherwise, we will publicly denounce you, and will not permit you to engage in any business activity. There will be an ideological examination. Study hard!

It surely feels like it at least when every single major javascript framework has a #BLM header. Nothing that don't matter or are relevant to me since I live in northen europe.

Re: Ad Boycott of Facebook Keeps Growing

#14

Post by bzb3 » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 2:20 PM UTC

intsunny wrote: post #3

donw wrote: post #2

After the SSC debacle, NYT is likely to learn itself a thing or two about boycotts.

If we punish respected organizations (of any kind) for every gaffe, we would not have any left. In an era where the journalists are more under attack than ever, we might want to remember it is easier to tear things down than build them up.

Nobody has talked about punishing respected organisations, just the New York Times.

Re: Ad Boycott of Facebook Keeps Growing

#15

Post by AlexandrB » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 2:20 PM UTC

ecmascript wrote: post #5

So because Mark Zuckerberg won't censor people with different opinions he is complacent in spreading fake news and hate? Wow, that kind of rhetoric is dangerous imo. For once I actually think Facebook have made the right call. Censoring people is wrong and Facebook should refrain from doing it. Let me decide what is true and false, I don't need Facebook or other people to decide that for me. Good job Facebook, thanks…

> Let me decide what is true and false, I don't need Facebook or other people to decide that for me.

Let's not pretend. Facebook and other social media already do that for you by deciding what content ends up getting surfaced and promoted. If what's true never ends up in your feed, how can you decide?

Re: Ad Boycott of Facebook Keeps Growing

#16

Post by bzb3 » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 2:21 PM UTC

abtom wrote: post #12

ecmascript wrote: post #5

So because Mark Zuckerberg won't censor people with different opinions he is complacent in spreading fake news and hate? Wow, that kind of rhetoric is dangerous imo. For once I actually think Facebook have made the right call. Censoring people is wrong and Facebook should refrain from doing it. Let me decide what is true and false, I don't need Facebook or other people to decide that for me. Good job Facebook, thanks…

Facebook as a bastion of free speech? That's not something you hear often. I don't even even want to dig up the old examples of Zuckerberg bending over backwards for China, here's a recent example from Vietnam - https://in.reuters.com/article/vietnam-facebook/exclusive-fa...

They only censor when the government forces them to. In other words they do the minimum to comply with the local law. Isn't that what we were looking for?

Re: Ad Boycott of Facebook Keeps Growing

#17

Post by admn2 » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 2:21 PM UTC

avernon wrote: post #6

Maybe I'm cynical, but I would think this has more to do with the cost of ads going up so much. If you were already thinking of reducing spend on FB, why not get a little PR out of it? Also, since the cost of FB ads has been going up over the last several years, that means there is no shortage of demand for ads on FB.

Yeah, pretty much all the big DTC brands (Allbirds, Away, Warby, OV, etc.) all have retail store fronts and "showrooms" now across the US. I always just assumed if they were spending $1mm+/month on FB ads, it wasn't a very difficult decision to move $20k/month to a store in a big city and see what kind of lead gen and brand awareness that yields.

Re: Ad Boycott of Facebook Keeps Growing

#18

Post by new_realist » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 2:21 PM UTC

ecmascript wrote: post #5

So because Mark Zuckerberg won't censor people with different opinions he is complacent in spreading fake news and hate? Wow, that kind of rhetoric is dangerous imo. For once I actually think Facebook have made the right call. Censoring people is wrong and Facebook should refrain from doing it. Let me decide what is true and false, I don't need Facebook or other people to decide that for me. Good job Facebook, thanks…

Societies have always had ways to determine what is true and what is lies. Facebook bypasses all of these, by allowing someone a direct connection into your open mind, where they can then take a shit. I prefer my mind shit free.

Re: Ad Boycott of Facebook Keeps Growing

#19

Post by ecmascript » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 2:21 PM UTC

abtom wrote: post #12

ecmascript wrote: post #5

So because Mark Zuckerberg won't censor people with different opinions he is complacent in spreading fake news and hate? Wow, that kind of rhetoric is dangerous imo. For once I actually think Facebook have made the right call. Censoring people is wrong and Facebook should refrain from doing it. Let me decide what is true and false, I don't need Facebook or other people to decide that for me. Good job Facebook, thanks…

Facebook as a bastion of free speech? That's not something you hear often. I don't even even want to dig up the old examples of Zuckerberg bending over backwards for China, here's a recent example from Vietnam - https://in.reuters.com/article/vietnam-facebook/exclusive-fa...

Exactly, I wrote "for once". I don't have a facebook account but I may even create one in the future if they continue down this path.

Re: Ad Boycott of Facebook Keeps Growing

#20

Post by cowpig » Wed, Jun 24, 2020, 2:21 PM UTC

ecmascript wrote: post #5

So because Mark Zuckerberg won't censor people with different opinions he is complacent in spreading fake news and hate? Wow, that kind of rhetoric is dangerous imo. For once I actually think Facebook have made the right call. Censoring people is wrong and Facebook should refrain from doing it. Let me decide what is true and false, I don't need Facebook or other people to decide that for me. Good job Facebook, thanks…

Like everything else in life, blanket rules don't hold up to the messy reality of the real world.

"Free speech" doesn't mean you should enable people to say literally anything.

At the extreme: direct credible physical threats on peoples' safety. These are explicitly illegal.

A bit less extreme: statements in indirect support of physical threats on groups of people, e.g. neonazis. The USA chooses not to govern these legally, but instead the responsibility becomes that of the people.

For example, many would argue (rightly) that it's Facebook's responsibility as a de facto news platform not to distribute/publish that kind of speech.