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Facebook doesn't plan to take strong action against anti-vaccination posts

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Re: Facebook doesn't plan to take strong action against anti-vaccination posts

#31
post #20
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The front page of the NYT today is about AstraZeneca halting their trials because of a patient’s adverse reaction to the vaccine. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/09/world/covid-19-coronaviru...

This article is practically misinformation in itself, and the body of the text confirms it: “The event is being investigated by an independent committee, and it is too early to conclude the specific diagnosis.” Here is an article from another newspaper, about the same thing: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/09/oxford-univers... The headline is: "Oxford University Covid vaccine trial put on hold due to possi…

Which word do you have an issue with in the NYT headline, 'reaction'? As in, the 'adversity' faced by this patient may not in fact be a 'reaction' to the vaccine?

Re: Facebook doesn't plan to take strong action against anti-vaccination posts

#32
post #12

This is the problem with "fact checking". It positions the platform as an authority. Now, any claim that isn't "debunked" by this "fact checking" gains a certain amount of credibility by comparison. The moral hazards are enormous, multiplied by the opaque behavior of Facebook's algorithm and again multiplied by its unprecedented reach in society.

But the point is that one does this when traditional authorities have already broken down. When large numbers of people refuse to believe legitimate science, it's too late to be worrying about "moral hazards", the damage is already done. This is just an attempt to stem the bleeding by having entities like social media platforms step in and try to assume the role of the authorities that have been rejected.

And yes, I get that your response is going to be something of the form "But how do you KNOW Facebook is actually right?". And again I point out that this is a practical problem and that the subject we are talking about is vaccines (about which you agree, right?), not an abstract idea of Facebook-blessed truth.

Re: Facebook doesn't plan to take strong action against anti-vaccination posts

#33
post #5

Controversy breeds clicks and pageviews which drive advertising income. As long as that cycle does not get broken you can expect a lot more misery from that particular corner.

"Controversy breeds clicks and pageviews which drive advertising income." I really wish Americans would wake up to this, and realize that Facebook, and news media in general, are breeding grounds for our division.

We are a culture who loves "reality" tv shows and all the made up drama that goes with it. Facebook just feeds right into that.

Re: Facebook doesn't plan to take strong action against anti-vaccination posts

#34
post #5

Controversy breeds clicks and pageviews which drive advertising income. As long as that cycle does not get broken you can expect a lot more misery from that particular corner.

"Controversy breeds clicks and pageviews which drive advertising income." I really wish Americans would wake up to this, and realize that Facebook, and news media in general, are breeding grounds for our division.

Americans are probably the most woke to this, and very self-critical. In a lot of places nobody notices this stuff or feels embarrassed about it like Americans do.

The problem to me seems that people like what is being said, so they don't much care whether it's true or not.

Re: Facebook doesn't plan to take strong action against anti-vaccination posts

#35

You would hope that the custodian of the world's most popular communication platform would have a greater sense of obligation to the social responsibility that comes with it. Unfortunately we don't live in that world, and Zuckerberg continues choose dollars over lasting damage to the standards of discourse. He is the Murdoch of the 21st century, tearing at the social fabric in pursuit of profits and facilitating the…

Is he the sole person responsible for policy on Facebook or is it by commission / shareholders? I often feel like Zucc is getting scapegoated and bears the responsibility for all of Facebook, but I'm not in the loop whether he still holds the majority of shares and policy of FB, etc.

Zuck controls 60% of the voting rights.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/20/shareholders-wont-force-zuck...

Re: Facebook doesn't plan to take strong action against anti-vaccination posts

#36
post #12

This is the problem with "fact checking". It positions the platform as an authority. Now, any claim that isn't "debunked" by this "fact checking" gains a certain amount of credibility by comparison. The moral hazards are enormous, multiplied by the opaque behavior of Facebook's algorithm and again multiplied by its unprecedented reach in society.

Facebook's fact checking is uniquely bad in that they hire 3rd party fact verifying companies which are also publishers. So if you post something, they can flag it with a "clarification" which links to their own content and drives traffic/revenue to themselves.

Re: Facebook doesn't plan to take strong action against anti-vaccination posts

#37
post #12

This is the problem with "fact checking". It positions the platform as an authority. Now, any claim that isn't "debunked" by this "fact checking" gains a certain amount of credibility by comparison. The moral hazards are enormous, multiplied by the opaque behavior of Facebook's algorithm and again multiplied by its unprecedented reach in society.

But the point is that one does this when traditional authorities have already broken down. When large numbers of people refuse to believe legitimate science, it's too late to be worrying about "moral hazards", the damage is already done. This is just an attempt to stem the bleeding by having entities like social media platforms step in and try to assume the role of the authorities that have been rejected. And yes, I…

This is not about tradition breaking down, this is about many and many more people gaining a hearable voice.

Re: Facebook doesn't plan to take strong action against anti-vaccination posts

#38
post #14

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” Marcus Aurelius We need to stop trying to enforce "the truth" to other people. Just let people talk and have different opinions. That includes letting people having conservative values, because lately this thought police is getting out of control.

As The Daily Show once put it, "you are entitled to your opinion; you are not entitled to your own set of facts".

Re: Facebook doesn't plan to take strong action against anti-vaccination posts

#39

"If someone is pointing out a case where a vaccine caused harm or that they're worried about it — you know, that's a difficult thing to say from my perspective that you shouldn't be allowed to express at all." Where I'm from, we call that misinformation.

then you are misinformed.

vaccines cause harm all the time. its why the us has a mechanism to settle damages from vaccines.

that doesn't mean vaccines arent one of the cheapest, effective, and most life-saving instruments in human history, but it also doesnt mean you get to ignore the part of reality where vaccines can and do have a negative impact.

Re: Facebook doesn't plan to take strong action against anti-vaccination posts

#40

You would hope that the custodian of the world's most popular communication platform would have a greater sense of obligation to the social responsibility that comes with it. Unfortunately we don't live in that world, and Zuckerberg continues choose dollars over lasting damage to the standards of discourse. He is the Murdoch of the 21st century, tearing at the social fabric in pursuit of profits and facilitating the…

>would have a greater sense of obligation to the social responsibility that comes with it Maybe that's why he is largely hands-off when it comes to policing or shaping content? Not everyone agrees that the best way to manage an important communications platform is to shape the speech allowed on it.

Allowing anti-vaccination sentiment to proliferate on the platform is fairly unambiguously harmful to society, especially during a pandemic that may rely on a vaccine to escape. It appears to be choosing engagement, which drives clicks, page views and ad impressions over being a force for good and then dressing it up as free speech, when moderators selectively remove millions of other posts per day.

Social networks have proven themselves so powerful, it seems unlikely their ability to wreak havoc on society will remain unlegislated forever. One day social networks will be legally responsible for the content published, and we'll see an end to the laissez-faire attitude of allowing disinfo to spread unhindered.

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