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Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

reuters.com

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Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#41

Post by op03 »

MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #11
hirundo wrote: post #9

I don't trust Facebook or Twitter to distinguish disinformation from information. Why would anyone?

They can’t and they shouldn’t. The potential good that could come from this does not outweigh the catastrophic failure modes of this approach. Some enlightened people understood this, hundreds of years ago. Its time for another amendment. EDIT since this is related, another horrendous idea that recently disgraced my timeline https://twitter.com/yelp/status/1314197509623947265?s=21

Temporarily it's fine I think.

Cause no one else has the skills or resources. And things are happening too fast and at huge scales to depend on local law enforcement/courts to handle it. You can see them freaking out everyday.

There was a time I thought the US and EU wld get things under control specifically after Brexit and Trump but its quite obvious govts don't have what it takes right now.

Will be interesting to see what the counter reaction is from bad actors. I highly doubt they are going into retirement now.

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#42

Post by cryptica »

posixplz wrote: post #28
OneGuy123 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who says it's actually misinformation? The media? The localy bribed politician owning the media?

Facebook and Twitter don’t make the determinations alone. They contract internationally recognized fact checking organizations. Is it perfect? No. Do we need to curtail online disinformation at a platform-level? Yes, clearly we can’t rely on the critical thinking skills of the reader to make a rational determination — if we could, we wouldn’t have this problem in the first place. This and several posts on this thread…

>> They contract internationally recognized fact checking organizations. Is it perfect? No

The fact-checking organizations have themselves been independently vouched for by several highly trusted organizations. They are as close to perfect as we can possibly get.

Unfortunately there are too many bad actors in this country who are hell-bent on destroying our democracy. Huge segments of the population are actively engaged in the misinformation campaign so that's why radical steps need to be taken.

We cannot let people with ill intent ruin the country by misleading the public and stirring up controversies and conspiracy theories.

Clearly, everything is fine. The economic recovery has been very quick; everyone made a lot of profit recently and it's all going great now (stocks prices have been soaring in fact) - But you wouldn't know it from reading all these fake news on Facebook. These social manipulators need to be stopped.

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#44

Post by zimpenfish »

Karunamon wrote: post #27
tyre wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you propose to combat disinformation campaigns? Look at what’s happening. The end results of allowing anything to happen on social media are not good. We’re not in a good place. So we can ignore that for rigid principles, or admit that those principles don’t stand up to the real world. No, no one hundreds of years ago had any idea about the scale or effect of social networks. Yes there was propaganda and brai…

Having principles hurts sometimes. Sometimes they require you to do things that are painful with the understanding that the alternative is even worse. I'd gladly take a world with disinformation over a world in which an unaccountable third party determines what is truth, and therefore okay to say. I can work around the first problem with some effort much easier than the second one.

> a world in which an unaccountable third party determines what is truth, and therefore okay to say

We already have that - and have had for centuries - the people who control the press control what gets presented as "truth". Look at Fox or any other Murdoch property for a perfect example.

(cf "History is written by the winners" for another angle.)

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#45

Post by zimpenfish »

known wrote: post #24

"Prosecute politicians who failed to fulfill their poll promises" --Khehar, Ex Chief Justice of India https://archive.vn/x7O4e

I keep seeing this and no-one has ever managed to give an answer to "Sure but how?" Just look at US politics right now - any Democrat who had won in 2016 would have failed to fulfil probably most of their promises but that would be down to McConnell clogging up the Senate (which was basically his poll promise.) Does the Democrat get punished for someone else blocking them? And that's just a simple trivial example...

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#46

Post by MaxBarraclough »

unethical_ban wrote: post #38
hirundo wrote: post #9

I don't trust Facebook or Twitter to distinguish disinformation from information. Why would anyone?

What is the alternative? Think you're the smartest person on the planet, unaffected by misinformation? "Feed me the libraries worth of bullshit from the Internet, and I will sort through this free market firehose to come to a logical, evidence based conclusion", hm? Have you ever read spam ads on Craigslist, fake comments on news sites, bots on Tinder, etc? There are patterns, there are foul motives, and with their i…

> What is the alternative?

Improve your informational diet first by consciously discounting whatever you read on Facebook, and second by spending less time on Facebook.

> Think you're the smartest person on the planet, unaffected by misinformation?

There's no need for snark.

The issue being discussed is particular to these sorts of platforms. Reputable news sources still exist.

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#48

Post by entropie »

gredelston wrote: post #37
kache_ wrote: post #19

My dream is to work for the engineering divisions for these companies regarding automation around controlling the flow of information. It seems like such a fascinating problem

Good luck. I'm not convinced that's automatable.

Everything around software will eventually automatable.

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#49

Post by ahpearce »

Karunamon wrote: post #27
tyre wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you propose to combat disinformation campaigns? Look at what’s happening. The end results of allowing anything to happen on social media are not good. We’re not in a good place. So we can ignore that for rigid principles, or admit that those principles don’t stand up to the real world. No, no one hundreds of years ago had any idea about the scale or effect of social networks. Yes there was propaganda and brai…

Having principles hurts sometimes. Sometimes they require you to do things that are painful with the understanding that the alternative is even worse. I'd gladly take a world with disinformation over a world in which an unaccountable third party determines what is truth, and therefore okay to say. I can work around the first problem with some effort much easier than the second one.

That is exactly the problem, though, isn't it? Unaccountable third parties are literally currently controlling the truth, via disinformation. An alarming number of people are convinced in conspiracies and untruths like the deep state, QAnon, anti-vax, flat earth... How is the ability to freely and massively distribute misinformation not a means of controlling the truth?

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#50

Post by prostoalex »

gralx wrote: post #35
aresant wrote: post #21

Disinformation content works because it drives huge engagement. Huge engagement pays the bills for FB and twitter. If we expect change we need an analog to a carbon or pollution tax for social. “Show me the incentives and I will show you the outcome.”- Charlie Munger

That it drives huge engagement is an indictment of public education.

The primary driver seems to be a psychological need to feel unique, unlike "the sheep" out there https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-the-pandemic-is-tu...
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