Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#461

Post by alehul » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 1:09 AM UTC

sfkdjf9j3j wrote: post #393

dimitrios1 wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet I don't recall anyone questioning Buzzfeed News when they dropped their bombshell story years back. I remember the defenders saying something along the lines of "If the news is newsworthy and constitutes journalism, then the publication it was produced in shouldn't matter" As HN audience mostly claim to be full of "independent thinkers" we should have no problem with this being published by the Post if it indeed…

Buzzfeed was previously famous for apolitical clickbait articles and quizzes, they practically invented the genre. New York Post, meanwhile, has been a tabloid-level spreader of pro-conservative and anti-progressive misinformation. It's smart to be skeptical of obviously politically motivated reporting from any outlet, but especially so when one has such a concerning track record.

Buzzfeed has been deemed left, which is a category beyond left-leaning, by an objective fact-checker [1].

As one example of why:

> In June 2016, the left-leaning media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting found that in 100 BuzzFeed stories about Barack Obama, 65 were positive, 34 were neutral, and one was critical.

[1] https://www.allsides.com/news-source/buzzfeed-media-bias

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#462

Post by srtjstjsj » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 1:10 AM UTC

dimitrios1 wrote: post #446

sfkdjf9j3j wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buzzfeed was previously famous for apolitical clickbait articles and quizzes, they practically invented the genre. New York Post, meanwhile, has been a tabloid-level spreader of pro-conservative and anti-progressive misinformation. It's smart to be skeptical of obviously politically motivated reporting from any outlet, but especially so when one has such a concerning track record.

It's hilarious to me that the Post is now viewed as pro conservative. Framing the Post as pro-conservative is like calling Joe Rogan alt right. Finding some of the progressivism that has performed a hostile takeover of the democratic party hilarious, contradictory, and satire-friendly automatically makes you pro-conservative.

The NY Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who has been a conservative-media mogul for over 30 years.

Did you confuse the NY Post with the Washington Post?

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#463

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 1:11 AM UTC

nemothekid wrote: post #346

easterncalculus wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Fake news" is a call to criticism. The amount of people bringing up "fake news" and calling for say, CNN, to not be able to report at all is minimal. Comparatively you can't have a conversation about "disinformation" without talking about social media companies' responsibility to delete or hide content.

Ah ok, when Trump says a negative article about him is "fake news" it's criticism, but when "disinformation" comes out about Biden it's a call for censorship? Am I insane for seeing the dissonance here?

[deleted]

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#464

Post by ondrae » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 1:11 AM UTC

bigbubba wrote: post #106

ianai wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can’t. Because that actually is a technology not built to be moderated.

If they had to give me five dollars for every spam call that got through, I bet they'd find a way to stop it. T-mobile already classifies these calls as 'Scam likely' and they've never seemed to misclassify any, so obviously it can be done.

Some government call centers got mistakenly labeled ‘Spam Likely’. People were denied food stamps and other benefits for missing phone interviews from these numbers.

Took a long time to clear up in California.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#465

Post by bosswipe » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 1:12 AM UTC

ianai wrote: post #74

kube-system wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really hope AT&T starts censoring these damn spam calls. I've had 5 today.

They can’t. Because that actually is a technology not built to be moderated.

Nope, it's because they added caller ID spoofing capabilities that nobody asked for, and regulators didn't stop them because Republicans installed telecom lobbyists to be the regulators.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#466

Post by fumar » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 1:12 AM UTC

_qulr wrote: post #280

blhack wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes you do. You pay with your attention and with your ability to understand the world around you. Twitter is an extremely powerful bit of technology that can basically make you believe anything. As a trade for entertainment/dopamine: you are allowing it to.

> Twitter is an extremely powerful bit of technology that can basically make you believe anything. I don't believe this.

Can you prove algorithmic based information from a Twitter feed does not influence your behavior or opinions?

Twitter itself as a organization is not making you believe anything specifically. However the information presented to you may influence your ideas and potentially your behavior.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#467

Post by partiallypro » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 1:13 AM UTC

rectang wrote: post #211

partiallypro wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It likely is BS, but not definitely. Even some of the points in the TPM article aren't very strong (I'm sorry, but journalists mocking the story isn't a point.) But, even if it is, it's not the role of Facebook to decide it is or isn't, when it is not verify-ably false. Instead they should just elevate critics of the article/scoop like the article you linked.

> Even some of the points in the TPM article aren't very strong The people who wrote the NY Post piece had plenty of time to prepare. Now the story is rocketing around at the speed of the internet; but it takes time to refute authoritatively. Twitter, Facebook, HN, and similar channels will have spread the story regardless of its truth or untruth. They are vulnerable to propaganda, similar to how open relays are to s…

So by your logic we should just delay any posting of news so that it can be vetted by other outlets, which defeats the entire purpose of getting scoops. Plenty of false stories have been spread by big outlets, including CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News, etc...no one has said we should censor those stories. Who gets to draw the line and when? So far -every- proposal I've seen targets one group and isn't broadly applied.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#468

Post by tboyd47 » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 1:14 AM UTC

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #163

tboyd47 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They probably have been doing this for a while, and this was just the first time they got called out for it. Regulatory action has been in the works for some time. Whether or not it goes through depends only on politics. The mainstream media already doesn't like them for eating their lunch. Twitter has nothing to lose by doing this. It will damage Facebook's brand identity as being a "free speech" platform, but that'…

Actually, Twitter has one massive thing to lose: Section 230. Already, senators are taking this as the perfect reason to repeal or reform 230, and that would directly impact twitter. Remember how there were hearings about 230 just two weeks ago? Twitter just shot themselves and their arguments for 230 in the foot with this. Which again begs the question from an investor's point of view: What did you expect was going…

Perhaps Twitter is being set up as a sacrificial lamb to quell the Techlash. In that case, I'm wrong.

But I don't think Section 230 will be repealed. The US government doesn't want to destroy the tech giants. It wants to use them to expand its global influence.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#469

Post by Sargos » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 1:14 AM UTC

bleepblorp wrote: post #456

It's highly ironic that the so-called defenders of free speech have torn through this HN thread downvoting and flagging posts that support Twitter's specific actions or anti-disinformation efforts in general. Free speech for me but not for thee, much? To those of you who have done this, or don't have a problem with it, or are about to downvote and/or flag this post, think carefully about if you're actually defending…

I'm not sure what argument you're making here. Twitter is a public forum akin to a government institution and is now censoring political viewpoints it disagrees with. You shouldn't be surprised that free speech advocates are livid about this and perplexed at those who would defend such a thing.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#470

Post by takeda » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 1:15 AM UTC

_qulr wrote: post #362

blhack wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then why does it matter if they censor things or not?

It's a matter of freedom. The standard argument is that freedom of speech only applies to governments, but that's based on an outdated assumption. In human history, we've never before had individual companies like Facebook and Twitter that are so enormous and have so much control over our public speech. (2.7 billion and 330 million monthly active users, respectively.) They have become "the town square of the world",…

The freedom of speech means that government can't prosecute you for having an opinion. It doesn't require anyone too listen to you. It also only applies to the government.