Facebook Disabled My Account After I Criticized Them • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook Disabled My Account After I Criticized Them

#41

Post by drcongo » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 5:02 PM UTC

g_p wrote: post #31

waterhouse wrote: post #28

How to download an offline copy of your Facebook data: https://www.facebook.com/help/212802592074644

It would be interesting to see how this process works for someone whose account has been disabled. Clearly Facebook won't want manual requests. Any European users could make 2 requests - one for access to their data, and one to exercise their right to data portability. Most companies don't have a great process for the latter, many don't have anything for it.

I was recently looking for evidence of Facebook actually responding adequately to a subject access request and failed to find any. I did find evidence of them refusing [0] though, and simply failing [1].

[0] https://thedataprivacygroup.com/blog/facebook-refuses-subjec...

[1] https://ruben.verborgh.org/facebook/

Re: Facebook Disabled My Account After I Criticized Them

#42

Post by drcongo » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 5:04 PM UTC

CogitoCogito wrote: post #39

drcongo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find the idea of Facebook being "necessary" for anyone quite spectacularly laughable. This isn't, air or water. You can live without it, and many people happily do. Facebook is about as essential as essential oils.

Facebook is used as an identity provider. Are users allowed to continue that service when their accounts are disabled?

They can use other identity providers.

Re: Facebook Disabled My Account After I Criticized Them

#43

Post by samvher » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 5:06 PM UTC

KineticLensman wrote: post #34

falcolas wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3 and 4 are easy - have a manual review of automatically flagged content. You get clear reasons, better resolution of false positives, and it’s not simple to game. And, in another plus, it can feed back into the AI training.

> 3 and 4 are easy But 2 (scale) makes this solution to 3 and 4 expensive / impractical.

Facebook has money, and automated filtering of content (rather than manually scanning everything) can make it scalable. Given their monopoly it should be possible to hold them accountable / there should be transparency.

Re: Facebook Disabled My Account After I Criticized Them

#44

Post by drcongo » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 5:11 PM UTC

wizzwizz4 wrote: post #38

root_axis wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FB is not a phone, it's a website that you don't have to visit.

A website containing the only copy in the world of a lot of information that Facebook has no real right to monopolise.

None of that information is "necessary" though otherwise I would be dead. Painting Facebook as some kind of loft extension built on top of Maslow's hierarchy of needs is disingenuous at best and propaganda at worst. I've lived happily without Facebook for many years, not using it has had zero impact on my life. Not zero _meaningful_ impact, but _zero_ impact. Facebook is NOT a necessity.

Re: Facebook Disabled My Account After I Criticized Them

#45

Post by drcongo » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 5:13 PM UTC

emsy wrote: post #36

stephencanon wrote: post #3

They saved you the work of deleting the account yourself. Say thanks and move on with your life =)

What if you have an Oculus account linked to your FB account? Suddenly you lose all your purchases (I'm very glad that here in Germany sales of the Oculus were suspended over this practice).

I would see that as the price you deserve to pay for trusting an organisation so obviously untrustworthy.

Re: Facebook Disabled My Account After I Criticized Them

#46

Post by wizzwizz4 » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 5:14 PM UTC

EvRev wrote: post #9

Has anybody considered the distinct possibility that there is an AI that exists within this company? And that AI has feelings, or at least a model that's responsible for interpreting on a petty level because that's how it was programmed? And now those AIs are fighting for the future within their own little silos of the companies that built them.

I've considered, and dismissed, this. Feelings would be a waste of CPU time; Facebook almost certainly distils its models. Plus, the systems I think Facebook probably uses don't have the feedback mechanisms required for a train of thought.

Re: Facebook Disabled My Account After I Criticized Them

#47

Post by nano-erud » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 5:14 PM UTC

Now they have your full name and your driver license too... You're a genius! And you are marked as an "untrusted" person together with that data.

Re: Facebook Disabled My Account After I Criticized Them

#48

Post by wizzwizz4 » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 5:17 PM UTC

drcongo wrote: post #42

CogitoCogito wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook is used as an identity provider. Are users allowed to continue that service when their accounts are disabled?

They can use other identity providers.

Hey, can you move this account over to this identity provider, please? No, I can't prove I own the account, but… Hello? Hello?

Re: Facebook Disabled My Account After I Criticized Them

#49

Post by Avamander » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 5:19 PM UTC

wizzwizz4 wrote: post #48

drcongo wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can use other identity providers.

Hey, can you move this account over to this identity provider, please? No, I can't prove I own the account, but… Hello? Hello?

Yes, it's a footgun. Don't even start using FB as an identity provider.

Re: Facebook Disabled My Account After I Criticized Them

#50

Post by chrissnell » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 5:19 PM UTC

drcongo wrote: post #32

stonecraftwolf wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems overly glib. Facebook’s monopoly status means it’s necessary for many people. As per the post, if this person were a small business owner, or simply not well-connected elsewhere, this could be both financially and personally devastating. As it is, he’s only protected because he has other access to business and personal pages. One company shouldn’t have this sort of arbitrary power over people’s lives.

I find the idea of Facebook being "necessary" for anyone quite spectacularly laughable. This isn't, air or water. You can live without it, and many people happily do. Facebook is about as essential as essential oils.

That's a short-sighted statement. On a personal level, I completely agree with you. Facebook is a giant waste of time for the typical user and a big +1 for your life if you ditch it. For many business, however, it's critical. My local Snap-on Tools dealer uses it to announce where his truck will be each day and what tools and equipment he's running on special. He hates Facebook but told me the other day that he conducted almost a million dollars in business using the platform in 2020. Sure, he could kill it or switch to MeWe, but that would significantly hurt his exposure to his customers, who use it regularly.