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Facebook slow to address political manipulation outside wealthy, western nations

theguardian.com

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Re: Facebook slow to address political manipulation outside wealthy, western nations

#31

Post by franklampard »

mhoad wrote: post #7
zpeti wrote: post #4

I wonder if writers of articles like this are aware of the complexity of a problem like this, algorithmically, legally and ethically. All 3 are insanely difficult.

I’m not sure if you actually read the article but it was written with the whistleblower who was literally a data scientist and kept pointing out how easy it was to clearly identify (and therefore stop) these cases in question. They weren’t sophisticated in any way. The problem here wasn’t that it was difficult, it’s because Facebook had no incentive to care

a data scientist fired for poor performance

Re: Facebook slow to address political manipulation outside wealthy, western nations

#32

Post by qwertox »

commoner wrote: post #13

The Guardian has more coverage in this article, which was published at the same time: "How Facebook let fake engagement distort global politics: a whistleblower's account" - https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/apr/12/facebook-... It's interesting how Guy Rosen, a co-founder of the spyware company Onavo, is now Facebook's "vice-president of integrity": > Facebook had “moved slower than we’d like because of pri…

> It's interesting how Guy Rosen, a co-founder of the spyware company Onavo, is now Facebook's "vice-president of integrity"

Sounds like a bad joke.

Re: Facebook slow to address political manipulation outside wealthy, western nations

#33

Post by inglor_cz »

sprafa wrote: post #6
zpeti wrote: post #4

I wonder if writers of articles like this are aware of the complexity of a problem like this, algorithmically, legally and ethically. All 3 are insanely difficult.

The incredible thing is Big Tech has convinced us the solution is "too expensive" when they are making hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. Here's the truth - if you own a social media platform and you allow for microtargeting and psychological profiling, you have responsibility for what's mass shared throughout.

Good governance tends to get into money. It needn't be too expensive, but it definitely costs something.

Facebook, Google et al. are trying to run a billion-sized community with extremely tight budgets, because they do not want to sacrifice their profits or make their services paid instead of free.

Of course it does not work.

Re: Facebook slow to address political manipulation outside wealthy, western nations

#34

Post by blfr »

> The investigation shows how Facebook has allowed major abuses of its platform in poor, small and non-western countries in order to prioritize addressing abuses that attract media attention or affect the US and other wealthy countries. The company acted quickly to address political manipulation affecting countries such as the US, Taiwan, South Korea and Poland, while moving slowly or not at all on cases in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mongolia, Mexico, and much of Latin America.

Alternatively, Facebook itself is more interested in manipulating political outcomes in the US, Taiwan, South Korea, and Poland, and less so or not at all in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mongolia, Mexico, and much of Latin America.

Re: Facebook slow to address political manipulation outside wealthy, western nations

#35

Post by mhoad »

franklampard wrote: post #31
mhoad wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure if you actually read the article but it was written with the whistleblower who was literally a data scientist and kept pointing out how easy it was to clearly identify (and therefore stop) these cases in question. They weren’t sophisticated in any way. The problem here wasn’t that it was difficult, it’s because Facebook had no incentive to care

a data scientist fired for poor performance

Making an argument that even the person who was supposedly fired for poor performance was STILL able to find what she found with almost zero effort on her behalf isn’t the compelling argument you seem to imagine it to be.

Re: Facebook slow to address political manipulation outside wealthy, western nations

#36

Post by shillforhumanty »

freddealmeida wrote: post #21

I think we need a new journalism. One that can avoid the last 20 years of structured news. Though I think this is impossible now. Not without an outsized reaction by the population that doesn't even care. Facebook exists because most people can accept those crimes committed against them. They really don't even understand them all. Shit Zuckerburg uses Signal. Nothing surprises me anymore

Nah we don't. Journalism was never for interest of the people. Those get shutdown as 'foreign actors' and we can't have foreign actors messing with our thoughts unless vetted by our ICs. We need less gullible brains, but that would make us realize how far the corruption goes, so far that no one can currently dare call it corruption.

This goes against anyone who currently runs 'a journalism'. We need to stop giving them our attention. We won't

Re: Facebook slow to address political manipulation outside wealthy, western nations

#37

Post by bsenftner »

shillforhumanty wrote: post #36
freddealmeida wrote: post #21

I think we need a new journalism. One that can avoid the last 20 years of structured news. Though I think this is impossible now. Not without an outsized reaction by the population that doesn't even care. Facebook exists because most people can accept those crimes committed against them. They really don't even understand them all. Shit Zuckerburg uses Signal. Nothing surprises me anymore

Nah we don't. Journalism was never for interest of the people. Those get shutdown as 'foreign actors' and we can't have foreign actors messing with our thoughts unless vetted by our ICs. We need less gullible brains, but that would make us realize how far the corruption goes, so far that no one can currently dare call it corruption. This goes against anyone who currently runs 'a journalism'. We need to stop giving th…

I', so tired of explaining to people that journalism is about making money, period. The "news" is the click bait and the ads and opinions are the product. Always has been this way, since the dawn of printing for the public.

Why anyone is still on Facebook amazes me. You all know the corporations is one of the more evil presences in our society. Smoke up boys!

Re: Facebook slow to address political manipulation outside wealthy, western nations

#38

Post by bsenftner »

gregasquith wrote: post #9
mhoad wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure if you actually read the article but it was written with the whistleblower who was literally a data scientist and kept pointing out how easy it was to clearly identify (and therefore stop) these cases in question. They weren’t sophisticated in any way. The problem here wasn’t that it was difficult, it’s because Facebook had no incentive to care

The quote “There is a lot of harm being done on Facebook that is not being responded to because it is not considered enough of a PR risk to Facebook,” kind of sums it up!

That's a textbook definition of institutional evil.

Re: Facebook slow to address political manipulation outside wealthy, western nations

#39

Post by [deleted] »

shillforhumanty wrote: post #36
freddealmeida wrote: post #21

I think we need a new journalism. One that can avoid the last 20 years of structured news. Though I think this is impossible now. Not without an outsized reaction by the population that doesn't even care. Facebook exists because most people can accept those crimes committed against them. They really don't even understand them all. Shit Zuckerburg uses Signal. Nothing surprises me anymore

Nah we don't. Journalism was never for interest of the people. Those get shutdown as 'foreign actors' and we can't have foreign actors messing with our thoughts unless vetted by our ICs. We need less gullible brains, but that would make us realize how far the corruption goes, so far that no one can currently dare call it corruption. This goes against anyone who currently runs 'a journalism'. We need to stop giving th…

[deleted]

Re: Facebook slow to address political manipulation outside wealthy, western nations

#40

Post by [deleted] »

bsenftner wrote: post #37
shillforhumanty wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah we don't. Journalism was never for interest of the people. Those get shutdown as 'foreign actors' and we can't have foreign actors messing with our thoughts unless vetted by our ICs. We need less gullible brains, but that would make us realize how far the corruption goes, so far that no one can currently dare call it corruption. This goes against anyone who currently runs 'a journalism'. We need to stop giving th…

I', so tired of explaining to people that journalism is about making money, period. The "news" is the click bait and the ads and opinions are the product. Always has been this way, since the dawn of printing for the public. Why anyone is still on Facebook amazes me. You all know the corporations is one of the more evil presences in our society. Smoke up boys!

[deleted]
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