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Facebook is now claiming official CDC.gov links are “False Information”

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Re: Facebook is now claiming official CDC.gov links are “False Information”

#471

Post by tstrimple »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #425
gunapologist99 wrote: post #210

Facebook seems to be censoring so much because Facebook believes that most people will actually believe whatever bits of misinformation are floating around out there. But is everyone that easily manipulated? More importantly, does everyone actually believe that they can be easily manipulated, or do they just think that everyone else is so easily manipulated, but somehow they're above the fray? And at what point does…

It's important to remember the history here. In 2015 social media was basically the wild west. You could get away with saying all sorts of crazy stuff and nobody cared. After the 2016 election all of the big social media CEOs were dragged in front of Congress to testify about fake news, Russian propaganda, etc. They were directly threatened by lawmakers that if they didn't shape up by censoring us that lawmakers woul…

There seems to be this pervasive myth that conservatives are being censored on sites like Facebook. That's at odds with the fact that far right misinformation still dominates those websites. Just what evidence would be sufficient to convince conservatives that they aren't being unduly censored?

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/06/974394783/far-right-misinform...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/02/01/censorship-co...

> “Republicans, or more broadly conservatives, have been spreading a form of disinformation on how they're treated on social media. They complain they’re censored and suppressed but, not only is there not evidence to support that, what evidence exists actually cuts in the other direction,” said Paul Barrett, deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, which released the report Monday.

Re: Facebook is now claiming official CDC.gov links are “False Information”

#472

Post by cbsmith »

timr wrote: post #110
jackweirdy wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have seen this sentence of the link: > CDC encourages laboratories to consider adoption of a multiplexed method that can facilitate detection and differentiation of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses Used to claim that many positive test results were not covid cases, but were flu cases. This _isn’t_ the case — the CDC is now recommending tests that can check for multiple infections rather than just one. But the wordi…

I see a picture of a link with a "false information" notice. What are you seeing that I am not that causes you to interpret all of this ostensibly harmful missing context? Sure, you can use this fact to make a misleading claim. But literally any piece of information can be used in a harmful manner. I guess we need someone to round off the points on all of our scissors so we can't hurt ourselves?

> timr 8 hours ago | parent [–] | on: Facebook is now claiming official CDC.gov links ar...

I see a picture of a link with a "false information" notice. What are you seeing that I am not that causes you to interpret all of this ostensibly harmful missing context? Sure, you can use this fact to make a misleading claim. But literally any piece of information can be used in a harmful manner.

That is the gist of the problem.

It's not quite entirely true, as taking a quote from an astronaut about how the ground on the moon didn't feel like anything on earth isn't going to convince anyone that the moon is made of green cheese who didn't think that anyway, but that is the general problem.

Disinformation is a hell of a drug.

Re: Facebook is now claiming official CDC.gov links are “False Information”

#473

Post by cbsmith »

nafix wrote: post #141
detaro wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... they won't, that desinformation is exactly the point of the comment you are replying to.

Are you sure about that? Can you explain to me what the wording from the CDC announcement means?

...and therein lies the problem.

Re: Facebook is now claiming official CDC.gov links are “False Information”

#474

Post by cbsmith »

nafix wrote: post #251
lpat wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I understand correctly it means that the old tests tested only for covid and the new ones test for covid and influenza at the same time. This makes them more efficient because you won't have to test twice to detect each virus separately.

That's not why they are decommissioning this test though. There's no reason that both this test, and a covid/influenza test cannot coexist. CDC is explicitly decommissioning this test, and it's not clear why in their announcement. I'm just trying to gain more context here. It's pretty easy to see how this could imply that the current PCR test could have issues.

They could coexist in a world with unlimited time and resources. We don't live in that world.

Re: Facebook is now claiming official CDC.gov links are “False Information”

#475

Post by cbsmith »

asabjorn wrote: post #262
nafix wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure about that? Can you explain to me what the wording from the CDC announcement means?

If you go into the wayback machine WHO says in plain wording that the PCR false positive rate was higher than desired: https://web.archive.org/web/20210120083427/https://www.who.i...

"Higher than desired" is a given. Particularly the early WHO tests had accuracy and sensitivity problems.

Re: Facebook is now claiming official CDC.gov links are “False Information”

#476

Post by chris_wot »

kortilla wrote: post #456
richk449 wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice comment. I’m not sure that having a Thomas Jefferson on staff would be enough to make a difference though. The real Jefferson had one goal: build a sustainable democratic country that respects the civil rights of its citizens. Your Facebook Jefferson would still have to build an online system that prioritizes facebook’s financial health. Respecting the rights of users would be secondary.

> Your Facebook Jefferson would still have to build an online system that prioritizes facebook’s financial health. Why do you think that?

Because that’s the way it is currently.

Re: Facebook is now claiming official CDC.gov links are “False Information”

#477

Post by [deleted] »

Overton-Window wrote: post #343
IG_Semmelweiss wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Institutions of ordered information (papers, publishers, tv) have been disrupted by a New tech - the internet What we see now is a knee-jerk reaction to reestablish order by the establishment. This happened too with the creation of the gutenberg printing press. New tech disrupted established information sources. Approx 60 years after the printing press creation, a relatively minor religious squabble ended up in a hug…

The internet will kill most every institution that predated it. Citizen journalism killed media. Netflix/YouTube killed Hollywood. Blockchains will replace 51% democracy with 100% democracy. Dying inherited institutions are grasping to stay relevant with appeals to authoritarianism. Free speech is now a hinderance and a liability to their existence. As their relevance dwindles, tyranny becomes their only tool.

[deleted]

Re: Facebook is now claiming official CDC.gov links are “False Information”

#479

Post by cbsmith »

SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #263
acdha wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone flagging this because they think it's an exaggeration, well, I envy you not having direct counterexamples in your immediate family. Paul is almost pitch-perfect explaining posts which real people make in all seriousness.

I don't think it's an exaggeration, and I wouldn't flag it, but I worry about the attitude. Officials are telling the truth about the danger of the coronavirus, but sometimes they do lie! We can't afford to cultivate an attitude that only raving lunatics accuse government agencies of lying.

More often than not, they aren't "lying". It's presented that way, but there's a real challenge explaining policy to a hostile audience. I mean, that's the job, so not much pity for them, but most of the time is an oversimplification (a classic form of propaganda). Their incentives are such that it is way easier to tell the truth.

Re: Facebook is now claiming official CDC.gov links are “False Information”

#480

Post by mr_toad »

Overton-Window wrote: post #370
ineedasername wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you expand on that 100% democracy part? It doesn't seem like any system would allow 100% of the people to all be governed by their preferred set of rules when at least some of those rules would always conflict with ones that others want to live with.

You have three ways to vote: 1. With your ballot: very small chance of changing policies (1 vote) 2. With your wallet: small chance of changing policies (n votes through political donations) 3. With your feet: guaranteed chance of changing policies The internet facilities 100% democracy as it simplifies voting with your feet (remote work, social networks), allowing likeminded individuals to congregate and influence p…

> Blockchain furthers this, unlocking the ability to have a referendum on every issue, which maximises consent.

If you mean an open ballot: hard no! It’s much too easy to coerce, bribe or intimidate voters.

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