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Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

npr.org

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Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#61

Post by anonymouswacker »

Mizza wrote: post #45

I find it weird for a whistleblower to be so "lib", as the kids say. She said she 'loves' Facebook, and wants to fix it, not harm it. I don't want Facebook fixed and I do want Facebook harmed. I don't want the government to meddle with what types of things people can say online, I want them to ban the business model of stalking people online and selling intimate details of their lives. If the problem is Facebook choo…

Strategically speaking, it may be wise for her career prospects & image to appear like she is still loyal to the Corp.

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#62

Post by meowface »

Mizza wrote: post #45

I find it weird for a whistleblower to be so "lib", as the kids say. She said she 'loves' Facebook, and wants to fix it, not harm it. I don't want Facebook fixed and I do want Facebook harmed. I don't want the government to meddle with what types of things people can say online, I want them to ban the business model of stalking people online and selling intimate details of their lives. If the problem is Facebook choo…

>I find it weird for a whistleblower to be so "lib", as the kids say.

What do you mean? I don't follow the latest slang, but I would've assumed this would mean "liberal", except I don't see what that would have to do with the rest of what you said.

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#63

Post by jugg1es »

I hope that the conversation about this turns into a discussion about the business model of Facebook and most other social media sites that are designed around maximizing engagement for advertising revenue.

I realize the difference between buying advertisements for extremely popular television (like the super bowl) and buying advertisements targeting specific demographics on facebook is very subtle. But there is a difference between having the ability to target very specific demographics with ads that no one else sees and buying airtime during popular programs with ads that everyone sees.

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#64

Post by shadowgovt »

epgui wrote: post #53

The comments section looks like a grade 11 class. Not everything is about “controlling” you, not everything is a “fake narrative”, the world isn’t out to censor you, and no, not every form of censorship is bad. Yes censorship is a slippery slope, but so is intellectual laziness.

Sometimes, people run so fast from the 1984 future where a big unfettered government decides their fate that they trip and fall right into the Snow Crash future where big unfettered corporations decide their fate.

There's no simple answers here.

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#65

Post by eh9 »

jokowueu wrote: post #54
trutannus wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Require ID verification I'll pass on putting my personal ID in the hands of an organization that sells data as a business . No matter how many flimsy laws they put in place to ban selling my PII, you'd have to be born yesterday to think that won't just delay the sale this new treasure-trove of information.

HIPAA isn't a flimsy law and works quite well . Something similar can be used

Sounds like a big ask porting something like that over to a widely public industry

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#66

Post by Bhilai »

trutannus wrote: post #22
fighterpilot wrote: post #12

The two best ideas I've heard: - Require age verification by law and ban kids from using it. We ban kids from alcohol we should ban them from this. - Require ID verification by law but allow people to use a fake name. Fixes the bots issue and the kid depression issue. The market isn't going to get there by itself because of competition. If insta implements this then they lose market share to snap. So there's a strong…

> Require ID verification I'll pass on putting my personal ID in the hands of an organization that sells data as a business . No matter how many flimsy laws they put in place to ban selling my PII, you'd have to be born yesterday to think that won't just delay the sale this new treasure-trove of information.

Have you ever provided your SSN to use a bank or applied for a car loan or mortgage? In all cases you are probably dealing with an entity that would sell your data or atleast share with "affiliates and partners."

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#67

Post by deegles »

AzzieElbab wrote: post #36
option wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this isn’t about censorship. It is about newsfeed algorithms which optimize “engagement”. As it turns out negative, controversial and divisive stuff is more engaging.

you realize that most controversial, negative and divisive stuff is pushed by corporate media 24/7, right?

there will always be something to "what about"

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#68

Post by meowface »

Factorium wrote: post #56
fighterpilot wrote: post #12

The two best ideas I've heard: - Require age verification by law and ban kids from using it. We ban kids from alcohol we should ban them from this. - Require ID verification by law but allow people to use a fake name. Fixes the bots issue and the kid depression issue. The market isn't going to get there by itself because of competition. If insta implements this then they lose market share to snap. So there's a strong…

There's an even simpler solution: ban free social media. Require each platform to charge a minimum of $x/user/year. You remove kids by default (no credit card/bank card), and the focus of product managers is less on driving addictive browsing, and more on driving renewals (presumably through quality features, content, and fostering community). The customer is no longer the advertisers (or shady Governmental data scra…

There was an article on here not too long ago that made a rather salient point that "even if you're paying, you might still be the product". If you're not paying, the only way they'll make money is off of you, but there's nothing stopping them from doing so anyway even if you are paying.

Found it:

https://odysee.com/@CyberLounge:a/even-if-youre-paying-youre...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27918331

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#69

Post by vernie »

AzzieElbab wrote: post #36
option wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this isn’t about censorship. It is about newsfeed algorithms which optimize “engagement”. As it turns out negative, controversial and divisive stuff is more engaging.

you realize that most controversial, negative and divisive stuff is pushed by corporate media 24/7, right?

YoU Do ReaLIZE

Re: Whistleblower to Congress: Facebook products harm kids and democracy

#70

Post by trutannus »

jokowueu wrote: post #54
trutannus wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Require ID verification I'll pass on putting my personal ID in the hands of an organization that sells data as a business . No matter how many flimsy laws they put in place to ban selling my PII, you'd have to be born yesterday to think that won't just delay the sale this new treasure-trove of information.

HIPAA isn't a flimsy law and works quite well . Something similar can be used

Right, the difference is medical records don't have a track record of being bought and sold with zero consequence. We're looking to take businesses that operate from the paradigm of "sell first, deal with the fallout later". Not organization that from day one have had a gun to their head if they so much as give the data a sideways look like those under HIPAA.
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