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Former Facebook staffers launch Integrity Institute

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Re: Former Facebook staffers launch Integrity Institute

#11
Once again I'm skeptical. From where I stand the entire promo reads like FB demanding regulatory capture. Of course it is done in an underhanded way, "Oh, we've been so naughty! We need the firm hand of regulation"

Shades of Castle Anthrax from Monty Python's "Holy Grail".

Maybe others here would like to argue the minutiae, but I see that as largely irrelevant.

Re: Former Facebook staffers launch Integrity Institute

#12
post #2

Oh hi! That’s me! (And a bunch of other folks). Happy to answer any questions. I also really like this founders note that we wrote. It’s in our own words, etc: https://integrityinstitute.org/founders-letter We are recruiting new members! If you work on integrity / trust and safety / antispam / content quality / etc, let’s talk.

(1) Thank you so much for doing this. Facebook has been after me for years (> 15 years in anti-spam/email abuse). I keep putting it off, but its time for a clear "no thanks". As an outsider saying "no" - is there anything I can convey to them to drive the message home?

(2) Minor - your "Join Us" link from the Founders Letter page is 404 -- https://integrityinstitute.org/join-us

Re: Former Facebook staffers launch Integrity Institute

#13
A reminder that Facebook's VP of integrity (Guy Rosen)[1] co-founded the spyware company, Onavo, that Facebook acquired. Onavo made a VPN that collected user activity and delivered it to Facebook.[2]

[1] First temporary (https://gizmodo.com/facebook-exec-gets-new-title-as-vp-of-in...), then long-term (https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/17/22731214/facebook-disput...)

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onavo

Re: Former Facebook staffers launch Integrity Institute

#14
post #6

> Allen left Facebook soon after that for a data scientist job at the Democratic National Committee. So the guy on the election integrity team then takes a job with the DNC. This is called a revolving door. And now, curiously, he is part of the effort to push for more censorship of Facebook. This concerted effort to cow Facebook into censoring their platform more is coming from the RNC, DNC, Congress, and the mainstr…

Forget the military industrial complex, welcome to the social media industrial complex.

Re: Former Facebook staffers launch Integrity Institute

#15
Long before the Internet, you could go through an airport and be unable to avoid the Moonies & the followers of Lyndon LaRouche. You could find the book "None Dare Call It Treason" and lots of people did. "The Daily Worker" (newspaper of the US Communist Party) was readily available. Any of those groups could take out ads in the newspaper, or hold demonstrations (like the Nazi Party in Skokie, IL). There were UHF stations on TV where they held forth.

Yet democracy did not collapse. Why? Because humans have the ability to weigh evidence and discard the nonsense. They have agency. They can decide for themselves what to believe. They don't need you to control their information flow.

"Oh, but now it's different!" the "integrity" people claim. "Now we have to control their conditioning!" No, it's actually not, and no you don't. Now the public has more exposure to views that you don't like. That doesn't mean they swallow them all -- that's just your nightmare of how those other people act.

Re: Former Facebook staffers launch Integrity Institute

#16
post #6

> Allen left Facebook soon after that for a data scientist job at the Democratic National Committee. So the guy on the election integrity team then takes a job with the DNC. This is called a revolving door. And now, curiously, he is part of the effort to push for more censorship of Facebook. This concerted effort to cow Facebook into censoring their platform more is coming from the RNC, DNC, Congress, and the mainstr…

Forget the military industrial complex, welcome to the social media industrial complex.

In our current descent into technofascism, I think every industry is going to be gamed.

Re: Former Facebook staffers launch Integrity Institute

#17
Facebook should focus on giving tools to individuals and communities to communicate with each other and speak freely with one another. Communities and individuals should determine their rules, not Facebook.

Platform wide content moderation is inevitable (illegal content exists), but mass censorship is bad. It will come for you, if it hasn't already.

Re: Former Facebook staffers launch Integrity Institute

#18
post #4

My understanding, from speaking with someone at Facebook who has worked in this area, is that they are primarily empowered to do individual fixes. I.e. they do root cause analysis on why content X was correctly/incorrectly handled, update processes, and repeat. The problem instead seems to be a systemic one. i.e. What kinds of posts does the platform incentivise and promote as a whole? However, changing the system wo…

"Illegal" is the standard for justifying government use of force, but not for business or private citizen actions, or even for non compulsory government pressure. The government is empowered to "promote the general welfare" per the Constitution. Also, the government holds me accountable for my income via taxes, despite by income being legal.

Everyone who proposes a change is an "activist" but some are activists for money and not other principles.

Re: Former Facebook staffers launch Integrity Institute

#19
post #12
post #2

Oh hi! That’s me! (And a bunch of other folks). Happy to answer any questions. I also really like this founders note that we wrote. It’s in our own words, etc: https://integrityinstitute.org/founders-letter We are recruiting new members! If you work on integrity / trust and safety / antispam / content quality / etc, let’s talk.

(1) Thank you so much for doing this. Facebook has been after me for years (> 15 years in anti-spam/email abuse). I keep putting it off, but its time for a clear "no thanks". As an outsider saying "no" - is there anything I can convey to them to drive the message home? (2) Minor - your "Join Us" link from the Founders Letter page is 404 -- https://integrityinstitute.org/join-us

Thank you!

(1) - I'm not sure. I don't think I'm an expert here. But if you've got 15 years of anti-spam experience, we'd love to have you join us as a member :-)

(2) - Thank you. Fixed!

Re: Former Facebook staffers launch Integrity Institute

#20
post #3
post #2

Oh hi! That’s me! (And a bunch of other folks). Happy to answer any questions. I also really like this founders note that we wrote. It’s in our own words, etc: https://integrityinstitute.org/founders-letter We are recruiting new members! If you work on integrity / trust and safety / antispam / content quality / etc, let’s talk.

Not working on integrity but really, really interested in seeing this coming alive. I've had a very deep curiosity about this topic for a couple of years, allegedly Facebook's products might have influenced the elections on my home country (Brazil), which has very directly impacted the quality of life of my family still living there. Looking forward to see what comes out of this and wishing you and the team all the b…

Thank you! I helped set up the Brazil Election War Room -- the first election war room inside of FB. It was intense! There is a special place in my heart for your country <3
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