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Facebook has not been doing enough to comply with a 2020 privacy order: FTC

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Re: Facebook has not been doing enough to comply with a 2020 privacy order: FTC

#111

Post by zeroonetwothree »

ferminaut wrote: post #65

Facebook (and much of social media) is the modern day Philip Morris peddling addictive experiences...except the harm is way less obvious. Folks arent getting cancer, but they are wrecking their mental health. The difference is social media falls under the first amendment and is much harder to regulate. It's a borderline national security issue, too.

I think it’s a plausible argument. But shouldn’t we regulate the whole industry then instead of going after a single company?

Also there are clearly some benefits from social media so I wouldn’t want to get rid of all of it. For example messaging doesn’t seem so bad in terms of harm vs value. Or things like Facebook Groups that are more like discussion forums (even HN itself falls under this!)

Re: Facebook has not been doing enough to comply with a 2020 privacy order: FTC

#112

Post by hospitalJail »

medler wrote: post #55

It is insane to me that we allow any advertising to young children at all, whether online, on TV, or anywhere else. I think deliberately manipulating kids is heinous and I genuinely don’t understand why this isn’t the consensus opinion.

Nintendo and Disney are the most egregious for this. I see the effects on adults, people completely obsessed with their corporate mascots.

Seems like every Zelda game is described by their fans as the 'Greatest Game of All Time', despite flaws that would be called out if the corporate mascots were not in the game.

On a similar note, seeing the iphone use in teens due to the bubble color makes me think this is manipulating people with in-group bias which is extremely strong among teens. I personally remember begging my mom for clothes that were popular(abercrombie/american eagle).

I'm not sure the solution, but as an adult, I hate these companies for manipulating people.

Re: Facebook has not been doing enough to comply with a 2020 privacy order: FTC

#113

Post by 0xB31B1B »

zeroonetwothree wrote: post #98
medler wrote: post #55

It is insane to me that we allow any advertising to young children at all, whether online, on TV, or anywhere else. I think deliberately manipulating kids is heinous and I genuinely don’t understand why this isn’t the consensus opinion.

I can’t really think of harms I suffered as a child from watching ads. It probably made me want to buy more stuff but since I was a kid I had to ask my parents and they usually said no. I was slightly sad but then I got over it. So if anything it probably taught me to be a more discerning consumer that wouldn’t buy anything just because of an ad. If we hide the real world from children too much then how do we expect…

In the US, kids are bombarded with ads for sugary cereals and candy and we have a huge childhood obesity problem.

Re: Facebook has not been doing enough to comply with a 2020 privacy order: FTC

#114

Post by zeroonetwothree »

lvl102 wrote: post #27

So our govt has no problem with Tiktok but Facebook is a problem. It’s as if US regulation bodies are all run by clowns.

You can’t look at the regulation of every other industry and be surprised. I can’t think of a single one in which the government has done a competent job. Remember when you couldn’t get covid tests for like 6 months because the fda had to personally inspect every single one?

Re: Facebook has not been doing enough to comply with a 2020 privacy order: FTC

#115

Post by hbn »

nimajneb wrote: post #89

I really wish I could get rid of my FB account. It's so pervasive in my social life that it would things difficult and I would miss out on events with my friends. My family uses it for video chat, my friends use it to organize social activities, I'm on a recreational kickball team that uses it for team communication, etc. I recently deactivated and a few weeks later a friend asked if I was going to an event he invite…

There was a point in time where you could sign up for just Facebook Messenger without making a Facebook account, but of course they removed that cause they want everyone to have a Facebook account.

Re: Facebook has not been doing enough to comply with a 2020 privacy order: FTC

#116

Post by hospitalJail »

zeroonetwothree wrote: post #98
medler wrote: post #55

It is insane to me that we allow any advertising to young children at all, whether online, on TV, or anywhere else. I think deliberately manipulating kids is heinous and I genuinely don’t understand why this isn’t the consensus opinion.

I can’t really think of harms I suffered as a child from watching ads. It probably made me want to buy more stuff but since I was a kid I had to ask my parents and they usually said no. I was slightly sad but then I got over it. So if anything it probably taught me to be a more discerning consumer that wouldn’t buy anything just because of an ad. If we hide the real world from children too much then how do we expect…

I posted this above, but I imagine your preferences as an adult were shaped as a child.

Nintendo and Disney corporate mascots appear to be classic characters.

Apple makes products that make you look cool.

Bud Light is the beer of young, good looking people at parties and watching sports.

Ads aren't just selling you a product, they are brand marketing and brand positioning.

Re: Facebook has not been doing enough to comply with a 2020 privacy order: FTC

#118

Post by fwlr »

javajosh wrote: post #51
fwlr wrote: post #29

I would caution against believing “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” when that would make the government your friend. Yes, Facebook has been awful and done great harm in some ways, but crucially it is not the case that Facebook was only able to do such harm because the FTC lacked the ability to unilaterally and without oversight deploy extreme powers like “you may not monetize this data” or “you may not release fea…

Not a good framing. The government is not static to be loved or hated. It is rather like a cyborg who has behavior modifications and parts added and removed over time. It's a mess and a kludge and it does things we don't like, does contradictory things, because of how we change it to suit ourselves. When the cyborg does something I like, I am happy and say "good cyborg, nice cyborg". I do not call the cyborg a friend…

I mean, I endorse your framing and don’t think it disagrees with my framing. I thought my comment contained a lot of “good cyborg, nice cyborg” for punishing a known bad actor while also cautioning against thinking government is “all friend” now that they have punished Facebook. Perhaps it comes off like I think government is all enemy? I’m not sure.

Re: Facebook has not been doing enough to comply with a 2020 privacy order: FTC

#119

Post by criddell »

jjulius wrote: post #100
coding123 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So how about, Facebook spokesperson furious...

The spokesperson is the voice of the company, what they say is supposed to represent the opinion of the company as a whole.

I bet the rank and file are not enraged by this and I would guess that the majority probably agree that Meta should not exploit children.

Re: Facebook has not been doing enough to comply with a 2020 privacy order: FTC

#120

Post by briffle »

karamanolev wrote: post #3
baggachipz wrote: post #2

> “Facebook has repeatedly violated its privacy promises,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a press release. If you're pissing off Facebook, you're probably doing something right.

Have we gotten to the point where "bad for Facebook" ~= "good for society"? It's both a good indicator for progress and a sad place to be as a community.

Oh man, i'm going to have to start looking at Meta just like I do phone and cable companies...
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