Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#131

Post by joshuamorton » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 9:55 PM UTC

tootie wrote: post #76

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #8

Whatever your perspective, directly verifiable censorship like this is just begging for legal trouble and monopoly investigations. Tactically speaking, I would say this is a massive mistake from Twitter.

This is what I don't get. People are screaming for digital channels to not allow disinformation even though they are just a passive communication channel. Is anyone screaming at printing presses for printing the NY Post? It's a garbage publication and this information is at least suspicious, but why are we holding Twitter to such a high standard of integrity and not actually journalists?

> Is anyone screaming at printing presses for printing the NY Post?

You...you mean screaming at the NY post for printing itself? Yes, people do that constantly.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#132

Post by SpicyLemonZest » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 9:55 PM UTC

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #103

If I was a Twitter or Facebook investor, I have one question: What did you expect was going to happen? Honestly. Did nobody have the foresight at Facebook or Twitter to think that this wouldn't blow up? Did nobody think, just once, that this might invite regulatory action or be in news headlines? And if honestly nobody thought this might happen, I'd want the entire management and "safety" team replaced for having no…

They probably expected it would go over like the Alex Jones thing or the warning messages on Trump's tweets, with a brief burst of interest followed by adjustment to the new consensus that some censorship is justified for the sake of social harmony. (And they may yet be right - there were headlines about those two things too.)

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#133

Post by runarberg » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 9:55 PM UTC

Just step back a little and consider the alternatives here. NYP is pretty obviously smearing for a major civil event here, a civil event that has the potential of causing serious harm to the second largest democracy in the world. If the social media companies would just allow this smearing to go unhindered, they are basically saying: “We don’t care if bad actors use our platform to undermine our democracy,” which is nuts.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#134

Post by SamReidHughes » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 9:55 PM UTC

drcongo wrote: post #55

SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's different because it was written by a major American newspaper. Twitter should not be exercising editorial control over the news.

Is the NY Post considered a serious newspaper over there?

Yes, it's a serious newspaper.

But it is known to use sans serif fonts and hire people that went to public schools.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#135

Post by whateveracct » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 9:56 PM UTC

trident1000 wrote: post #102

frob wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The New York Post is not a serious newspaper; it is a sensationalist tabloid. Sometimes the NYPost will report on real news, but I believe absolutely nothing they report until it is verified by the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, or other major broadcast outlet with actual journalistic standards.

None of them are serious. NY Times made a big deal out of trumps taxes when everyone knows depreciation offsets revenue in real estate, its 101 stuff. You get taxed when you sell the asset which happens infrequently but in large magnitude. Most people in the industry were laughing at the gaslighting they did on that story but they fooled their little pawn readers. Just one example out of many. Every news source is fu…

You realize the real story re: Trump's asset depreciation is that he reported one valuation to the govt and one to his banks when seeking loans, right?

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#136

Post by whateveracct » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 9:57 PM UTC

throwaway4715 wrote: post #87

Facebook is NOT blocking the Post from posting. They are limiting sharing. This headline is a good example of way it may have been the right move. Misinformation spreads fast.

HN is full of unwitting Trump/conspiracy theory enablers with their high-minded bottomless "benefit of the doubt" schtick.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#137

Post by throwawa3495 » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 9:57 PM UTC

likeafox wrote: post #109

throwawa3495 wrote: post #14

weird that there is actually no mention of these materials being hacked from anywhere though, or did I miss that? It seems like this computer shop fellow voluntarily gave over this hard drive only after the computer in question became his property (as a result of someone not collecting the computer and not paying the bill) LOL now this post has been flagged wtfff

>It seems like this computer shop fellow voluntarily gave over this hard drive only after the computer in question became his property (as a result of someone not collecting the computer and not paying the bill) To say this strains credulity would be be a massive understatement.

wait though, bc i really dont see it in any of these articles:

who has been hacked?

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#138

Post by tootie » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

Covzire wrote: post #100

Let's be honest, the only people screaming for censorship are firmly on the left. Controlling "disinformation" is a dog whistle for censorship, hoping that average citizens don't realize what they're really after. We all know who is going to be the moderators in flagging "disinformation" and we all know which ideology they overwhelmingly favor. I'd sooner trust a pyromaniac as fire chief of my local county than I wou…

I don't think that's a fair judgement at all. Not when the right is actively attacking honest journalism at its source while also screaming about anti-conservative bias on social media every time they filter disinformation. I would also not at all categorize deplatforming disinformation as censorship either. Nor incitement to violence. I only agree in that it's not a job that any of these companies are setup to handle.

EDIT: https://www.npr.org/2020/05/27/863011399/trump-threatens-to-...

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#139

Post by MisterBastahrd » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #84

[deleted] wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

The NY Post editor is Sohrab A h mari, and his account https://twitter.com/SohrabAhmari remains unsuspended.

Sohrab is a conspiracy theorist nutball who fled a religious dictatorship in Iran and now openly advocates for a Christian monarchy for the US.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#140

Post by likeafox » Wed, Oct 14, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

_qulr wrote: post #130

likeafox wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the probability that the story they're blocking is 100% bullshit? And if they have evidence or signals of that, does that weigh in to your opinion on their intervention?

The majority of things on Twitter and Facebook are bullshit. How many politicians and "pundits" are allowed to blatantly lie on Twitter? Not sure why this is different.

It's a newspaper collaborating with the president's personal lawyer, who is already the subject of investigations into persons in violation of the Foreign Agent Registration Act, during the run up to an incredibly contentious election after these networks - Facebook and Twitter- have already been accused of allowing rampant disinformation campaigns. If they had reason to believe that the information was part of a malicious campaign, I can see why that might spur them to action.