Facebook’s Political Unit Enables Propaganda • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook’s Political Unit Enables Propaganda

#201

Post by krapp » Fri, Dec 22, 2017, 1:43 AM UTC

tajen wrote: post #189

krapp wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It proves people don’t vote what they’re told to. ... except for all of the people who voted for Trump because they were told to, or because of the conspiratorial BS fed to them by the right and alt media. It's not actually true that all media was on Hillary's side - that's just propaganda fed to Trump supporters to discourage them from thinking critically about their candidate, and only trust in the cult of persona…

I’m outside USA and studied the election from a feminism axis. Geek as we all are here, I tracked the original studies and discovered that literally every statistics said by feminists, namely Hillary Clinton and Obama, is false. It’s mind blowing, they just misrepresent the studied group, or the hypothesis, they omit a whole part of the study, every-single-time, not a thing from feminists can be trusted. You will bel…

>I tracked the original studies and discovered that literally every statistics said by feminists, namely Hillary Clinton and Obama, is false.

Nope.

Whenever someone tries to imply that the "enemy" is perfectly evil or malicious, as you are attempting to do here, you can be certain that someone is trying to propagandize you. I'm going to be charitable per HN guidelines and assume you're not commenting in bad faith, but just in case you are, my advice would be to dial back the hyperbole just a wee bit if you want to accomplish anything more than incel virtue-singaling.

Re: Facebook’s Political Unit Enables Propaganda

#202

Post by katastic » Fri, Dec 22, 2017, 1:46 AM UTC

exogen wrote: post #190

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who's gaming social media? EVERYONE, from every kid to every mom-and-pop store to every corporation on the planet. Why is it that people who are butt-hurt about the past election only want to talk about "the Russians," when (I'm betting) that a large chunk of users on this site are getting paid to do so as at least part of their job. If had the resources of a nation-state, do you think they would suddenly develop a c…

No, every kid and mom and pop store is not creating a network of false identities to sway public opinion and incite violence. Your hot take that kids trying to get Likes is the same thing, so we shouldn't care or do anything about it, is I'm sorry to say, insane.

Israel does.

http://www.newsweek.com/israels-fake-news-war-how-idf-uses-s...

China does. And we have documented proof of their MAJOR interference in US elections in 1996. They also have recently stolen nuclear secrets and billions worth of weapons research.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_United_States_campaign_fi...

How come nobody is talking about them? Did China magically stop being the bad guys after their last controversy... in 2008?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/20/america-china-...

If we were really as critical thinking as we think we are, we'd be wondering why Russia is so important, and yet China is completely absent from the national discussion. You can learn more from what isn't covered in the news, than what is.

And I'm not saying Russia ISN'T important. I'm saying ALL nation-state actors are important and should be discussed. Anything and everything Russia has done, China is currently doing. So why aren't we trying to stop them just as much? Why aren't we digging up dirt on them, just as hard? Why aren't we probing our senators for connections to China? Could it be they own a significant fraction of US interests? Hmmm...

Re: Facebook’s Political Unit Enables Propaganda

#203

Post by exogen » Fri, Dec 22, 2017, 1:57 AM UTC

katastic wrote: post #202

exogen wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, every kid and mom and pop store is not creating a network of false identities to sway public opinion and incite violence. Your hot take that kids trying to get Likes is the same thing, so we shouldn't care or do anything about it, is I'm sorry to say, insane.

Israel does. http://www.newsweek.com/israels-fake-news-war-how-idf-uses-s... China does. And we have documented proof of their MAJOR interference in US elections in 1996. They also have recently stolen nuclear secrets and billions worth of weapons research. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_United_States_campaign_fi... How come nobody is talking about them? Did China magically stop being the bad guys after their las…

I don't know what you think I said, but yes, sure, investigate all of them, that sounds great? What is your point exactly? Nobody ever said Russia is unique in this regard. That doesn't make it a waste of time to investigate the extremely current and ongoing Russian interference. It's literally affecting people's everyday lives at this very moment. Priorities are a thing.

Re: Facebook’s Political Unit Enables Propaganda

#204

Post by bagacrap » Fri, Dec 22, 2017, 2:01 AM UTC

vadimberman wrote: post #192

I remember back in late 1990s to early 2000s there was a fad for scaremongering articles about how computers and the Internet are the root of all evil. Looks like it's the turn of social networks now. > In India, the company helped develop the online presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who now has more Facebook followers than any other world leader. ...Seriously? How about another article on SEO companies train…

I think the point is that this is a group within Facebook, when Facebook has claimed that its status as a platform means it's not culpable (for hate speech, Russian sock puppets, age-biased job postings, etc.).

Re: Facebook’s Political Unit Enables Propaganda

#205

Post by moduspol » Fri, Dec 22, 2017, 2:49 AM UTC

pwaai wrote: post #158

moduspol wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not all of these protests or nationalism were organic, they were engineered by Russia. ex) Brexit Nothing scares me more than unfalsifiable claims like this. "The vote didn't go my way, so it must have been illegitimate. If only people weren't entranced by Russian propaganda! My side would have won!" Truly disgusting. We're already seeing justifications for limiting speech. This is a very dark road we're going down…

There is overwhelming evidence that is rejected by Trump supporters: https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/941120497823215616 https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/941376110381731841 I suggest you to read the facts and decide for yourself. I'm sure HNers are more than capable of connecting the dots.

That's not overwhelming evidence--it's one guy spinning a narrative by assuming the worst and painting every occurrence in the worst possible way.

But hey: HNers are typically good critical thinkers, so I'm sure they've seen spin before and know to take it with a grain of salt.

Re: Facebook’s Political Unit Enables Propaganda

#206

Post by TheRealDunkirk » Fri, Dec 22, 2017, 3:11 AM UTC

exogen wrote: post #190

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who's gaming social media? EVERYONE, from every kid to every mom-and-pop store to every corporation on the planet. Why is it that people who are butt-hurt about the past election only want to talk about "the Russians," when (I'm betting) that a large chunk of users on this site are getting paid to do so as at least part of their job. If had the resources of a nation-state, do you think they would suddenly develop a c…

No, every kid and mom and pop store is not creating a network of false identities to sway public opinion and incite violence. Your hot take that kids trying to get Likes is the same thing, so we shouldn't care or do anything about it, is I'm sorry to say, insane.

Sure, it's a sliding scale, but the question is where you THINK you draw the line. OK, kids pestering their friends to like their stuff is one end of the scale. Are you saying that large numbers of companies AREN'T creating fake accounts to sway Facebook opinion of their public persona, or Amazon reviews of their products? That's just business, right? Well what's the difference between that, and what governments may be doing, to sway public opinion on issues, or candidates? Facebook, THEMSELVES, playing with traffic for the benefit of their own agendas, are in the mix too.

To me, it's all just differences of degree, not kind. To suggest there's a magical barrier that gets crossed when this sort of thing suddenly becomes unethical is, in my view, the insane position. Either it's all fair game, or... well, it IS all fair game, and the only people who would say that it ISN'T are the suckers. If you disagree with the state of affairs, take it up with Facebook and Twitter, who have DESIGNED their systems to be gamed, not with the people who are using them as designed.

Hate the game, not the player.

Re: Facebook’s Political Unit Enables Propaganda

#207

Post by tux1968 » Fri, Dec 22, 2017, 3:20 AM UTC

pstuart wrote: post #105

apearson wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, it was a close election and yes the system has it's flaws but there was nothing that went majorly wrong with this election.

There was serious disenfranchisement of voters through onerous laws designed to keep people from voting.

The laws didn't change drastically from the time a few years earlier when all those people managed to get out and elect Obama. That doesn't seem like a deciding factor at all.

Re: Facebook’s Political Unit Enables Propaganda

#208

Post by Kalium » Fri, Dec 22, 2017, 3:43 AM UTC

jancsika wrote: post #81

H99189 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've read the "journalists lean left, owners lean right" mantra many, many of times over the last 10 years on various boards, yet the overwhelming majority of network news and shows, cable news and entertainment shows dump on Republicans/Conservatism and fawn over Democrats/Liberalism. IMO, it's a very misleading idea meant to deceive people into thinking their sources of news or entertainment are somehow more honest…

You're conflating two very different concepts. The mantra is not "journalists are Democrats, owners are Republicans." Cable news and entertainment fawned over Hilary, not Bernie.

So they fawned over a Democrat, then? I fear I don't understand your point. Can you help me?

Re: Facebook’s Political Unit Enables Propaganda

#209

Post by panini_tech » Fri, Dec 22, 2017, 3:59 AM UTC

the stuff about that lady "Gowri Lankesh" is misreported here.

Left wingers wish to link that murder to the state whereas the lady had a reputation of defamation and the courts had ruled her to apologize for abusing people without proof.

Her family & her brother had disowned her due to her lies and was actually involved with mafia elements. please follow her twitter posts asking for peace among her friends who were "warring".

Overall Modi government is voted by Majority Indian population and FB just came into lobby against the Net Neutrality which was rejected by The Indian Government rightly.

Attributing Modi government success to FB is spreading news without substance. FB might be meddling in Indian affairs but thats FB's problem.

Re: Facebook’s Political Unit Enables Propaganda

#210

Post by akkat » Fri, Dec 22, 2017, 4:18 AM UTC

threeseed wrote: post #150

Steeeve wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't put them on a pedestal. And to think that MSNBC airs any kind of content that is non-partisan is a joke.

I never said MSNBC wasn't partisan. But Fox News literally coordinates with the Trump team and he lavishes them personally with praise via Twitter almost every week. It's far more akin to campaign outreach rather than independent news. This never happened with Obama or the DNC. MSNBC also does have independent journalists e.g. Chuck Todd and right-wing commentators e.g. Hugh Hewitt, Joe Scarborough etc. So it's not e…

> This never happened when Obama or the DNC

Except of course when CNN gave the debate questions to Hillary in advance. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/07/do...