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Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

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Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#51

Post by chillacy »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #9

Clickbait. I think the actual story was already posted a few days back. I'm pretty sure tabbaco has killed a few more people than Facebook, so this is a ridiculous comparison. Facebook does a lot for which it should be criticized, but it feels like we're just beating on a dead horse. It's also hilarious that someone would be so critical of Facebook all while including their share button in the same article. Apparentl…

> Oh, my God. Using an Android phone is like paying for dinner with a Discover card. It’s like saying, “Don’t have sex with me.” It’s the ultimate prophylactic that says “I should be ...”

> “I should be screened out of the gene pool.” If you use an Android phone or have a Discover card, your family tree should come to an end.

Yea I’m gonna go with purposefully inciting reactions online for more clicks.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#52

Post by Puer »

mockindignant wrote: post #5
whatshisface wrote: post #2

I wish other companies could get the same kind of scrutiny as Facebook. For some reason while most scandals are pushed down and quickly forgotten, Facebook is being dragged around for all its worth. Maybe they weren't planting enough stories.

Which companies do you refer? I am fine with other companies facing public backlash for their actions just like Facebook is now if they are doing things as shady as Facebook.

Google with YouTube and Twitter? Even though most congressional hearings are a farce, Google didn't even show up to speak with congress. The amount of racist, nazi propaganda I'm exposed to on Twitter every day far outnumbers what I've ever seen on Facebook.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#53

Post by austenallred »

bilbo0s wrote: post #48
lallysingh wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/technology/myanmar-facebo... I don't think it's that far apart.

It's pretty far apart to be honest. What FB and Suu Kyi do in Myanmar is terrible, but they would have to replicate the same genocide in every nation across the globe to match the body count of the tobacco guys. (Which they may manage to do in the future. Who knows? But to date they are just not there yet to be perfectly frank.)

It really doesn’t make sense to me that the argument is basically this:

“The x military shared anti-y Facebook posts, then caused a genocide of the y people.”

And Facebook is at fault?

Do we really expect Facebook to police speech at that level, or should we not place the blame with the military?

Those posts came from .0000066% of Facebook’s users. If you’re Facebook how do you effectively police that?

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#54

Post by tappio »

prolikewh0a wrote: post #16
joezydeco wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about genocide? Would that work for you? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/technology/myanmar-facebo...

How about electing a fascist dictator that wants to genocide the left in his country, and deforest the rainforest by opening it to western companies? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/18/brazil-jair-bo...

Nothing new here really. Propaganda is as old as human communication. Finding new ways to distribute misinformation is the human norm. Afaik Facebook has also been praised for things like Egypt spring (not sure if good actually), Barack Obamas election, etc. It's not as if only bad things came out of new media outlets. Sure, they could do a lot better, but the scape goating of fb is a bit simple minded.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#55

Post by gus_massa »

dontreact wrote: post #14

I think this makes light of the fact that lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Every year millions of people die. Millions. And this is just one way cigarettes have negative impact. I’ve heard doctors say that we would need far fewer hospitals in the U.S if it wasn’t for all the negative effects of smoking.

We all are going to die, and people prefer to put their dying relatives in hospital just in case they can be saved. So the amount of hospitalized people will not change too much if someone makes lung cancer disappear completely. People will die from other reason, like a heart attack, other cancer, aneurism, ... So banning cigarettes will make people live longer (that is a good thing) but it will not change too much the number of hospital rooms needed.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#56

Post by justapassenger »

SirLJ wrote: post #13
fatjokes wrote: post #8

Are you f-ing kidding me? Until 90%+ of FB users start dropping dead because of lung cancer then that statement is complete garbage. EDIT: a lot of people are taking my statement as meaning not to criticize Facebook. That is not it at all! It just means not to lose perspective. At least I still consider tobacco to be far worse, directly causing ~7M deaths annually with no visible benefit. EDIT 2: Genuine question: ha…

People are dying because of Facebook and even one death is one too many...

People are also dying because of google (you can search for informations that expose agents p), they die because of apple (iMessage is also used to coordinate killings), they die because of Tesla (cars kill), they die because of Coca-Cola (bad nutrition kills more than tech), they die because of Boeing (huge military contractor), they die because of us government (all the wars fought by the government), they die because of Starbucks (according to California coffee is a killer)

Everything has bad consequences, each technology. Just saying that someone dies as a consequence of a company product isn’t enough to disqualify it. If you want to apply that logic we need to shutdown basically all worlds economies.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#57

Post by justapassenger »

“Oh, my God. Using an Android phone is like paying for dinner with a Discover card. It’s like saying, “Don’t have sex with me.” It’s the ultimate prophylactic that says “I should be ...”

Oh, Scott. Once again.

”I should be screened out of the gene pool.” If you use an Android phone or have a Discover card, your family tree should come to an end.”

Stopped reading after this.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#58

Post by prolikewh0a »

dontreact wrote: post #23
prolikewh0a wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about electing a fascist dictator that wants to genocide the left in his country, and deforest the rainforest by opening it to western companies? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/18/brazil-jair-bo...

How much of this is attributable to Facebook? Also yes, Genocide is terrible. But the amount of people that cigarettes kill every year is orders of magnitudes more than this. That’s the thing: tobacco execs are still around! Making a product that literally kills millions of people every year. The only reason more outrage isn’t targeted at them is I think we believe that with enough backlash, we can change the situati…

>Also yes, Genocide is terrible. But the amount of people that cigarettes kill every year is orders of magnitudes more than this.

Many people are dead, the number comparisons don't really matter. They're both evil, that's really it.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#59

Post by ggggtez »

fatjokes wrote: post #8

Are you f-ing kidding me? Until 90%+ of FB users start dropping dead because of lung cancer then that statement is complete garbage. EDIT: a lot of people are taking my statement as meaning not to criticize Facebook. That is not it at all! It just means not to lose perspective. At least I still consider tobacco to be far worse, directly causing ~7M deaths annually with no visible benefit. EDIT 2: Genuine question: ha…

For suggested reading, I recommend reading about the Arab Spring, where social networks were linked to populist overthrow of dictators in the middle east and northern Africa. I also suggest reading about Whatsapp killings in India.

The evidence out there suggests that social networks are being used to great effect to mobilize revolutions, mobs, and other "populist" movements, for better or worse. These days, it seems like largely "worse".

The same way that "flash mobs" were a funny joke in the early 2000's, and then were used as methods to commit mass-anonymous crime. The social cost of being able to organize large groups of people (many of which may not realize they are being used) is going to be a theme for the next decade.

Re: Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’

#60

Post by ggggtez »

fatjokes wrote: post #35
smt88 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if 90% of democracies start dropping dead?

Then maybe people should ask why democracy is so fragile.

Democracy has always been fragile and built on the blood of patriots willing to fight against tyranny. A look at WW2 should remind everyone how quickly dictators can erase that if we are not prepared.
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