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Disinformation-for-hire in Kenya

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Re: Disinformation-for-hire in Kenya

#81

Post by didibus »

ceilingcorner wrote: post #65
didibus wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're missing the point, as a Twitter user, do you expect other users to be paid money to post and retweet things that they were told to post and retweet by some patron? Do you expect to be baited by some fake account that is sold to the best bidder for amplification? And do you expect the recommendations and trending to be full of manipulated content that actually all come from a single source of coordinate…

to be paid money to post and retweet things that they were told to post and retweet by some patron? What do you think the network of “real media” is?

Two wrongs don't make a right. I'm not sure what you're trying to imply, what is happening on Twitter is fraud and disinformation for-hire. That seems factually true.

We can talk about traditional media on an article that discuss traditional media maybe?

Re: Disinformation-for-hire in Kenya

#82

Post by Zababa »

bunnernana wrote: post #50

Am reading through the comments and I have to say westerners really think all news is about them. People who don't understand the context of a story arguing out the ethics of a story they have no idea about. PS: I am a Kenyan. That being said, any Kenyan here who uses Twitter regularly will agree with the article. Go to Twitter right now and you will see the disinformation in action. Trend number 1 (Nyonga) Trend num…

As a westerner, I feel that way too since everything is USA-centric.

Re: Disinformation-for-hire in Kenya

#83

Post by gorwell »

bunnernana wrote: post #50

Am reading through the comments and I have to say westerners really think all news is about them. People who don't understand the context of a story arguing out the ethics of a story they have no idea about. PS: I am a Kenyan. That being said, any Kenyan here who uses Twitter regularly will agree with the article. Go to Twitter right now and you will see the disinformation in action. Trend number 1 (Nyonga) Trend num…

It's the same in the US, pushing false narratives and misinformation constantly. Horse dewormer ivermectin is a major example from just a few days ago.

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1434539307415519238

Re: Disinformation-for-hire in Kenya

#84

Post by [deleted] »

[deleted] wrote: post #76
didibus wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nothing in the article as posted indicates that the "disinformation influencers" were nefarious actors People getting paid money to perform coordinated repost of content sent to them by anonymous sources? Fake accounts used to amplify and retweet the messages? What else are you looking for? It's like they told you someone stole money at gunpoint and you said you don't see anything indicative of theft.

[deleted]

[deleted]

Re: Disinformation-for-hire in Kenya

#85

Post by DFHippie »

bo1024 wrote: post #18
ziml77 wrote: post #2

So are platforms supposed to regulate speech or not? People complain if they stay neutral and don't remove false information and people complain if they moderate and do remove false information.

If your algorithm is deciding what to promote or display to people, then you’re already not staying neutral.

One should hope that one can distinguish between lies and nonsense on the one hand and fact and honest debate on the other, good faith and bad faith engagement, without discriminating between ideological positions. If you find your ideological position is indistinguishable from lies and nonsense ... well ... that could happen. But the idea non-partisan platforms that censor content are working from is that nonsense is apart from partisanship.

Re: Disinformation-for-hire in Kenya

#86

Post by fnimick »

gorwell wrote: post #83
bunnernana wrote: post #50

Am reading through the comments and I have to say westerners really think all news is about them. People who don't understand the context of a story arguing out the ethics of a story they have no idea about. PS: I am a Kenyan. That being said, any Kenyan here who uses Twitter regularly will agree with the article. Go to Twitter right now and you will see the disinformation in action. Trend number 1 (Nyonga) Trend num…

It's the same in the US, pushing false narratives and misinformation constantly. Horse dewormer ivermectin is a major example from just a few days ago. https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1434539307415519238

Are you highlighting Glenn Greenwald as an example of someone pushing false information, or do you seriously think he is a reliable source and the "dem main stream media" is the problem?

Re: Disinformation-for-hire in Kenya

#87

Post by acdha »

jacquesm wrote: post #55
bunnernana wrote: post #50

Am reading through the comments and I have to say westerners really think all news is about them. People who don't understand the context of a story arguing out the ethics of a story they have no idea about. PS: I am a Kenyan. That being said, any Kenyan here who uses Twitter regularly will agree with the article. Go to Twitter right now and you will see the disinformation in action. Trend number 1 (Nyonga) Trend num…

I've noticed that this is happening on any divisive subject, no matter what. Abortion, LGBTI rights, politics, sports, it doesn't matter there is always a bunch real people involved backed by an army of bots. There are some people mapping this out manually, I'm surprised that the likes of Twitter don't take a harder stand against this because it likely is going to ruin the platform long term (if that hasn't already h…

My assumption is that Twitter is in a situation similar to Facebook's fraudulent pivot-to-video: they know there's a big problem but as soon as they do anything about it they're going to have to explain why the numbers they reported to investors, advertisers, etc. dropped noticeably.

Unless there's imminent legal action or people stop using the service, it's easier just to delay and hope that the horse learns how to sing…

Re: Disinformation-for-hire in Kenya

#88

Post by bo1024 »

DFHippie wrote: post #85
bo1024 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your algorithm is deciding what to promote or display to people, then you’re already not staying neutral.

One should hope that one can distinguish between lies and nonsense on the one hand and fact and honest debate on the other, good faith and bad faith engagement, without discriminating between ideological positions. If you find your ideological position is indistinguishable from lies and nonsense ... well ... that could happen. But the idea non-partisan platforms that censor content are working from is that nonsense i…

I'm happy to recognize the distinction between fact-checking and partisanship. But if you're running an algorithm that decides who sees what content, you're responsible for the choices that algorithm makes. I think platforms try to disclaim responsibility by claiming to be "neutral" in the sense that they don't actively censor based on partisan preferences, and this is disingenuous.

Re: Disinformation-for-hire in Kenya

#89

Post by ipaddr »

tclancy wrote: post #70
deft wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mozilla is wasting its limited funding fighting random individual boogeyman rather than develop software that helps protect our freedoms. It's really sad.

What software would that be? There are not technological solutions to social problems.

Decentralized platforms. Firefox OS. A phone app store. There are many technology inequalities caused by major platforms controlling content. A youtube replacement, a private facebook,open source AI. Create a different type of search engine...

Plenty to solve.

Re: Disinformation-for-hire in Kenya

#90

Post by thunkshift1 »

dexen wrote: post #5

Why is Mozilla, of all orgs, performing foreign activism and reporting on Twitter users in hopes of getting them banned? "We want to do good", sure, but that's two bits of a stretch here. Nothing in the article as posted indicates that the "disinformation influencers" were nefarious actors. For all the description given, it might have been grassroots citizens action, only labeled "disinformation" by officials or gove…

I think mozilla is trying to draw a line that separates it from privacy invading tech giants.. while still taking billions to host their tech in its browsers
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