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The article ends with > A step back to assert human control -- even if it cuts into the tech companies wide profit margins -- is overdue indeed. The author se

The article ends with > A step back to assert human control -- even if it cuts into the tech companies wide profit margins -- is overdue indeed. The author seems to think these problems cannot be solved with technology. Maybe they think that, or else Facebook, Twitter, et. al., would have solved it already? I think that it is far more likely that our society directly incentivizes the companies to not solve the problems. That is why they are not solved. Because we lavish them with money to leave them unsolved. Legislate that political news must be regulated. Legislate that companies that exert social control over a population, like Facebook, must do so responsibly. Don't just tell them that humans must curate all content. That won't work. Humans are too expensive and corruptible anyway. The solution is structural in society just as the problem is. Take away the profit incentive for big tech firms to cheat and feed lies, and our society will improve directly in line with what the author probably wants.

ekidd 9y ago
> Legislate that political news must be regulated. This is not as simple as it sounds, of course, because the regulators would also have plenty of incentives for bad behavior. I actually think that government regulation can be tremendously useful in certain circumstances. But it's not a magic solution, and you have to be clever about it. In the particular case of political news, the potential downsides of giving too much power to regulators are at least as dangerous as giving too much power to Facebook or Google.
pixl97 9y ago
>Legislate that companies that exert social control over a population So what you're saying in our current political climate is "Change the rule of web based business every 4 to 8 years dependant on who gets elected"? In the US we already know this doesn't work out because "big tech firms" will just buy the lobbying they need to get what they want. At best we can put some bandaids on the internet, at worst we're making it some kind of authoritarian nightmare depending on whatever companies get to enforce contracts based on the law.
gooseus 9y ago
> Legislate that political news must be regulated. In what way? Establishing fact-checking institutions or empowering the FCC to fine broadcasting of false political speech? Or with libel laws to allow people to sue for false allegations easier? > Legislate that companies that exert social control over a population, like Facebook, must do so responsibly In what way? Who what agency determines what is a responsible way to "exert social control over a population"? Do we need to be reminded that these are opt-in services where you agree to a ream of terms before being allowed to use the service? At which point does an online service go from being simply a place for people to interact to a company that needs regulating? Does HN qualify or do you need XXX million active users? Legislation should be a last resort since it is so easily circumvented (see tax code) and unfairly applied (see criminal code, specifically the section on drugs).
twblalock 9y ago
I'd rather have news be a free-for-all than have some group of people, or an algorithm, appointed to decide what is true and what is not.
Turing_Machine 9y ago
> Legislate that political news must be regulated. Not just no, but HELL NO! You may be imagining that the regulators will censor the news in a manner that conforms to your opinions. That's not a safe bet.

ekidd 9y ago

> Legislate that political news must be regulated. This is not as simple as it sounds, of course, because the regulators would also have plenty of incentives for bad behavior. I actually think that government regulation can be tremendously useful in certain circumstances. But it's not a magic solution, and you have to be clever about it. In the particular case of political news, the potential downsides of giving too much power to regulators are at least as dangerous as giving too much power to Facebook or Google.

pixl97 9y ago

>Legislate that companies that exert social control over a population So what you're saying in our current political climate is "Change the rule of web based business every 4 to 8 years dependant on who gets elected"? In the US we already know this doesn't work out because "big tech firms" will just buy the lobbying they need to get what they want. At best we can put some bandaids on the internet, at worst we're making it some kind of authoritarian nightmare depending on whatever companies get to enforce contracts based on the law.

gooseus 9y ago

> Legislate that political news must be regulated. In what way? Establishing fact-checking institutions or empowering the FCC to fine broadcasting of false political speech? Or with libel laws to allow people to sue for false allegations easier? > Legislate that companies that exert social control over a population, like Facebook, must do so responsibly In what way? Who what agency determines what is a responsible way to "exert social control over a population"? Do we need to be reminded that these are opt-in services where you agree to a ream of terms before being allowed to use the service? At which point does an online service go from being simply a place for people to interact to a company that needs regulating? Does HN qualify or do you need XXX million active users? Legislation should be a last resort since it is so easily circumvented (see tax code) and unfairly applied (see criminal code, specifically the section on drugs).

twblalock 9y ago

I'd rather have news be a free-for-all than have some group of people, or an algorithm, appointed to decide what is true and what is not.

Turing_Machine 9y ago

> Legislate that political news must be regulated. Not just no, but HELL NO! You may be imagining that the regulators will censor the news in a manner that conforms to your opinions. That's not a safe bet.