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Facebook profits from fake news by allowing politicians to publish outright lies, so I'm not surprised that fake news is "fooling" Facebook's fact-checking. So

Facebook profits from fake news by allowing politicians to publish outright lies, so I'm not surprised that fake news is "fooling" Facebook's fact-checking. Sources: - https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/27/facebook-only-dutch-factchecker-quits-over-political-ad-exemption https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/27/facebook-... - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/technology/elizabeth-warren-facebook-ad.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/technology/elizabeth-warr... Deactivated my Facebook account today. Hope to delete someday.

monocasa 7y ago
I mean, it sort of has to be. Ultimately Facebook is only allowed to operate because politicians allow it to. Pissing off too many politicians is an existential threat to Facebook. That's not to totally absolve Facebook btw; a major part of what needs to happen is a huge amount of transparency so that constituents can pressure politicians correctly.
- faitswulff 7y ago
  I don't see how it's a requirement to allow politicians to lie. For instance, both Twitter and Google now prohibit political advertisement entirely. Facebook could follow suit. They'd just make less money.
  - Fellshard 7y ago
    Implicit in that statement is that you are allowing Facebook to lie. You cannot stop people from lying; what you can do is silence the ability to counter lies spread through other mediums.
  - bananabreakfast 7y ago
    Political ad spend is a tiny amount of facebook's revenue. It has nothing to do with money and everything to do with Zuck's politics
    - monocasa 7y ago
      It's not about overt advertisements, but standard viral communications that the platforms live and die on.
    - reaperducer 7y ago
      Political ad spend is a tiny amount of facebook's revenue Then there's no reason not to discontinue political ads.
  - monocasa 7y ago
    Because politicians can find ways to shut down companies. I've heard rumors that Microsoft's antitrust woes in the 90s were as much a reflection of their unwillingness to play ball with some political goals as much as any legitimate antitrust concerns. And Twitter special cases politicians in their system last time I checked. That's how Trump doesn't get his account banned for stuff that would get you and I banned.

monocasa 7y ago

I mean, it sort of has to be. Ultimately Facebook is only allowed to operate because politicians allow it to. Pissing off too many politicians is an existential threat to Facebook. That's not to totally absolve Facebook btw; a major part of what needs to happen is a huge amount of transparency so that constituents can pressure politicians correctly.

faitswulff 7y ago
I don't see how it's a requirement to allow politicians to lie. For instance, both Twitter and Google now prohibit political advertisement entirely. Facebook could follow suit. They'd just make less money.
- Fellshard 7y ago
  Implicit in that statement is that you are allowing Facebook to lie. You cannot stop people from lying; what you can do is silence the ability to counter lies spread through other mediums.
- bananabreakfast 7y ago
  Political ad spend is a tiny amount of facebook's revenue. It has nothing to do with money and everything to do with Zuck's politics
  - monocasa 7y ago
    It's not about overt advertisements, but standard viral communications that the platforms live and die on.
  - reaperducer 7y ago
    Political ad spend is a tiny amount of facebook's revenue Then there's no reason not to discontinue political ads.
- monocasa 7y ago
  Because politicians can find ways to shut down companies. I've heard rumors that Microsoft's antitrust woes in the 90s were as much a reflection of their unwillingness to play ball with some political goals as much as any legitimate antitrust concerns. And Twitter special cases politicians in their system last time I checked. That's how Trump doesn't get his account banned for stuff that would get you and I banned.