3 ms·

Facebook auditors call out Zuckerberg for vexing and heartbreaking decisions

9 points by caiobegotti 6y ago

flyingfences 6y ago
What a world we now live in where decisions not to censor speech are considered "vexing and heartbreaking [...] setbacks for civil rights". I feel as though many people have lost perspective on how hard the civil rights movement fought to be allowed to say things that offend the mainstream.
- caiobegotti 6y ago
  I don't know how to engage your argument exactly because I think it's flawed but please note this independent audit was requested by Facebook itself and one of the problems they found is that a phone call with the CEO of the company can do lots for hate/fake speech that had been at least flagged by competitors. You can understand this asymmetry, I'm sure. If Facebook wants to be better at civil rights and request an audit to point out their flaws about it, well... I think that's exactly what happened.
- gsk22 6y ago
  When the speech in question is hate speech directed at minorities, then giving a platform to bigots to spread that hate is definitely a setback for civil rights.
  - gowld 6y ago
    Not everything bad is a civil rights violation.
barbacoa 6y ago
From their audit: "The Auditors believe this clarification is an important one, as it signals that Facebook recognizes that messages warning of surveillance of the polls by law enforcement or immigration officials sends the same (suppressive) message as posts that explicitly use words like “arrest” or “deportation.”" That's an ominous admission on their motivation.
gowld 6y ago
The report is here: https://muslimadvocates.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Civil-Rights-Audit-Final-Report.pdf https://muslimadvocates.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Civil... The Verge article is mainly quotes about how some individuals feel about the report. It seems strange to call an advocate report from a special interest group an "audit". Audits are independent studies.

3 ms·

Facebook auditors call out Zuckerberg for vexing and heartbreaking decisions

9 points by caiobegotti 6y ago

flyingfences 6y ago
What a world we now live in where decisions not to censor speech are considered "vexing and heartbreaking [...] setbacks for civil rights". I feel as though many people have lost perspective on how hard the civil rights movement fought to be allowed to say things that offend the mainstream.
- caiobegotti 6y ago
  I don't know how to engage your argument exactly because I think it's flawed but please note this independent audit was requested by Facebook itself and one of the problems they found is that a phone call with the CEO of the company can do lots for hate/fake speech that had been at least flagged by competitors. You can understand this asymmetry, I'm sure. If Facebook wants to be better at civil rights and request an audit to point out their flaws about it, well... I think that's exactly what happened.
- gsk22 6y ago
  When the speech in question is hate speech directed at minorities, then giving a platform to bigots to spread that hate is definitely a setback for civil rights.
  - gowld 6y ago
    Not everything bad is a civil rights violation.
barbacoa 6y ago
From their audit: "The Auditors believe this clarification is an important one, as it signals that Facebook recognizes that messages warning of surveillance of the polls by law enforcement or immigration officials sends the same (suppressive) message as posts that explicitly use words like “arrest” or “deportation.”" That's an ominous admission on their motivation.
gowld 6y ago
The report is here: https://muslimadvocates.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Civil-Rights-Audit-Final-Report.pdf https://muslimadvocates.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Civil... The Verge article is mainly quotes about how some individuals feel about the report. It seems strange to call an advocate report from a special interest group an "audit". Audits are independent studies.