11 ms·

Bingo. It is not Facebook's responsibility to determine what is fact or fiction, and it is a bit terrifying that we increasingly rely on them (and other compani

by sjroot 6y ago

Bingo. It is not Facebook's responsibility to determine what is fact or fiction, and it is a bit terrifying that we increasingly rely on them (and other companies in this space) to do so. People need to understand how to question, investigate, and challenge the sources of information they consume. If we can't do that, in the US or otherwise, then we are doomed.

polyomino 6y ago
Facebook should teach people how to do that.
- sjroot 6y ago
  No....no they shouldn't. I'd rather that responsibility fall on parents and teachers.
vkou 6y ago
Is it Facebook's responsibility to push paid political propaganda into my feed? Because I get no shortage of that, mostly from the Trump campaign. Right now, they absolutely do discriminate on the information they feed me - most of that discrimination comes in the form of "Did the author of the information pay us?"
- sjroot 6y ago
  That’s their entire business model, so yes it is their responsibility. Their obligation is to advertisers that want to target very specific (or very broad) groups of people. If you don’t like that then close your Facebook account.
  - vkou 6y ago
    Ah, so Facebook has no moral obligation to control posts on whether or not they are true - just on whether or not they get paid to show them? I shudder to think of what a world will look like, where the only things known to the public are things that their authors paid for. That'll certainly be a great improvement to the status quo. People wring their hands over the fifty cent army, but I suppose the five-hundred-thousand-dollar-a-day political ad spend is just something we get to shrug our shoulders at.
    - sjroot 6y ago
      > Ah, so Facebook has no moral obligation to control posts on whether or not they are true - just on whether or not they get paid to show them? To sum it up like that reduces both the enormity and complexity of the problem they are faced with. You say you get spammed with Trump ads; how many of those ads make claims that you could prove are irrevocably untrue? Politicians and people designing political ads are often experts at dancing in the "gray area" of truth. I don't think it is fair to deny the fact that Facebook takes this problem very seriously, certainly beyond what would be expected from them as far as business obligations go. (I'm even saying this as someone building a product that would compete with them.)

by sjroot 6y ago

polyomino 6y ago

Facebook should teach people how to do that.

sjroot 6y ago
No....no they shouldn't. I'd rather that responsibility fall on parents and teachers.

vkou 6y ago

Is it Facebook's responsibility to push paid political propaganda into my feed? Because I get no shortage of that, mostly from the Trump campaign. Right now, they absolutely do discriminate on the information they feed me - most of that discrimination comes in the form of "Did the author of the information pay us?"

sjroot 6y ago
That’s their entire business model, so yes it is their responsibility. Their obligation is to advertisers that want to target very specific (or very broad) groups of people. If you don’t like that then close your Facebook account.
- vkou 6y ago
  Ah, so Facebook has no moral obligation to control posts on whether or not they are true - just on whether or not they get paid to show them? I shudder to think of what a world will look like, where the only things known to the public are things that their authors paid for. That'll certainly be a great improvement to the status quo. People wring their hands over the fifty cent army, but I suppose the five-hundred-thousand-dollar-a-day political ad spend is just something we get to shrug our shoulders at.
  - sjroot 6y ago
    > Ah, so Facebook has no moral obligation to control posts on whether or not they are true - just on whether or not they get paid to show them? To sum it up like that reduces both the enormity and complexity of the problem they are faced with. You say you get spammed with Trump ads; how many of those ads make claims that you could prove are irrevocably untrue? Politicians and people designing political ads are often experts at dancing in the "gray area" of truth. I don't think it is fair to deny the fact that Facebook takes this problem very seriously, certainly beyond what would be expected from them as far as business obligations go. (I'm even saying this as someone building a product that would compete with them.)