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Facebook really isn't going to do anything real to counter their disinformation and right-wing propaganda problem, since it is their major content driver and mo

Facebook really isn't going to do anything real to counter their disinformation and right-wing propaganda problem, since it is their major content driver and money maker. Until they are forced by by the government to change they will continue to pay lip service since it is their cash cow.

gigama 5y ago
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!" --Upton Sinclair
reilly3000 5y ago
At any given time 15-18 out of the top 20 stories are Ben Shapiro and others. Its definitely a money-maker, and also at an existential level they feel republicans are less likely to regulate them than democrats. Ironically the right has seen themselves as the victims in this arrangement and seeks to force their moderation to allow extremism.
- prezjordan 5y ago
  They're playing the ref - and they're doing a fantastic job of it.
rednerrus 5y ago
Is disinformation and right-wing propaganda their problem? I run in really deep left circles and I can tell you my Facebook page is full of disinformation and left-wing propaganda. It's horrifying to see what people on both sides believe but it doesn't strike me as a Facebook problem as much as a human problem. I don't see people complaining about Twitter, mostly because they agree with the propaganda that's being spread there.
- blooalien 5y ago
  Gotta agree with you wholeheartedly on your "horrifying" assessment of the situation. Extremists at the furthest ends of almost any spectrum you can name (especially political spectrums) seem to settle on the absolute worst ideas humanity is capable of coming up with.
  - fleddr 5y ago
    The political spectrum should therefore be drawn as a circle, not a line. Far right and far left have quite a lot more in common than one might think, at least in tactics. A solid political movement, whether left or right, cleanses populism from their own. But in the US, they won't, as there's only one side, and every body counts.
- res0nat0r 5y ago
  Every month consistently the top shared links on Facebook are from right wing pundits trying to stir up rage, unfortunately the rightwing echo chamber is much much more of a thing and dominates Facebook. https://twitter.com/FacebooksTop10 https://twitter.com/FacebooksTop10
  - rednerrus 5y ago
    Do you not think that left wing pundits are trying to stir up rage? Did you not watch as they justified burning cities to the ground this summer? The leftwing echo chamber dominates Twitter, Reddit, HN, etc. FB and Youtube are kind of the last bastions of the right currently.
    - mattzito 5y ago
      Are there cities that are burned to the ground? I live in one of the major BLM protest cities and nothing is smoldering wreckage.
      - rednerrus 5y ago
        https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-st-paul-buildings-are-damaged-looted-after-george-floyd-protests-riots/569930671/ https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-st-paul-buildings-ar... Is this an acceptable level of damage?
        res0nat0r 5y ago
        No, the two are not comparable. This is a standard "both sides argument", but it is false. There is data also to back this up. Here's an entire book on the subject: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0190923636/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0190923636/ pp 352: > The right-wing media ecosystem in particular circulates an overwhelming amount of domestic disinformation and propaganda, and its practices create the greatest vulnerabilities to both foreign propaganda and nihilistic commercial exploitation by clickbait factories. pp 354: > The right wing of the American media ecosystem has been a breeding ground for conspiracy theory and disinformation, aand a significant point of vulnerability in our capacity, as a country and a democracy, to resist disinformation and propaganda. These are a couple of random quotes I bookmarked long ago, but the authors show and back up with data that disinformation and propaganda online is overwhelmingly right-wing.
TechBro8615 5y ago
It's a self inflicted problem. The reason this content is so popular is because it feels subversive (and, separately, trolling is more fun than virtue signaling). The way we measure political alignment is so weird. Maybe instead of "left vs. right," the scale should be "reactionary vs. contrarian" – how do you consume and perceive information? A second axis could be "lurker vs. contributor" – do you mostly consume information, or also produce it? These seem like meaningful differentiators in the context of online discourse, and how it ultimately shapes real-world opinion.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

gigama 5y ago

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!" --Upton Sinclair

reilly3000 5y ago

At any given time 15-18 out of the top 20 stories are Ben Shapiro and others. Its definitely a money-maker, and also at an existential level they feel republicans are less likely to regulate them than democrats. Ironically the right has seen themselves as the victims in this arrangement and seeks to force their moderation to allow extremism.

prezjordan 5y ago
They're playing the ref - and they're doing a fantastic job of it.

rednerrus 5y ago

Is disinformation and right-wing propaganda their problem? I run in really deep left circles and I can tell you my Facebook page is full of disinformation and left-wing propaganda. It's horrifying to see what people on both sides believe but it doesn't strike me as a Facebook problem as much as a human problem. I don't see people complaining about Twitter, mostly because they agree with the propaganda that's being spread there.

blooalien 5y ago
Gotta agree with you wholeheartedly on your "horrifying" assessment of the situation. Extremists at the furthest ends of almost any spectrum you can name (especially political spectrums) seem to settle on the absolute worst ideas humanity is capable of coming up with.
- fleddr 5y ago
  The political spectrum should therefore be drawn as a circle, not a line. Far right and far left have quite a lot more in common than one might think, at least in tactics. A solid political movement, whether left or right, cleanses populism from their own. But in the US, they won't, as there's only one side, and every body counts.
res0nat0r 5y ago
Every month consistently the top shared links on Facebook are from right wing pundits trying to stir up rage, unfortunately the rightwing echo chamber is much much more of a thing and dominates Facebook. https://twitter.com/FacebooksTop10 https://twitter.com/FacebooksTop10
- rednerrus 5y ago
  Do you not think that left wing pundits are trying to stir up rage? Did you not watch as they justified burning cities to the ground this summer? The leftwing echo chamber dominates Twitter, Reddit, HN, etc. FB and Youtube are kind of the last bastions of the right currently.
  - mattzito 5y ago
    Are there cities that are burned to the ground? I live in one of the major BLM protest cities and nothing is smoldering wreckage.
    - rednerrus 5y ago
      https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-st-paul-buildings-are-damaged-looted-after-george-floyd-protests-riots/569930671/ https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-st-paul-buildings-ar... Is this an acceptable level of damage?
      - res0nat0r 5y ago
        No, the two are not comparable. This is a standard "both sides argument", but it is false. There is data also to back this up. Here's an entire book on the subject: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0190923636/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0190923636/ pp 352: > The right-wing media ecosystem in particular circulates an overwhelming amount of domestic disinformation and propaganda, and its practices create the greatest vulnerabilities to both foreign propaganda and nihilistic commercial exploitation by clickbait factories. pp 354: > The right wing of the American media ecosystem has been a breeding ground for conspiracy theory and disinformation, aand a significant point of vulnerability in our capacity, as a country and a democracy, to resist disinformation and propaganda. These are a couple of random quotes I bookmarked long ago, but the authors show and back up with data that disinformation and propaganda online is overwhelmingly right-wing.

TechBro8615 5y ago

It's a self inflicted problem. The reason this content is so popular is because it feels subversive (and, separately, trolling is more fun than virtue signaling). The way we measure political alignment is so weird. Maybe instead of "left vs. right," the scale should be "reactionary vs. contrarian" – how do you consume and perceive information? A second axis could be "lurker vs. contributor" – do you mostly consume information, or also produce it? These seem like meaningful differentiators in the context of online discourse, and how it ultimately shapes real-world opinion.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]