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I think we also need transparency around coordination of these efforts with any government actors. At least to the extent the efforts affect citizens. Kind of

I think we also need transparency around coordination of these efforts with any government actors. At least to the extent the efforts affect citizens. Kind of like transparency reports with regard to data requests.

roywiggins 5y ago
Governments have set up departments to forward requests for takedowns directly to Facebook, sidestepping whatever due process they usually would require to get a court order: "Watchdogs say that this coordination between governments and online platforms lacks transparency and operates through an alternative enforcement mechanism that denies due process of law. In the vast majority of cases, the Cyber Unit doesn’t file a court order based on Israeli criminal law and go through the traditional legal process to take down online posts. Instead, the Unit makes appeals to the platform’s content moderation policies and community standards. The enforcement of these policies though can be selective, devoid of different cultural contexts, and flexible to the interests of the powerful." https://prospect.org/world/how-secretive-cyber-unit-censors-palestinians/ https://prospect.org/world/how-secretive-cyber-unit-censors-...
- pyronik19 5y ago
  This coordination is being attacked in 1a lawsuites as defacto free speech violation due to FB and other big tech acting as agents of the state.
ManBlanket 5y ago
Right so those with the privilege of deciding who the good guys are and what constitutes misinformation are current political parties and financial interests. Which is great, because governments have never been responsible for orchestrating their own attacks and campaigns of misinformation. I'm so glad we can trust Facebook to have our best interest at heart.
- noptd 5y ago
  At least there is some level of accountability and transparency potential for elected officials. I don't see how we would be better off by having a small number of private individuals making these decisions for us.
  - lugged 5y ago
    Why not neither? Why do we afford Facebook the right to decide for us at all?

roywiggins 5y ago

Governments have set up departments to forward requests for takedowns directly to Facebook, sidestepping whatever due process they usually would require to get a court order: "Watchdogs say that this coordination between governments and online platforms lacks transparency and operates through an alternative enforcement mechanism that denies due process of law. In the vast majority of cases, the Cyber Unit doesn’t file a court order based on Israeli criminal law and go through the traditional legal process to take down online posts. Instead, the Unit makes appeals to the platform’s content moderation policies and community standards. The enforcement of these policies though can be selective, devoid of different cultural contexts, and flexible to the interests of the powerful." https://prospect.org/world/how-secretive-cyber-unit-censors-palestinians/ https://prospect.org/world/how-secretive-cyber-unit-censors-...

pyronik19 5y ago
This coordination is being attacked in 1a lawsuites as defacto free speech violation due to FB and other big tech acting as agents of the state.

ManBlanket 5y ago

Right so those with the privilege of deciding who the good guys are and what constitutes misinformation are current political parties and financial interests. Which is great, because governments have never been responsible for orchestrating their own attacks and campaigns of misinformation. I'm so glad we can trust Facebook to have our best interest at heart.

noptd 5y ago
At least there is some level of accountability and transparency potential for elected officials. I don't see how we would be better off by having a small number of private individuals making these decisions for us.
- lugged 5y ago
  Why not neither? Why do we afford Facebook the right to decide for us at all?