4 ms·

It seems inevitable the people attracted to 'fact checking' and content moderation roles (whether paid or free) are likely to be activists with agendas to push.

It seems inevitable the people attracted to 'fact checking' and content moderation roles (whether paid or free) are likely to be activists with agendas to push. It's a position that gives them power over their political opponents. Without that, it's probably a pretty miserable job.

andybak 2y ago
The difference between "activists with agendas to push" and "everyone else" is surely one of degree.
- immibis 2y ago
  The difference is that if you check 'facts' about good things Trump or Musk did, you're an activist with an agenda to push, but if you check 'facts' about bad things Trump or Musk did, you're doing the lord's work.
willvarfar 2y ago
And I would have guessed that its a low pay job with high stress and turnover that attracts the desperate-for-a-jobs, not the crusaders? Add: there have been lots of whistleblowers about working conditions on Facebook moderation. A couple of accounts are https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57088382 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57088382 and https://www.ft.com/content/afeb56f2-9ba5-4103-890d-91291aea4caa https://www.ft.com/content/afeb56f2-9ba5-4103-890d-91291aea4...
- bluescrn 2y ago
  Some people will seemingly spend every waking hour moderating multiple large subreddits for free. They get something out of it, and it obviously isn't money.
  - ToucanLoucan 2y ago
    That would imply moving to a volunteer, public system of moderation would be, if anything, more activist and biased in nature than less.
  - newsbinator 2y ago
    A lot of them are autistic and they enjoy applying their version of "order" to a chaotic system. The overlap between subreddit moderators and Dungeons & Dragons moderators is probably quite high.
- rapsey 2y ago
  Unless the crusaders are also payed by someone to push their crusade.
brightball 2y ago
The Babylon Bee, a satire site, was repeatedly flagged for false information until their reach was crushed. There’s no reason to repeatedly flag obvious satire unless it’s from activists.
- mrala 2y ago
  What evidence is there for this claim?
  - brightball 2y ago
    I saw the content warnings on it myself, repeatedly and then saw it show up so infrequently that I had to go to their page directly. There have also been some very public stories about it, which I believe included a NY Times article that cause the owner’s attorney to get involved. Most famously, censorship of the BabylonBee was one of the driving forces behind Musk buying Twitter. https://x.com/sethdillon/status/1404457263197310989?s=46 https://x.com/sethdillon/status/1404457263197310989?s=46 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/technology/babylon-bee.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/technology/babylon-bee.ht... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/11/us/politics/babylon-bee-conservative-satire.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/11/us/politics/babylon-bee-c... https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/technology/political-cartoonists-facebook-satire-irony.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/technology/political-cart...
gnz11 2y ago
Fact checking is now activism with an agenda? What a hot take. From what I understand Meta used fact checkers certified by Poynter’s International Fact Checking Network [1]. Now with "community notes" you will most certainly get people with an axe to grind. [1] https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/ https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/
- like_any_other 2y ago
  Poynter operates PolitiFact, which is blatantly partisan: They mark accurate statements as 'mostly false', when what they really mean is they lack a very specific context, in this case per-capita adjustment to make killings 'disproportionate', but NOT e.g. per-homicide-perpetrator adjustment. One could of course argue what is the correct normalization, but PolitiFact doesn't do that - they simply label the accurate statement as false: https://www.politifactbias.com/2020/06/politifact-mangles-fact-check-of-larry.html https://www.politifactbias.com/2020/06/politifact-mangles-fa... They omit fact-checks if those fact checks would give credence to their opposition: https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2021/04/21/politifact-asks-us-back-our-chart-when-we-did-nothing-happened https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2021/04/21/p... Another example of labeling data that they themselves admit is accurate, as false: https://upward.news/p/we-fact-checked-politifact-they-failed https://upward.news/p/we-fact-checked-politifact-they-failed https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/feb/26/instagram-posts/chart-comparing-new-york-and-florida-covid-19-flaw/ https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/feb/26/instagram-... They label a claim as outright false when it was outdated by mere months: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/apr/08/michael-knowles/claim-about-german-bestiality-brothels-based-outda/ https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/apr/08/michael-kn... They manufacture and debunk a strawman, when the claim is unassailably solid and cites the NYTimes and government commissions: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1761228755031237032.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1761228755031237032.html https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/feb/23/sean-parnell/a-nevada-glitch-does-not-equal-mail-ballot-fraud/ https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/feb/23/sean-parne...
  - jhp123 2y ago
    So the claim "German perverts open bestiality brothels" was true in January 2013? Where were these bestiality brothels located?
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
xmodem 2y ago
Can you point to an assessment by a meta fact-checker that you disagree with?
bjourne 2y ago
Would you say the same thing about criminal court judges too?

andybak 2y ago

The difference between "activists with agendas to push" and "everyone else" is surely one of degree.

immibis 2y ago
The difference is that if you check 'facts' about good things Trump or Musk did, you're an activist with an agenda to push, but if you check 'facts' about bad things Trump or Musk did, you're doing the lord's work.

willvarfar 2y ago

And I would have guessed that its a low pay job with high stress and turnover that attracts the desperate-for-a-jobs, not the crusaders? Add: there have been lots of whistleblowers about working conditions on Facebook moderation. A couple of accounts are https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57088382 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57088382 and https://www.ft.com/content/afeb56f2-9ba5-4103-890d-91291aea4caa https://www.ft.com/content/afeb56f2-9ba5-4103-890d-91291aea4...

bluescrn 2y ago
Some people will seemingly spend every waking hour moderating multiple large subreddits for free. They get something out of it, and it obviously isn't money.
- ToucanLoucan 2y ago
  That would imply moving to a volunteer, public system of moderation would be, if anything, more activist and biased in nature than less.
- newsbinator 2y ago
  A lot of them are autistic and they enjoy applying their version of "order" to a chaotic system. The overlap between subreddit moderators and Dungeons & Dragons moderators is probably quite high.
rapsey 2y ago
Unless the crusaders are also payed by someone to push their crusade.

brightball 2y ago

The Babylon Bee, a satire site, was repeatedly flagged for false information until their reach was crushed. There’s no reason to repeatedly flag obvious satire unless it’s from activists.

mrala 2y ago
What evidence is there for this claim?
- brightball 2y ago
  I saw the content warnings on it myself, repeatedly and then saw it show up so infrequently that I had to go to their page directly. There have also been some very public stories about it, which I believe included a NY Times article that cause the owner’s attorney to get involved. Most famously, censorship of the BabylonBee was one of the driving forces behind Musk buying Twitter. https://x.com/sethdillon/status/1404457263197310989?s=46 https://x.com/sethdillon/status/1404457263197310989?s=46 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/technology/babylon-bee.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/technology/babylon-bee.ht... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/11/us/politics/babylon-bee-conservative-satire.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/11/us/politics/babylon-bee-c... https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/technology/political-cartoonists-facebook-satire-irony.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/technology/political-cart...

gnz11 2y ago

Fact checking is now activism with an agenda? What a hot take. From what I understand Meta used fact checkers certified by Poynter’s International Fact Checking Network [1]. Now with "community notes" you will most certainly get people with an axe to grind. [1] https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/ https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/

like_any_other 2y ago
Poynter operates PolitiFact, which is blatantly partisan: They mark accurate statements as 'mostly false', when what they really mean is they lack a very specific context, in this case per-capita adjustment to make killings 'disproportionate', but NOT e.g. per-homicide-perpetrator adjustment. One could of course argue what is the correct normalization, but PolitiFact doesn't do that - they simply label the accurate statement as false: https://www.politifactbias.com/2020/06/politifact-mangles-fact-check-of-larry.html https://www.politifactbias.com/2020/06/politifact-mangles-fa... They omit fact-checks if those fact checks would give credence to their opposition: https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2021/04/21/politifact-asks-us-back-our-chart-when-we-did-nothing-happened https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2021/04/21/p... Another example of labeling data that they themselves admit is accurate, as false: https://upward.news/p/we-fact-checked-politifact-they-failed https://upward.news/p/we-fact-checked-politifact-they-failed https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/feb/26/instagram-posts/chart-comparing-new-york-and-florida-covid-19-flaw/ https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/feb/26/instagram-... They label a claim as outright false when it was outdated by mere months: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/apr/08/michael-knowles/claim-about-german-bestiality-brothels-based-outda/ https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/apr/08/michael-kn... They manufacture and debunk a strawman, when the claim is unassailably solid and cites the NYTimes and government commissions: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1761228755031237032.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1761228755031237032.html https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/feb/23/sean-parnell/a-nevada-glitch-does-not-equal-mail-ballot-fraud/ https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/feb/23/sean-parne...
- jhp123 2y ago
  So the claim "German perverts open bestiality brothels" was true in January 2013? Where were these bestiality brothels located?

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

xmodem 2y ago

Can you point to an assessment by a meta fact-checker that you disagree with?

bjourne 2y ago

Would you say the same thing about criminal court judges too?