4 ms·

It was definitely the Cambridge Analytica scandal and then subsequent media-rampage any time any social-media company touched politics (directly through censors

It was definitely the Cambridge Analytica scandal and then subsequent media-rampage any time any social-media company touched politics (directly through censorship or indirectly through algorithms). That was when it became a mainstream problem.

jazz9k 2y ago
Cambridge Analytica wasn't censorship. It basically involved simple form questions to gauge political affiliation and was brilliant. Ad companies do this every day with no issues. It only became an issue because it helped Trump win. Obama spammed Facebook years earlier, which I think is much worse and people in the tech community called it 'genius'. This sort of double standards is why nobody trusts big tech.
- HeatrayEnjoyer 2y ago
  You're misconstruing it, and there's no double standard.
- DanielHB 2y ago
  Who said anything about that being censorship? I am saying that scandal brought it up to public attention, the Cambridge Analytica scandal was just the triggering point because: 1) It allegedly had russian influence 2) It involved Trump and he was much more controversial at the time 3) By my definition it counts as an "indirect interference from a social media company into politics through the use of algorithms", not censorship
pjc50 2y ago
I've been thinking about this lately and I think the last point at which Internet driven mass politics was a progressive force was the early 2010s. Tahrir Square (2011), Euromaidan (2014), Scottish Indyref (2014). (now, how organic was that? Probably impossible to tell at this distance in time) The Facebook driven Rohingya genocide was starting up in the same time frame (adoption in 2011, military forces deployed in 2017). But following the effectiveness of social media as a revolution-triggering force, governments and political parties had to catch up and control it for their own purposes. Now we have what's effectively been a rightwing revolutionary force derived from the Tea Party take over the Republican party and replace it with strongman populism. HK protests (2019): https://news.sky.com/story/hong-kong-protests-facebook-and-twitter-move-to-block-chinese-campaign-11789617 https://news.sky.com/story/hong-kong-protests-facebook-and-t... ; Chinese government taking action against the last of the 2010s protest wave.

jazz9k 2y ago

Cambridge Analytica wasn't censorship. It basically involved simple form questions to gauge political affiliation and was brilliant. Ad companies do this every day with no issues. It only became an issue because it helped Trump win. Obama spammed Facebook years earlier, which I think is much worse and people in the tech community called it 'genius'. This sort of double standards is why nobody trusts big tech.

HeatrayEnjoyer 2y ago
You're misconstruing it, and there's no double standard.
DanielHB 2y ago
Who said anything about that being censorship? I am saying that scandal brought it up to public attention, the Cambridge Analytica scandal was just the triggering point because: 1) It allegedly had russian influence 2) It involved Trump and he was much more controversial at the time 3) By my definition it counts as an "indirect interference from a social media company into politics through the use of algorithms", not censorship

pjc50 2y ago

I've been thinking about this lately and I think the last point at which Internet driven mass politics was a progressive force was the early 2010s. Tahrir Square (2011), Euromaidan (2014), Scottish Indyref (2014). (now, how organic was that? Probably impossible to tell at this distance in time) The Facebook driven Rohingya genocide was starting up in the same time frame (adoption in 2011, military forces deployed in 2017). But following the effectiveness of social media as a revolution-triggering force, governments and political parties had to catch up and control it for their own purposes. Now we have what's effectively been a rightwing revolutionary force derived from the Tea Party take over the Republican party and replace it with strongman populism. HK protests (2019): https://news.sky.com/story/hong-kong-protests-facebook-and-twitter-move-to-block-chinese-campaign-11789617 https://news.sky.com/story/hong-kong-protests-facebook-and-t... ; Chinese government taking action against the last of the 2010s protest wave.