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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Senate The Facebook controversy

Discussion in 'Community' started by 3sm1r, Jan 9, 2020.

  1. 3sm1r

    3sm1r Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 27, 2017
    AOC criticizes Zuckerberg for allowing fake news in his platform.
    Is she right?

    I have mixed feelings on the issue.
    Is Facebook really supposed to respond for the merit of what is posted? I read fact checker articles quite often, and frankly they turn out to be garbage in a non negligible percentage. Filtering every post on the basis of the reliability of its content would be extremely complicated, and someone might argue that it's up to the reader and not to Facebook to make that call.
     
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  2. FatBurt

    FatBurt Sex Scarecrow Vanquisher star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 21, 2003
    Facebook is a content distributor and to a lesser extent a publisher.

    If it's taking money for publishing adverts it should be a pre requisite that the information it published is factually accurate.

    There are laws (certainly in the UK) against false advertising. The same should apply to political advertising too.

    Across all platforms.
     
  3. Thena

    Thena Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    May 10, 2001
    They'll so whatever they can get away with to line their pockets and keep the GOP happy. That's their standard operating procedure.
     
  4. 3sm1r

    3sm1r Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 27, 2017
    But those laws, do they target the company advertised or the tv channel running the advertising? I'd say the former. So, in this case, if for example the GOP spreads disinformation through Facebook, they should be the ones who get in troubles, not Facebook.
     
  5. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    There's also the question about where their servers are based. On our boards, for example, ours are in the US. We have to observe US child protection laws as a result, which is why you have to be 13 to sign up. There are stricter rules for moderators for users under 13 so we don't allow them. So if FB's servers are all US-based, the UK laws on false advertising might not apply. (Note - I'm not a person with legal training so someone who is can feel free to correct me).
     
  6. Rylo Ken

    Rylo Ken Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Dec 19, 2015
    Have false advertising/consumer protection laws ever been applied to political advertising in the U.S.?

    In terms of first amendment. Political expression is often considered core first amendment speech. Artistic expression is a bit different. Commercial speech is a bit different.

    It all blends together for example when you're trying to get someone to donate money to a campaign. That seems a lot closer to commercial speech, but I think in general false advertising prohibitions don't apply to campaign ads in the U.S.
     
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2020
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  7. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    The problem is that Facebook is a monopoly so it has a huge amount of control over the discourse. There is really nothing particularly innovative about the platform except the way they successfully monetized it which ties directly into the "fake news" and political ad problem. Breaking up monopolies is not the panacea for capitalism that some progressives like to pretend it is, but it is something; at least take Instagram and WhatsApp away from them.
     
  8. Fifi Kenobi

    Fifi Kenobi Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 13, 2019
  9. Darth Punk

    Darth Punk JCC Manager star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 25, 2013
    I’ve got a bridge for sale if anyone here is interested? PM me for more info.
     
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  10. Mortimer Snerd

    Mortimer Snerd Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 27, 2012
    I am interested in your bridge.
     
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  11. TiniTinyTony

    TiniTinyTony JCC Super Bowl Pick 'Em Winner star 7 VIP - Game Winner

    Registered:
    Mar 9, 2003
    So Red Bull will or won't give me wings? If not, who do I sue? I saw the commercial on my Samsung TV, on the Disnecy owned ABC network, brought to me by Verizon Fios. Look out Samsung, Disney, Verizon, and Red Bull -- you're all getting sued!
     
  12. Mortimer Snerd

    Mortimer Snerd Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 27, 2012
    I am interested in latching on to your lawsuit.
     
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  13. tom

    tom Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2004
    i think in order for your lawsuit to stick you'll need to drink a red bull and then leap from a tall building.
     
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  14. Darth Punk

    Darth Punk JCC Manager star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 25, 2013
    Collection only.
     
  15. A Chorus of Disapproval

    A Chorus of Disapproval Head Admin & TV Screaming Service star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Aug 19, 2003
    I need a tag at the end where the bridge alleviates my concerns about accuracy by plainly stating, "I am the bridge and I approve this message" before I feel all issues of inaccuracy are properly sorted.
     
  16. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    It is rather amusing that everyone is suddenly up in arms about deceptive ads in the area of politics when ads in literally every other area have also been deceptive since the very birth of advertising. I mean, is using fake stats in a political ad really more evil than using fake fries in a McDonald's ad?
     
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  17. SateleNovelist11

    SateleNovelist11 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 10, 2015
    I feel it's wrong. There are a lot of things wrong with Facebook. The 2014-2015 version of Facebook was its best form. It allowed for quizzes and more thought-provoking apps. Its flaws were there always. However, the website has been growing steadily worse and more so since 2016.

    I think he's wrong. There are some extreme things like white nationalism, denial of climate change, etc. that should not be allowed. That's just my take on it. I think that this anti-intellectual garbage from politicians or otherwise should not be allowed. Zuckerberg may try to look like a moderate, but he's trying to please way too many people, and it's showing his corruption and lack of leadership to attempt this neutrality act.
     
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2020
  18. Lord Vivec

    Lord Vivec Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2006
    [​IMG]
     
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  19. FatBurt

    FatBurt Sex Scarecrow Vanquisher star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 21, 2003
    OK, let me rephrase..

    Adverts should not be deliberately misleading. A cartoon with a bloke sprouting wings as a result of drinking a soft drink so that a company makes some money is a mile away from a political ad which is delivering a false narrative so that the party can get into power.


    IMO
     
  20. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    POPE ENDORSES RED BULL
     
  21. Lordban

    Lordban Isildur's Bane star 7

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2000
    Well, they are, in theory, responsible for the content accessible from their sites. However, political advertising is almost invariably exempt from legal consequences in democratic countries, and has been for a couple of centuries. Facebook just happens to host an unprecedented concentration of political advertising across dozens of countries (and the assorted falsehoods and misleading statements), and as a result for the first time, there's something resembling a single target that can be designated by politicians to blame the lies in politics on.

    Guess what happened?
     
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  22. 3sm1r

    3sm1r Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 27, 2017
    What did really happen after all? Without Facebook Bush was still elected and the war in Iraq was made. It was based on a huge, ridiculous fake news as well. The only big difference is that now the source of fake news is de-centralized .
     
  23. Lordban

    Lordban Isildur's Bane star 7

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2000
    What really did happen? Well, politicians targeted Facebook for spreading misinformation. That's the only change that results from a massive media platform centralizing so many politicians' messages.
     
  24. 3sm1r

    3sm1r Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 27, 2017
    I don't dispute that.

    I see Facebook as a tool. Like most other tools, it can be used both for bad and good purposes.

    If I went in the middle of a big square to spread fake news with a megaphone, nobody would go after the company producing the megaphone.
    Facebook is pretty much like a huge megaphone.
     
  25. FatBurt

    FatBurt Sex Scarecrow Vanquisher star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 21, 2003
    Not really.

    A megaphone is easy to ignore and walking past a crazy on the street and ignoring them is also easy.

    Facebook will happily push it's message repeatedly and in various differing ways based on who will pay them whether it is accurate or not. Facebook has a sheen of respectability, the crazy on the street doesn't


    Massive difference really
     
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