
Most Facebook staff believe company NOT responsible for curbing election disinfo - Kroeler
https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2020/09/blind-anonymous-messaging-app-facebook-election-interference-zuckerberg.html
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aNoob7000
What scares me is the sheer amount of conspiracy stuff on Facebook. My dad is
on Facebook, he's 80, and the stuff he talks to me about on the phone is just
amazing. I initially thought it was only him, but then my sister-in-law's mom
started sending me videos, and I was faced with the same crazy stuff.

I'm not sure what groups my dad is in or how they contact him, but damn there
are a lot of old folks talking about all the same crazy stuff. I really wish
Facebook would address some of this crazy nonsense. I can't tell you the
number of times I've had to tell my dad that it is not George Soros or Bill
Gates behind the conspiracy.

Sorry for rambling on...

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PeterCorless
No, this is the danger we are in. People are letting the "marketplace of
ideas" try to sort things out. However, this is like letting a disease ravage
a population until it achieves herd immunity. If it has no natural immunity,
it never will. Humans do NOT have a natural immunity to propaganda. They are
_carriers_ for it. We are the mosquitos of the malarial swamp of
misinformation that is plaguing the planet currently.

Many folks at Facebook know the terrible plight we are in. But there are
enough people not wanting to rock the boat currently that they have not felt
the urgency to change. It feels like we are reaching a breaking point, though.

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sharkmerry
I think "marketplace of ideas" fails as soon as you have curated feeds.

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millstone
This was a survey done by Blind. For those who do not know, Blind is a social
network that reveals your employer but hides your identity.

Blind members are self-selecting, and the site is chock full of trolls. So
this tell us nothing about what "Most Facebook staff" actually think. The
survey respondents may even be lying about currently working at Facebook.

I like Blind but we should be realistic about what it is.

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vmception
Some people read that prompt and think legally not responsible

Some people read that prompt and think socially not responsible

Some people read that prompt and think socially not responsible in different
countries

Some people read that prompt and think legally and socially not responsible

So it is prudent to understand that not everyone is answering the same
question

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Barrin92
I mean at least half of the employees seem to believe it so that's not bad I
guess, but I honestly would like to hear what justification the other half
has. Facebook is in the business of processing and distributing information,
so dealing with disinformation seems to be in their courtyard. Do these people
also think banks have no responsibility to prevent scams or fraudulent
transactions, or that Amazon or Ebay have no responsibility to detect
fraudulent vendors?

What confuses me about internet platforms and their relationship to
responsibility is, we've always had platforms. If a barkeeper serves minors
alcohol or someone starts some illegal business in the backroom, you're
probably on the hook. Do internet giants just get an excuse because they're
huge?

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PeterCorless
The problem is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act absolves the
platforms from having to regulate decency on their platforms.

[https://www.eff.org/issues/cda230#:~:text=47%20U.S.C.,of%20t...](https://www.eff.org/issues/cda230#:~:text=47%20U.S.C.,of%20the%20Communication%20Decency%20Act&text=Section%20230%20says%20that%20%22No,%C2%A7%20230)).

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camillomiller
Denial. When people ask how can software engineers in companies like Facebook
feel no sense of responsibility about what their building, is that they just
trapped in a mechanism of denial. There is NO WAY that someone can otherwise
be a well-educated computer scientist and at the same time think that anything
Facebook does is acceptable for our society at large, or that it’s having any
meaningful positive impact on society. And no, save me the “I can keep up with
my family and friends around the world” bullshit.

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justaguy88
Facebook is on the road to becoming 4chan

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PeterCorless
More akin to Encyclopedia Dramatica, but point taken.

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Tagbert
The problem is that the algorithms reinforce ideas by feeding in more and
more. The crazier it is the more it reinforces. This is Facebook’s fault. They
should feel responsible for this affect.

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betwixthewires
They're not. People can share whatever nonsense with one another that they
like.

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klyrs
Even if those "people" are foreign governments peddling divisive propaganda.
The founders are truly smiling down on our unrelenting commitment to free
speech. /s

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betwixthewires
They're not.

