
Facebook Says It's Aiming to Make Lying 'More Difficult' - stx
https://www.npr.org/2020/08/13/901915537/top-facebook-official-our-aim-is-to-make-lying-on-the-platform-more-difficult
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quattrofan
So they are going to replace Zuck?

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csilverman
There are two parts of this article that stand out to me.

 _" But frankly, I think that information is an important factor in how some
people will choose to vote in the fall. And so we want to make sure that
information is out there and people can see it, warts and all."_

And:

 _" What would Facebook do if Trump falsely said on the platform that he was
the winner of the presidential election?

Gleicher dodged the question, refusing to directly say whether Facebook would
take action against such a post."_

That's why they'll fail. You can't fight lies if you don't believe that lying
exists.

And I think Facebook, for whatever reason—self-interest calculus rooted in
having the largest userbase at all costs, or currying favor with the current
administration; or even some genuine intellectual conviction that every
opinion deserves to be evaluated no matter the larger damage—has convinced
itself that lying doesn't actually exist.

I'm trying to avoid kneejerk Facebook cynicism these days, so I'll say that
Zuck is a smart, hyper-ambitious guy, and maybe he legitimately thinks he has
some philosophical case for giving a voice to unstable people who believe
Donald Trump is America's last bulwark against a future ruled by a shadowy
cabal of pedophiles.

That second part, however, gives me strong reason to believe Facebook's
tolerance for lies and weaponized misinformation is entirely about self-
interest. The question put to Gleicher would have been a mindlessly easy
softball for anyone who was sincere about eliminating lying.

