
Steve Bannon Sought to Infiltrate Facebook Hiring - zmitri
https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/steve-bannon-sought-to-infiltrate-facebook-hiring
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chrissnell
This article names no sources, only purported emails. It doesn’t show the full
text of the emails, just short quotes. It doesn’t provide message headers [1]
or any other substantive indication that they are factual. How were these
vetted? I’m going to guess that they weren’t.

This article has all of the weight of a gossip column.

[1] Headers can be forged, of course, but it’s at least enough that an
external party might be able to corroborate or disprove this story.

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forapurpose
Buzzfeed does have a general reputation for accuracy; their not a propaganda
outlet.

I'm fine with raising questions, but we can question everything on that level
- nothing is certain. Long, involved scientific studies still have enough
flaws and uncertainties to fill many HN threads. Some uncertainty doesn't wipe
out all credibility.

Anonymous sources are essential to critical public information; Woodward and
Bernstein never revealed their source - should the Washington Post never have
published the articles?

> I’m going to guess that they weren’t.

That statement has less credibility than the article's, though at least it's
acknowledged that it's a guess.

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Clubber
As always, the _why_ is the most important part.

>The secret attempt to find bias in Facebook’s hiring process reflects
longstanding conservative fears that Facebook and the other tech giants are
run by liberals who suppress right-wing views both internally and on their
dominant platforms.

As someone who considers themselves above the fray, I would say those fears
are not unfounded.

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kelukelugames
1\. Do you remember Trump badgered his supporters to be vigilant about voter
fraud during his campaign? The only person caught voting twice was a Trump
supporter. She wanted to "test the system." I suspect they encourage the
paranoia on purpose.

2\. I've worked at tech companies for almost a decade. The only right wing
view I've seen suppressed is "defense of traditional marriage." It's 2017. I
think we all know what that means.

~~~
em3rgent0rdr
> "The only right wing view I've seen suppressed..."

Well if views are effectively suppressed then you won't hear them.

~~~
kelukelugames
I've heard people talk about abortion is baby killing and Obama being a Muslim
out loud. Weren't suppressed.

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IdontRememberIt
When clicking on the facebook links in the comment section, several profiles
look like fake ones. Do you know if Buzzfeed use this strategy to fake
activity in the comment section? Or is it a pro/anti-trump fight strategy?

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virtuabhi
Were they successful? Maybe not in WhatsApp but in some other group?

