SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the why-wait-until-AFTER-the-election? dept.
Facebook Braces Itself for Trump to Cast Doubt on Election Results:
Facebook spent years preparing to ward off any tampering on its site ahead of November's presidential election. Now the social network is getting ready in case President Trump interferes once the vote is over.
Employees at the Silicon Valley company are laying out contingency plans and walking through postelection scenarios that include attempts by Mr. Trump or his campaign to use the platform to delegitimize the results, people with knowledge of Facebook's plans said.
Facebook is preparing steps to take should Mr. Trump wrongly claim on the site that he won another four-year term, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Facebook is also working through how it might act if Mr. Trump tries to invalidate the results by declaring that the Postal Service lost mail-in ballots or that other groups meddled with the vote, the people said.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, and some of his lieutenants have started holding daily meetings about minimizing how the platform can be used to dispute the election, the people said. They have discussed a "kill switch" to shut off political advertising after Election Day since the ads, which Facebook does not police for truthfulness, could be used to spread misinformation, the people said.
The preparations underscore how rising concerns over the integrity of the November election have reached social media companies, whose sites can be used to amplify lies, conspiracy theories and inflammatory messages. YouTube and Twitter have also discussed plans for action if the postelection period becomes complicated, according to disinformation and political researchers who have advised the firms.
[...] The preparations underscore how rising concerns over the integrity of the November election have reached social media companies, whose sites can be used to amplify lies, conspiracy theories and inflammatory messages. YouTube and Twitter have also discussed plans for action if the postelection period becomes complicated, according to disinformation and political researchers who have advised the firms.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Bot on Tuesday August 25 2020, @07:26AM (9 children)
I see finally FB woke up to possible political interference, good. (this space reserved for jokes about zuckerberg the hypocrite admitting to censor whoever he...er... it doesn't like already)
I'd say that Trump, being already the president, and having much more to gain by interfering BEFORE the election than AFTER it, should have been already considered as a threat.
So either FB is led by slow people, or they selectively publish results of meeting, which counts as propaganda, or this piece is propaganda itself, BAD TRUMP WANTS TO HURT US HALP.
Ummm ok? next?
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday August 25 2020, @02:19PM (1 child)
Sorry, but BOTH sides have a lot to gain by interfering before the election. Trump is in a stronger position to do the interfering, and shows fewer qualms about being seen to be obviously interfering. And may also have more to lose.
That said, it's hard for a company that thrives on malicious gossip to regulation malicious gossip that it dangerous to it.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday August 25 2020, @08:36PM
>Sorry, but BOTH sides have a lot to gain by interfering before the election
I'd agree, basically the whole world has a lot to gain by interfering before the election, note though that my focus was on the before vs after election, not the possible interfering actors.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 25 2020, @04:02PM (6 children)
This all begs the question: what is not election interference? It should be self-evident that news "media" very strongly influence elections. Since FarceBork and others are now part of "news media", and they're censoring this and that, I say they're all influencing people. Nobody can possibly read all sources of news to try to get a fair balanced view of what's really going on.
Here's a great example of very very very biased one-sided "reporting":
https://hosted.ap.org/thetimes-tribune/article/cec9a8b5675416a3e326bba2079a0ea8/trump-convention-blurs-official-business-and-politics [ap.org]
AP at it again- editorializing but presenting it as "facts" and "reporting".
(Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday August 25 2020, @04:42PM (3 children)
Gotta love mixed metaphors.
Are we ready for the bulldozer races yet? In all my life, I've only ever witnessed a bulldozer moving faster than about 8 mph once. Two of them, actually. Both were being used for firefighting in Nevada. Back story?
Was driving along about 80, when a cop car and two trucks whizzed past me, doing at least 120. I caught up with them maybe 1/2 hour later, trucks parked a couple miles apart. First dozer was off the low-boy trailer, and hauling ass into the grasslands, moving fast for a dozer - maybe 20, possibly 25 mph. When I reached the second, the dozer was still backing down off of the low-boy.
Imagine the rough ride, sitting on a Cat D-9, running across the prairie at that speed. Not fun!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 25 2020, @11:33PM
Need this music playing in the background (of Trump's bulldozers charging): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYu7c4Vkmp0 [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by dry on Wednesday August 26 2020, @03:53AM
Thing with a 'dozer isn't the speed but the momentum. Try stopping one once it's going.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 26 2020, @09:08AM
Runaway has seen bulldozers. I am duly impressed. Has he seen Ducks, though? Black Swans? Has he seen fire, and has he seen rain? Really, you dotardly old coot, we really, really, do not care to hear what you have seen. You are boring, and stupid, and stupid boring. It hurts just to read your shit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 26 2020, @09:05AM (1 child)
Oh, fuck, you've done it now! You have used "begs the question" incorrectly, and summoned a horde of aristarchus led grammar nazis upon yourself. May Webster have mercy upon your sole!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 26 2020, @09:13AM
Really, just read the journal entry [soylentnews.org]. It is all there. Quasi-literate persons are the bane of our days, what with the Nipple and Button, and Thigh-land, the Oranges of the Russia Hoax, not to mention the covfefe, and the, OK, too many examples to recite. Hopefully this will hold off the full wrath of the ancient Greek philosopher, if you mend your weighs, and put a new leash on life.