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Facebook had a problem on its hands. People were making posts that got caught in the company's automated moderation system or were taken down by its human moderators. The problem wasn't that the moderators, human or otherwise, were wrong to take down the posts. No, the problem was that the people behind the posts were famous or noteworthy, and the company didn't want a PR mess on its hands.
So Facebook came up with a program called XCheck, or cross check, which in many instances became a de facto whitelist. Over the years, XCheck has allowed celebrities, politicians, athletes, activists, journalists, and even the owners of "animal influencers" like "Doug the Pug" to post whatever they want, with few to no consequences for violating the company's rules.
"For a select few members of our community, we are not enforcing our policies and standards," reads an internal Facebook report published as part of a Wall Street Journal investigation. "Unlike the rest of our community, these people can violate our standards without any consequences."
"Few" must be a relative term at Facebook, as at least 5.8 million people were enrolled in the program as of last year, many of them with significant followings. That means a large number of influential people are allowed to post largely unchecked on Facebook and Instagram.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 14 2021, @03:30PM (12 children)
Thanks for the clarification. So we're in favor of Facebook having different rules for different people. Good to know.
(Score: 5, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday September 14 2021, @03:41PM (8 children)
I am opposed to Facebooks policies which is why I don't use their service. Y'know, that capitalism stuff you're always going on about....
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 14 2021, @05:38PM (6 children)
You aren't that big a deterrent from them doing the wrong thing that you think you are.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 14 2021, @06:45PM (3 children)
Your brain isn't as big as you think it is.
/rant Rightwingers really don't understand freedom, they internalized some sound bites and turned off their brains so Fox could program them as needed. As DM or someone else said above conservatives drop their freedom ideals as soon as something negatively affects themselves.
No one here likes FB, and I bet every user here wishes their servers would spontaneously combust, but most rational people realize FB is a private entity that can do what it likes within the law. If we violate the freedom of FB it is a short trip to curtailing the rights of everyone.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 15 2021, @01:14PM
Nitpick. Right-wingers don't believe in freedom. Anything they say about wanting "freedom" is a lie. It's bullshit to lure you in, bullshit to disarm you, bullshit to confuse you, bullshit to make you question the evidence of your eyes and think that maybe the neo-Sturmabteilung just has some kind of ammosexual fetish, when they fully intend to seize political power for the creation of a fascist presidential dictatorship.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 15 2021, @02:57PM (1 child)
First they came for Facebook, and I said nothing, for I wasn't a sleazy privacy invading corperation
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 15 2021, @03:18PM
That's the capitalist era for you.
You can go for regulation, but that only increases barriers to entry. What all of it translates to is integration with the military-industrial complex. If you cared about freedom, this is not a road you want to go down over a *free* internet service.
By the time we're done regulating internet speech "platforms," you'll be forcing me to host content on my personal web server from the Wolverine Watchmen on the basis that my $20 linode constitutes as "platform." Doubly so if I federate with the Fediverse. Probably you'll also want me to take down Marxist links and content too on the basis that it's anti-woman pro-rape "hate speech" or some shit.
The Democratic Party does it almost the same as the Republican Party. The Democratic Party has its misogynerd narrative. The Republican Party has its fascist decadence narrative.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday September 14 2021, @09:27PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Tuesday September 14 2021, @10:19PM
I can't change the world.
Only myself.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 15 2021, @01:25AM
Boycotts are useless when it comes to the mass collection of data. Facebook has shadow profiles of people who don't allow themselves to be abused by their disservice. Someone you know just has to give Facebook some of your information, or tag you in a photo so they have your facial recognition data and can recognize you in the future.
People are focusing on the wrong thing when it comes to companies like Facebook and Google. The real threat is that they aid the totalitarian mass surveillance state. We should have privacy laws so strict that this entire business model collapses. Boycotts are not enough.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday September 14 2021, @03:48PM (1 child)
'eh, in favor of is a mite strong. Support the right of Facebook to shoot themselves in the foot, definitely. Really, I'm not much in the favor of Facebook/Instagram/TikTok/MySpace/Etc, but the people have spoken and they want more gossip. The things that people freely share on the internet are disturbing. Not just talking about "disturbing" things, but birthdays, family photos, schedules and more. It's like someone looked at a Social Engineering guide and said, wow, we should provide
hackersthieves all this stuff, so they can wreak our lives.Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 14 2021, @05:37PM
Not strong at all. YES 100% is the only answer.
Facebook can host whatever they like on their server. The fact you are getting all in a tizzy about it is just free advertising for Facebook. Oooh is Facebook too permissive, or is it too lax, let's have years of debate about it keeping it nice and exciting. Click click click. The answer is yes, move on.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Tuesday September 14 2021, @10:16PM
Sure. I just wonder why the dumb fucks stay on this cesspool.