On 4/28/22 12:19 PM, Technobarbarian wrote:
>
> "GUEST ESSAY
>
> I Blew the Whistle on Facebook. Europe Just Showed Us the Next Step."
>
> "Elon Musk’s deal to take Twitter private, which has spurred questions
> about power, censorship and safety for the future of the platform,
> happened just days after the European Union reached a landmark agreement
> to make social media less toxic for users. The new E.U. standards, and
> the ethic of transparency on which they are based, will for the first
> time pull back the curtain on the algorithms that choose what we see and
> when we see it in our feeds.
>
> In Europe’s case, the dryly named Digital Services Act is the most
> significant piece of social media legislation in history. It goes to the
> heart of what I’ve tried to do as a whistle-blower who worked inside
> Facebook: make social media far better without impinging on free speech.
> Today, Facebook’s poorly implemented content moderation strategies leave
> those most at risk of real world violence unprotected and only
> consistently succeed at one thing: angering everyone.
>
> Last October, I came forward a with a simple message: Facebook knew it
> was cutting corners to make more money, and the public was paying the
> price. In over 20,000 pages of documents that I disclosed to the
> Securities and Exchange Commission and to Congress, the public learned
> what Facebook already knew — its products were spurring hate and
> division, leading teenagers into rabbit holes of self-harm and anorexia,
> leaving millions of users without basic safety systems for hate speech
> or violence incitement and, at times, were even used to sell humans
> across the platform.
>
> Global companies had chosen profit-maximizing strategies at the expense
> of the public interest before. We’ve seen it with pollution in the
> chemical industry, environmental damage in natural resource extraction
> and predatory mortgages in financial services.
>
> What distinguishes the bad practices of these other industries from Big
> Tech is simple — there are laws holding them accountable. That’s what
> government is intended to do in democratic capitalism: use the law to
> steer the market back into alignment with the public interest. When
> concentrated monopolistic power privileges the few over the many and
> distorts how the free market operates, this kind of correction is vital.
>
> How the new European law is carried out will be just as important as
> passing it. It is a broad and comprehensive set of rules and standards,
> not unlike food safety standards for cleanliness and allergen labeling.
> But what is also remarkable about it is that it focuses on oversight of
> the design and implementation of systems (like how algorithms behave)
> rather than determining what is good or bad speech.
>
> The law requires that Facebook and other large social platforms be
> transparent about what content is being amplified and shared virally
> across the platform. And it must apply consumer protections to features
> that, among other things, spy on users, addict kids or weaken public
> safety. With transparency finally required, it will be easier for
> European regulators and civil society to verify that companies are
> following the rules.
>
> These rules are like systems in the United States that compel
> pharmaceutical companies to keep drugs safe and to allow the Food and
> Drug Administration to independently verify the results. Most people
> aren’t aware of them, but we’re all glad they are there.
>
> The new requirement for access to data will allow independent research
> into the impact of social media products on public health and welfare.
> For example, Facebook, Instagram and others will have to open up the
> black box of which pages, posts and videos get the most likes and shares
> — shining light on the outcomes of the algorithms.
>
> This will allow thousands more people, not just those who work at these
> companies, to address the complex problems of how information markets
> change social outcomes. As an algorithmic specialist and data scientist,
> I’m most excited by this. No longer will we depend on taking the
> companies’ word for it when they say they are trying to fix a safety
> problem. Democratic and investor accountability and oversight of big
> companies boils down to whether we can accurately diagnose the problems
> their products are causing, devise solutions and verify that the
> industry is actually following through with them. The era of “just trust
> us” is over."
> [snip]
>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/28/opinion/social-media-facebook-transparency.html
>
>
>       This has all been going on since well before Mr. Musk displayed
> any interest in getting in the business and he has said he wants
> Twitter's algorithms to be transparent.
>
>        Another fun thing that has gone unmentioned here is that if the
> orange outrage ever gets seriously back into tweeting or "truthing",
> that isn't necessarily a good thing for the GOP. The retrummplicans seem
> to have forgotten how the idiot gifted a couple of senate seats to the
> Democrats.
>
> "Donald Trump Rejoining Twitter Could Hurt Republicans in Midterms
> BY KATHERINE FUNG ON 4/26/22 AT 2:04 PM EDT"
>
> "Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter has renewed hopes that Donald
> Trump's account could be reinstated, but the former president has vowed
> not to return to the social media giant—a possible political win for the
> Republican Party.
>
> Political consultants told Newsweek that Trump's determination to stay
> off Twitter could help the GOP take back both the House and the Senate
> in November's midterms.
>
> "Truth be told, most Republican lawmakers would prefer that he not
> rejoin the Twitter universe, because it will be impossible for them to
> stay on message if he does," said Jay Townsend, a Republican political
> consultant who has worked for four presidential campaigns and a number
> of congressional races."
>
> "Some political observers doubt that Trump would be able to refrain from
> using Twitter, noting that the former president "is known to change his
> mind with great frequency." But Townsend and another Republican
> strategist, Alex Patton, said that keeping Trump off the platform could
> definitely help Republicans in the fall.
>
> Pointing to the U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia last year,
> Patton noted that Trump's Twitter presence allowed him to "hijack media
> coverage," which resulted in mixed messaging to Republican voters who
> were trying to decide if they should cast ballots for GOP candidates or
> refrain from voting because of skepticism about the election process's
> integrity.
>
> "Now that [Trump's] political organization is playing heavily in GOP
> primaries, if he were to reengage on Twitter, the potential for messy,
> undisciplined primaries increases dramatically," said Patton, CEO of
> Ozean Media.
>
> Despite warnings that undermining the election process could deter voter
> turnout, Trump has continued to assert that the 2020 presidential
> election was "stolen" and that there was widespread voter fraud. No
> evidence has been produced to support the allegations."
> [snip]
>
> https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-rejoining-twitter-could-hurt-republicans-midterms-1701129
>
>
> "​​POLITICO Playbook: Republicans to Trump: Stay away from Twitter
> By RACHAEL BADE and EUGENE DANIELS  04/26/2022 06:15 AM EDT"
>
> "The news that ELON MUSK is buying Twitter has thrown Washington into a
> tizzy over one major question: Will DONALD TRUMP return to his old
> favorite social media platform and start tweeting again?
>
> As it turns out, no one is more petrified of this than members of
> Trump’s own party.
>
> On Monday night, in a series of calls and texts with several top GOP
> insiders, every single one of them told us that they hoped the former
> president stays the hell away from Twitter, lest he sink their chances
> at flipping the House and Senate. Some of his allies even think that a
> return to his old Twitter habits could damage his own brand ahead of a
> possible third presidential bid in 2024.
>
> “If I’m a Democrat, I’d pray that Elon Musk puts Trump right back on
> Twitter,” said one House GOP leadership aide, who asked not to be named
> to speak candidly. “I don’t think it costs Republicans the House, but it
> certainly will elevate Trump’s opinions — and is going to put Republican
> candidates and members back having to answer for that.”
>
> The person added: “It’s enough to create headaches — and it’s enough to
> probably cost us a couple seats.”
>
> Some may find this a rather surprising reaction, given that many
> Republicans have both accused Big Tech of censoring conservative voices
> (the former president being the most prominent example) and showered
> praise on the Musk takeover. But as is often the case with the GOP and
> all things Trump, privately, they feel very differently.
>
> To be sure, there’s a lot yet unknown about whether or not Trump will
> return to Twitter.
>
> Will Twitter allow it? Questions abound over whether Musk’s new
> leadership team will allow the resurrection of the now-defunct
> @realDonaldTrump handle. (The Tesla and SpaceX impresario, however, has
> blasted Twitter’s permanent bans and what he views as its censorship of
> free speech.)
>
> Will Trump even want to rejoin? Trump said on Fox News on Monday that he
> doesn’t intend to return to the platform, and will instead stick to his
> own social media startup, Truth Social. “I am not going on Twitter,” he
> said. “I am going to stay on Truth.”
>
> Here’s the thing: Nobody really believes him."
> [snip]
>
>      I expect Mr. Musk to piss off the loons at both ends of the
> spectrum. For example, the lefties are likely to be concerned with how
> Mr. Musk's supposedly absolutist free speech ideals work out in China.
>
>      I bought more popcorn. I should be all set for the next few months
> at least.
>
>      [I don't own stock in any social media companies and I am not
> currently working for any of them. I make it a practice to not get too
> attached to the clients. I may be a grand pain here, but I have never
> tweeted in my entire life.]
>
> TB
>

Maybe not but you sure have crowed a lot.