George.Anthony wrote:
> 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
>>
>>
>>  Â Â Â Â Â  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.
>>
>>  Â Â Â Â Â Â  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]
>>
>>  Â Â Â Â  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.
>>
>>  Â Â Â Â  I bought more popcorn. I should be all set for the next
>> few months at least.
>>
>>  Â Â Â Â  [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.
>
Ha. One of those fowl puns. (if I'm allowed to invoke my expired
poetic license)

--
bill
Theory don't mean squat if it don't work.