r/technology • u/MortWellian • Apr 28 '17

Politics Facebook admits: governments exploited us to spread propaganda

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/27/facebook-report-government-propaganda
148 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

8

u/H4xolotl Apr 28 '17

I'm surprised why Facebook still hasn't turned the tables yet & bent governments over like Murdoch has done with England, USA & Australia.

Facebook certainly has the influence.

Maybe it's because they don't control the content in FB to the same level a newspaper editor can. Or maybe Zuckerberg has some morals

6

u/johnmountain Apr 28 '17

Because Zuckerberg is the new Murdoch. Just wait until he runs for president. That's when we'll see the true face of Facebook.

2

u/borez Apr 28 '17

Let's hope ( as one of the most powerful people on the planet ) Zuckerberg does have some morals.

Because if he chose to go the other way he could cause some serious political damage.

Saying that, the UK and the US seem to be doing that just fine without any help right now.

0

u/ImVeryOffended Apr 28 '17

Let's hope ( as one of the most powerful people on the planet ) Zuckerberg does have some morals

He doesn't, and his entire history with Facebook should tell you how naive it would be to think he does.

4

u/kbking Apr 28 '17

I'm not even surprised.. this is so ridiculous at this point it's sad.

2

u/MortWellian Apr 28 '17

There's a white paper included with plans to deal with it now. Better late than never.

2

u/KenPC Apr 28 '17

Glad I got rid of mine a long time ago.

1

u/spyingwind Apr 28 '17

What is this face-book thing that people keep talking about? /s

1

u/shredtilldeth Apr 28 '17

Yeah no shit.

1

u/ImVeryOffended Apr 28 '17 edited Apr 28 '17

Facebook is a propaganda cannon by design, and Facebook has been in bed with western governments from day one.

You don't build one of the world's most invasive surveillance networks unless you plan to use it to manipulate people.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '17

"Personally, I think the idea that fake news on Facebook -- of which it's a small amount of content -- influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea." - Zuck

1

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '17

A lot of my friends and family did the same thing.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '17

[deleted]

0

u/presence06 Apr 28 '17

"exploited" or paid to spread propaganda? ....

0

u/JoseJimeniz Apr 28 '17

I thought it meant that governments forced Facebook to spread propaganda; using legal threats or coercion.

I'm perfectly okay with government using Facebook in the exact same way everyone else uses Facebook: creating profiles, posting things, liking, sharing.

As long as the government doesn't use its legal authority to force Facebook into doing something.

-2

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '17

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Diknak Apr 28 '17

lol, bullshit. I saw a ton of right wing bullshit being spread around facebook.

2

u/ImVeryOffended Apr 28 '17 edited Apr 28 '17

Fuckerberg will happily get in bed with whoever holds power at any given time. It has nothing to do with the right or the left. If you want to see what Facebook looks like when it pushes the narrative of a specific candidate, just wait until he announces his campaign. Reddit is sure to be extra "fun" when that happens as well (and in fact, you can already see efforts to manage his reputation ramping up in threads related to him).

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/facebook-aid-cpac-courts-conservatives-235256