"What Happens When Facebook Controls the News"

[Deleted member 6215]

http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/10/what-happens-when-facebook-controls-the-news.html

In the face of criticism over its status as a conduit for harmful misinformation, Facebook has emphasized a commitment to "diverse" viewpoints. Everyone should be able to speak and be heard, and just as importantly for Facebook, be liked and shared. To that end, in countries without media environments as robust as the United States, Facebook has become a primary news source. That includes countries like Myanmar, where an ethnic-cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims is currently underway.

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I came across this today and it continues to reinforce my decision to not participate with Facebook on any level. The phony appeal to "both sides" is combined with a complete disregard of responsibility for what happens as a result of the bullshit on their system. As long as the money keeps flowing in from shares and likes, they don't give a shit what the content of those things are.

There's a good NYT article that's linked and it goes into a lot more detail regarding the overall situation:

Social media messaging has driven much of the rage in Myanmar. Though widespread access to cellphones only started a few years ago, mobile penetration is now about 90 percent. For many people, Facebook is their only source of news, and they have little experience in sifting fake news from credible reporting.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/world/asia/myanmar-rohingya-ethnic-cleansing.html?_r=0

 

[TAJ]

I've heard several stories about people being lynched in India because of this.

 

[Perzeval]

US experienced this

 

[Menx64]

This is happening everywhere. I am surprise it is still legal in many countries. China knew they needed to stop Facebook from entering their country since day 1. Other countries will follow soon.
Facebook was useful at first, but after reading for 1000 time avocado could cure cancer, everybody and their mom knew it could be use for malicious purposes.