Facebook’s Systems Promoted Violence Against Rohingya in Myanmar

https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/facebook-systems-promoted-violence-against-rohingya/

by xparadigm • 4 years ago

32 13 4 years ago

amnestyusa.org

anvic4• 4 years ago

No, Facebook simply showed what other people posted.

fxtentacle2• 4 years ago

Repeating other people's message is typically what promoters do.

anvic4• 4 years ago

Yes? Google is promoting every mail that is sent to your Gmail inbox?

fxtentacle2• 4 years ago

Apparently, they introduced stickers that allow you to boost violent content by flagging it... They probably started this with good intentions, but the algorithm clearly went wrong.

"In 2014, Meta attempted to support an anti-hate initiative known as ‘Panzagar’ or ‘flower speech’ by creating a sticker pack for Facebook users to post in response to content which advocated violence or discrimination. The stickers bore messages such as, ‘Think before you share’ and ‘Don’t be the cause of violence.’

However, activists soon noticed that the stickers were having unintended consequences. Facebook’s algorithms interpreted the use of these stickers as a sign that people were enjoying a post and began promoting them. Instead of diminishing the number of people who saw a post advocating hatred, the stickers actually made the posts more visible."

SQueeeeeL• 4 years ago

Actually evil behavior.

amadeuspagel• 4 years ago

Would it be fair to say that HN "promotes" stories that HN users upvote, let alone actions that such stories might lead to?

djohnston• 4 years ago

People don't like confronting the idea we are violent tribal primates barely above chimpanzees, who conspicuously are also violent tribal primates. The only thing these companies are doing is holding a mirror to our society, and we really don't like the reflection.

CaptainZapp• 4 years ago

The only thing these companies are doing is holding a mirror to our society, and we really don't like the reflection.

If that would be the only thing they're doing that wouldn't be so much of a problem. The main issue is that those companies are massive amplifiers of those violent tendencies.

And as long it doesn't hurt their bottom line or results in bad press they tend to give less than a shit.

Facebook’s Systems Promoted Violence Against Rohingya in Myanmar

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