To: Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman
FACEBOOK'S ALGORITHMS ARE PROMOTING PERSECUTION AND RIGHTIST EXTREMISM
Facebook has unwitting helped the persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar and facilitated the rise of authoritarian proto-fascist regimes in India, Turkey, Hungary and others.
Why is this important?
I heard a story on WNYC that I found greatly disturbing. It seems that fascists, Nazis, white supremacists and the like have learned how to use Facebook greatly to their advantage.
Therefore Facebook has unwitting helped the persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar and facilitated the rise of authoritarian proto-fascist regimes in India, Turkey, Hungary and others.
It seems that FB’s algorithm greatly favors the kind of inflammatory comments that get many progressive comments AGAINST them. FB “favors” those posts that draw the most comments – and so I have noticed lately that pro-Trump inanities attacking progressive posts, once they have drawn many responses against them, are seen on the top of the “response feed.”
Therefore a fascistic post or even simple (-minded) trolling gets priority – no matter that the comments are 90-95% against it.
If FB would change their algorithm to weight the CONTENT of the comments, as opposed to favoring those who get the greatest NUMBER OF REPLIES, LIKES, ETC, that would obviate this problem.
What do you think? Isn’t DEMOCRACY at stake?
Therefore Facebook has unwitting helped the persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar and facilitated the rise of authoritarian proto-fascist regimes in India, Turkey, Hungary and others.
It seems that FB’s algorithm greatly favors the kind of inflammatory comments that get many progressive comments AGAINST them. FB “favors” those posts that draw the most comments – and so I have noticed lately that pro-Trump inanities attacking progressive posts, once they have drawn many responses against them, are seen on the top of the “response feed.”
Therefore a fascistic post or even simple (-minded) trolling gets priority – no matter that the comments are 90-95% against it.
If FB would change their algorithm to weight the CONTENT of the comments, as opposed to favoring those who get the greatest NUMBER OF REPLIES, LIKES, ETC, that would obviate this problem.
What do you think? Isn’t DEMOCRACY at stake?