[ahahahahah]

If you build a robot to help people and program that robot to do what its owner says and the owner tells it to shoot people, who's to blame? And if it's you for programming it, is it not then the gun manufacturer to blame when a user of a gun shoots someone? the car manufacturer to blame when the user of a car hits and kills someone?

[vorpalhex]

I think this form of counter works if and only if users explicitly direct the algorithm.

If you buy a handgun, and sometimes that handgun goes off without the trigger being pulled due to faulty design, then that's the one time the handgun manufacturer is actually liable.

It's not as if you get to tell the algorithm "Hey, I want Facebook to be a positive experience" or opt in to content.

When you have an interest like religion or politics and the algorithm starts showing you anti-vaxx material, that isn't the user in control. It is more like that faulty firearm.

[MichaelZuo]

Has any large organization stated on the record for their algorithms what the normal mode of operation looks like and what a failure looks like?

For a handgun both factors are widely understood in the majority of the adult population.