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by sofixa 1642 days ago
But it literally results in genocides (Rohingya) because those people aren't technically literate and Facebook can't be bothered to hide moderators for exotic (non-english) languages.

The benefits are great, but it's not among the things that should be done by a for profit company, let alone one that lives on "engagement".

2 comments

I mean... tech is inherently amoral.

Tor is used for CSAM. PhpBB and PeerTube are used for djihadist propaganda.

There really isn't any trivial way to give people better communication technology without giving them better ability to coordinate to do awful things. If you don't want that, fine, but then the natural conclusion isn't "we shouldn't push Whatsapp on third-world countries", it's "we shouldn't develop the internet in third-world countries". Telegram and Signal can be used to incite genocides just was well.

The key point is moderation is a requirement if they are going to offer these services in new places. Hire locals that speak the language to remove problematic content or don’t do this at all.

I don’t think being technically literate has anything to do with it. We in the developed world are just as susceptible to misinformation.