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."
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.
> 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.
Spam is by definition messages that the recipient does not want to receive. Given what happened in Myanmar it looks like these people did want to receive those messages - but some organisations like "Amnesty International" didn't want those users to receive those messages. That is not a spam issue, that is a censorship issue.
Spam is by definition messages that the recipient does not want to receive.
Whether or not the recipient wants an email is an orthogonal concern to whether Google promotes it. When Google places email in someone's Inbox, as opposed to Spam, Google is promoting that email.
That is not a spam issue, that is a censorship issue.
Alright, it's a censorship issue. Censorship on one side; genocide on the other. Ideology or pragmatism.
"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."