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by leereeves 665 days ago
That's a poor comparison to this case.

Would Mercedes be liable if the car (i.e. the algorithm) decided to run over someone?

1 comments

Does the algorithm "decide" to show something, or is it operating mechanically, driven by the inputs of the user?
If it is operating mechanically, then it is following a process chosen by the developers who wrote the code. They work for the company, so the consequences are still the company's responsibility.
The car is following a process chosen by Mercedes' engineers (to go forward when the user presses the accelerator.) The newsfeed is likewise following a mechanistic process driven by user input (they wouldn't be showing misinformation if users weren't uploading and sharing them.)