Facebook is actively removing postings I'm making today.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

People keep saying that "the algorithm," as if it's some mystical force acting in independence of human tinkering and will, takes down postings on Facebook.

If that's the case, then I'd like some explanation for why, when I posted that graphic, it was immediately taken down with a warning to me, but when she posted it, nothing happened.

#Facebook #censorship #Republicans #Trump
/6

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

Obviously something more is at work as Facebook censors some people than "the algorithm."

One dynamic, I suspect, is that if people watching your account for hostile reasons flag it and report it repeatedly to Facebook, often acting in concert with others, Facebook then puts censorship mechanisms in place for your account. These often have overt political intent.

#Facebook #censorship #Republicans #Trump
/7

[wood5y@mastodonapp.uk]

@wdlindsy In the circumstances NSDAP (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei ) might be a better abbreviation than Nazi.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

In the lead-up to the 2016 election, I began to find that any time I posted anything with the words "white evangelical(s)" in it, Facebook took the posting down.

Meanwhile, I see on an ongoing basis all sorts of obvious right-wing disinformation being circulated freely on Facebook, with no attempt that I can see made by Facebook to censor that disinformation.

More than "just the algorithm" is at work in Facebook censorship.

#Facebook #censorship #Republicans #Trump
/7

[vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de]

@wdlindsy even without this there's already a definite bias of the algorithm not just to remove political posts, but anything that is vaguely related to "bad news", I've been stopped for sharing safety messages from the local Fire Brigade (literally how to prevent fires, like the advice from Smokey Bear you have in USA) for vague reasons. I believe there is a deliberate attempt to encourage "toxic positivity" on Meta assets to keep them advertiser friendly..

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@vfrmedia "I believe there is a deliberate attempt to encourage 'toxic positivity' on Meta assets to keep them advertiser friendly."

That's a very good point. I agreee. Facebook has never taken down a nice photo I make of my garden or neighborhood or a meal I've cooked.

And even when they do not take down my politically motivated postings, I know that they use some shadow-banning system to keep them from being widely seen.

[philip_cardella@historians.social]

@wdlindsy it certainly could be the algorithm but that's not the right question.

Algorithms are either written by people or written by garbage llm ai that uses a human written algorithm.

I think the right question is something like "why is Facebook censoring information and PEOPLE who are not pro Trump?" And "how are they determining what to censor and for how long?".

At the end of the day humans are responsible for all of these actions or inactions. Three algorithm is just a tool.

[vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de]

@wdlindsy also "Truck and Trump" folk are more likely to accept adverts and marketing without question and even buy stuff from them compared to lefties, especially vehicles, consumer goods, junk food products, meat and other things progressive folk try to cut down on, so they would be viewed as a more valuable demographic/product to Meta...

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@wood5y I suspect you're right if historical accuracy is the goal. Most American readers would have no clue what the acronym meant, though, unfortunately.

[wood5y@mastodonapp.uk]

@wdlindsy Neither would Faceache's algorithm.

[vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de]

@wdlindsy even without shadow banning the feed is engineered to prioritise such things as cat videos sponsored by pet food companies rather than my own friends DJ sets (which I often end up missing because their post only appears days later). I don't even have a cat at home!

(I have befriended some neighbours cats, but I certainly don't feed them as I don't want to entice them away from their families)

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@wood5y Ah, I see your point now. Sorry to be so thick-headed previously. You're exactly right!

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@vfrmedia That's right. And we have abundant evidence that the whole tech-bro community increasingly leans in a right-wing direction often disguised as "libertarianism."

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@philip_cardella Yes, you put the points better than I did. I very much agree with what you're saying here.

[billmcguire@universeodon.com]

@wdlindsy @AlliFlowers

My personal belief is that Zuckerberg is behind it showing off his true colors, that he wants to eliminate views he personally doesn't believe in or that he believes might hurt him with trump. He came out weeks ago declaring he was some sort of weird name politically now. Never seen it before; perhaps he made it up, but since then I think he ordered his peeps to thwart anti-trump, anti-Republican views. Best wishes to you.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@vfrmedia You're very right. I'm smiling at your cat comments. We don't have cats, but our neighbors next door to us have several and also feed homeless cats, so that cats are always around our house, and often sleep in chairs on the front porch. It gives us a way to enjoy seeing and petting cats without being responsible for them — and there's the added problem that I'm allergic to them. But, yes, FB absolutely adores cat videos!

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@BillMcGuire @AlliFlowers That sounds correct to me — behind it, as in setting policies for the entire organization.

And the use of algorithms and how FB chooses to censor or not censor is all deliberately shrouded in mystery, deliberately opaque. There's not even a clear way to protest when something you've posted is taken down. In some cases, I've simply had a notice that a posting was removed, and the notice does not even tell me what the posting was.

[wood5y@mastodonapp.uk]

@wdlindsy The Chinese (and now Hong Kongers) have long since learnt to talk in code when discussing politics under their oppressive regime(s).

[beingreal@mastodon.world]

@wdlindsy

What a pompous buffoon you turned out to be.

That paragraph "But please dont cherish the illusion, etc" is nonsensical religious claptrap. Take the moral high ground. Erect the cross.

Please. You hate having your inconsistency exposed. Your reliance on logic yet carrying a total blindspot where god is concerned like a cross before you.

I'd gladly give credit to any bible-thumper who stopped and thought "I wonder is it all a con?"

Ally? I suspect you're a flag waver like the MAGAs

[luuk_aalders@mastodon.nl]

@wdlindsy

Tha is, because Zucherburg, like all other biljonairs, support MAGA and Trump