Google and Facebook Secret Algorithms Come Under US Govt. Fire

[FrgMstr]

As tech companies hold more and more power over what information is disseminated to the unwashed masses (that's us), the US Government is now pushing behind the scenes to get a look under the hood as to what exactly is going on with how that information is pushed out. I doubt those answers are going to come easily however.


The investigations into Russia's role in the 2016 election are threatening to pry the lid off tech companies' most prized possessions: the secret inner workings of their online platforms.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, warned Sept. 24 about "the use of Facebook's algorithms and the way it tends to potentially reinforce people's informational bias." He added, "This is a far broader issue than Russia, but one that we really need to know more about."

 

[cyclone3d]

What are they crying about? Especially with Facebook which is most decidedly far Left leaning?

They just want to know how to push out more of their propaganda.

 

[Jagger100]

What are they crying about? Especially with Facebook which is most decidedly far Left leaning?

They just want to know how to push out more of their propaganda.

They are so steeped in their own propaganda, they are firmly convinced this won't come back on them. Probably believed it was perfectly normal for them to take 9 terms on google to get to story's about Hillary's Health. I'm also pretty sure they want to taint Zuckerberg with Anti-Trump hate in order to nip his POTUS aspirations in the bud. Afterall DNC candidates are anointed, not elected.

 

[Prisoner849]

Can hypocrisy be ironic?

 

[NLW]

Interesting stuff. I'm not sure I know how I feel about how this could play out.

On the one hand, access to information and control over who sees what has always been an area of compelling public interest. When monopolistic corporations control too much, it's worrisome. Government interest in this might seem justified, but only if very clearly defined and limited in scope.

On the other hand, the issue might be more akin to freedom of the press, and even that limited interest not appropriate. If this is the case, we still need to prevent monopolies, but use NGOs or other tools to hold companies accountable and expose any problematic behavior.

 

[Biznatch]

What are they crying about? Especially with Facebook which is most decidedly far Left leaning?

They just want to know how to push out more of their propaganda.

Then why do I keep having to mute a bunch of extremely stupid far right news articles from my feed..... Not that I want to see any stupid far left nonsense either. Only retards get their news from facebook, and apparently there are a lot more retards in the country than I previously thought.

 

[JackNSally]

Then why do I keep having to mute a bunch of extremely stupid far right news articles from my feed..... Not that I want to see any stupid far left nonsense either. Only retards get their news from facebook, and apparently there are a lot more retards in the country than I previously thought.

You probably lean more to right according to your tracking info so you the ads you see are more right leaning...

 

[_l_]

tech companies being diabolically manipulative? No way ....

 

[Biznatch]

You probably lean more to right according to your tracking info so you the ads you see are more right leaning...

I don't lean either way or vote along party lines (didn't vote for either main parties pile of shit candidates), and agree/disagree with some of each side. It's more I have some dumb effing 'friends/family' that keep commenting/liking these stupid articles. So you may see lots of left sided articles, but that doesn't mean other people see the same and FB is shoveling their agenda in everyone's face.

 

[TwistedAegis]

I don't know that this is for the government to do. Maybe. But it certainly seems like SOMEONE should take a second look at the primary feeds of data that are fed directly into the eyeballs of billions of people trillions of times per day.

Days like today, sometimes I feel like humanity is just getting too big and complex to manage. We're so wired by evolution to compete with one another, but with this many people cooperation seems to be the only way to make it...I'm not really optimistic anymore.