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| Ryuu96 said: I had planned to use this speech to highlight the outstanding economic, social, and environmental performance of my country, of Spain. |
Great speech but in the same time oversimplifying the problem by putting it all on social media.
If it weren't for social media, how much more would Israel be able to get away with? Mainstream media is even worse in oppressing facts and distributing misinformation. Without social media we wouldn't have a live streamed genocide, we would be as oblivious as to what's happening in Gaza and Ukraine as we were during the gulf wars. The 'WMD in Iraq' would not be questioned.
While this tech billionaires certainly mess with the algorithms, they're still capitalists, making money of whatever they can. That's the only 'safeguard' social media has and why we can see what's happening in Ukraine and Gaza. You Tube (Google) deletes discourse on topics the tech billionaires don't like, but they still allow the videos since those generate revenue. Same for Twitter and Facebook. Comments aren't monetized, but content feeds are.
Ironically the truth still comes out better through social media thanks to capitalism.
So I'm hesitant about giving governments control over social media like they already have over mainstream media. The BBC / CNN / Fox are part of the problem, not a solution to go back to.
Forcing anonymity out of social media is very dangerous. People are already routinely arrested for whistle blowing on social media. It would more easily become a tool of oppression rather than a way to fight disinformation, cyber bullying etc.
Bots need to be banned though, but not by linking user IDs to a state database. That's how AI is targeting anyone with the 'wrong' ideas in Gaza and how the Germans rounded up all the Jews.
Perhaps though a "Voight-Kampff" test on social media accounts or at least regular 'Gotcha' tests where each account must be up to date or not be able to post. Yet who is going to check and manage this database of all user accounts for validity. Anyway I'm for only allowing verified human accounts that get regular checks by gotcha mechanics to make sure they are not bots. Add a 'last verified on ...' to the profile, just like Steam etc added 'purchased' status to combat review bombing.
It all comes from the power the elites and mega corporations have on governments. That's the root cause of all the issues. More legislation to peek inside the black box of algorithms and trying to hold tech billionaires accountable won't work as long as they make / influence the rules.
First our governments have to be taken back by the people, end the continuing drift to plutocracy, back to democracy. Or all those proposals will never lead to anything like the Facebook scandal in the first Trump elections didn't lead to anything.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election
It's out there in the open for everyone to see, yet we're still deflecting onto Russia manipulating elections...
Targeted ads should be banned, automatic fact checking added to all content. For that we need trusted sources though, a rating how much a statement corresponds to trusted sources next to how it matches general consensus in different 'factions'. A simple search algorithm can determine that, but will have to be monitored. Since everything can be manipulated and faked with AI just as much as it can help to verify content.
So in the end you're still better of fact checking for yourself. Personal responsibility for how to use the internet needs to be taught in schools from an early age. How to cross check statements, how to recognize trusted sources, how to find the origin of certain statements, how to suss out misinformation. Teach about echo chambers, how social media algorithms work to create these echo chambers. The simple 'people who liked what you like also like this' is the fundamental core of creating echo chambers. It all started with Amazon and Netflix...
And most important teach our kids how to think for themselves.
Yes, social media is bad and destroying the coherence of society, yet it's complimentary to mainstream media driving people apart. First we must stop politicians from openly lying as they see fit. Make donations to parties / political figures illegal, no more lobbying. Public funds for political parties will keep them on even footing. Ban campaign trails, public debates should inform people on political candidates and issues. Not 'echo chamber' campaigns and rallies funded by the elites.
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