Re Facebook Shouldn't Fact-Check

["David Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dan Gillmor <dan () gillmor com>
Subject: Re: [IP] Re Facebook Shouldn't Fact-Check
Date: December 1, 2016 at 11:07:16 AM EST
To: dave () farber net

What I'd like to see the big platforms do it become the leaders in
promoting media literacy, as opposed to being the arbiters of truth
themselves.

https://medium.com/@dangillmor/facebook-google-twitter-et-al-need-to-be-champions-for-media-literacy-a58ecea5edbe#.ouema4qsb

> They can help their users develop skills that are absolutely
> essential: namely how to be critical thinkers in an age of nearly
> infinite information sources — how to evaluate and act on information
> when so much of what we see is wrong, deceitful, or even dangerous.
> Critical thinking means, in this context, media literacy.



On 12/01/2016 08:57 AM, Dave Farber wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> > *From:* Dan Gillmor <dan () gillmor com <mailto:dan () gillmor com>> 
> > *Date:* December 1, 2016 at 10:46:18 AM EST *To:* dave () farber net
> > <mailto:dave () farber net> *Subject:* *Re: [IP] Facebook Shouldn't
> > Fact-Check*
> >
> >
> > I agree with Lessin in a general way on this topic. But her
> > "disclosure" about her husband's connection to Facebook was way,
> > way shy of complete, as NYT public editor notes in a harsh (for the
> > Times) piece:
> >
> > http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/30/public-editor/facebook-jessica-lessin-liz-spayd-public-editor.html
This is a perfect example of how even our best news organizations --
> > whether through carelessness, indifference, or worse -- sometimes
> > poison trust in their products.
> >
> >
> > On 12/01/2016 08:06 AM, David Farber wrote:
> > > Begin forwarded message:
> > >
> > > *From: *Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com 
> > > <mailto:dewayne () warpspeed com> <mailto:dewayne () warpspeed com>> 
> > > *Subject: **[Dewayne-Net] Facebook Shouldn't Fact-Check* *Date:
> > > *December 1, 2016 at 9:26:24 AM EST *To: *Multiple recipients of
> > > Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com 
> > > <mailto:dewayne-net () warpspeed com> 
> > > <mailto:dewayne-net () warpspeed com>> *Reply-To:
> > > *dewayne-net () warpspeed com <mailto:dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> > > <mailto:dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> > >
> > >
> > > Facebook Shouldn’t Fact-Check
> > >
> > > By Jessica Lessin Nov 29 2016 
> > > http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/opinion/facebook-shouldnt-fact-check.html
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/opinion/facebook-shouldnt-fact-check.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_ty_20161129&nl=opinion-today&nlid=63457&ref=headline&te=1&_r=1>
> > > We finally got a grudging mea culpa from Mark Zuckerberg 
> > > <http://www.npr.org/2016/11/19/502717970/mark-zuckerberg-addresses-fake-news-on-facebook>:
an admission that fake news is a significant problem that his social
> > > network must help solve.
> > >
> > > But as a journalist who has been covering the inner workings of
> > > the technology industry for more than a decade, I find the calls 
> > > for Facebook 
> > > <http://www.nytimes.com/topic/company/facebook-inc?inline=nyt-org>
> > > to accept broad responsibility for fact-checking the news,
> > > including by hiring editors and reporters, deeply unsettling.
> > >
> > > What those demanding that Facebook accept “responsibility” for
> > > becoming the dominant news aggregator of our time seem to be
> > > overlooking is that there’s a big difference between the
> > > editorial power that individual news organizations wield and that
> > > which Facebook could. Such editorial power in Facebook’s hands
> > > would be unprecedented and dangerous.
> > >
> > > We can all agree that Facebook should do much more to make sure
> > > that blatantly fabricated claims that Donald J. Trump won the
> > > popular vote or received the pope’s endorsement don’t spread and
> > > are, at a minimum, labeled fakes.
> > >
> > > Facebook admits, and my sources confirm, that it can do a better
> > > job of this by helping users flag dubious articles and predicting
> > > fakes based on data it has for search. This doesn’t have to
> > > involve humans: Facebook could decide to label content as
> > > suspected as fake if it was flagged a certain number of times and
> > > if it displayed other questionable attributes. Such a move would
> > > not mean Facebook’s taking broad responsibility for what’s true.
> > >
> > > But hiring editors to enforce accuracy — or even promising to
> > > enforce accuracy by partnering with third parties — would create
> > > the perception that Facebook is policing the “truth,” and that is
> > > worrisome. The first reason has to do with the nature of
> > > Facebook’s business. The second has to do with the news
> > > business.
> > >
> > > One thing is clear to anyone who has worked in a newsroom: Not
> > > all fact-checking decisions are black and white.
> > >
> > > Did the pope endorse Mr. Trump? He did not.
> > >
> > > [snip]
> > >
> > >
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> > >
> >
> > -- Dan Gillmor dangillmor.com/about <http://dangillmor.com/about> 
> > +1.650.868.7528
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Dan Gillmor
dangillmor.com/about
+1.650.868.7528




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