Re Facebook Shouldn't Fact-Check

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

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dan Gillmor <dan () gillmor com>
> Date: December 1, 2016 at 10:46:18 AM EST
> To: 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>>
> > *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>>
> > *Reply-To: *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
> +1.650.868.7528



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