Slashdot Mirror
Facebook Will Let You Flag Content As 'False'
jfruh writes: If you're tired of seeing fake or misleading news articles posted by your friends to Facebook and then spreading like wildfire, you might be in luck. In a system that's something like Slashdot comment moderation on a grand scale, you'll now be able to flag a story as false. Links that have been flagged this way by many users will appear less frequently in people's newsfeeds, or with a disclaimer attached.
Slashdot doesn't have a "False" moderation... and it could use one.
All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
So if enough people don't believe something and flag it false, it becomes "false." Something else for paid shills and opinionated people to do I suppose.
Exactly, dont like the political/religious message so flag it false and less people will see it.
When you cant win, ad hominem.
Well to be fair, if it is a political message it should at least be flagged "spin" if not "false". False will probably do. If it is a religious message and is theist - then "false" would be correct. No explanation needed there although, "damn, you've got a lot of intrictate details to the rules and regulations imposed by someone you can't even show has ever existed" would be a great flag for that...
This changes nothing.
Facebook isn't a reliable news source. It was never meant to be a reliable news source and will never be a reliable news source.
Nobody should ever rely on Facebook to provide reliable news in the first place, so making it less reliable and more biased should have no effect on anyone who isn't a complete fucking idiot.
I'd rather that people who would normally see such a hoax article in their feed, always go ahead and see it -- with the disclaimer attached. They're likely to see it elsewhere anyway, why not use the opportunity to inform them that it's likely false? Instead, they get to see a story on Fox, then open their Facebook feed, and see nothing about it ... now not only are they not told it's false, it even looks like a liberal conspiracy to cover-up the truth! So very helpful.
Here a short list of the news stories that will be flagged as "false" by hundreds of fake facebook accounts set up by western authorities:
1) the nazi-style crimes of the Nato-backed ukrainian army in Donbass ("No, it's Putin's fault, bro! ")
2) the nazi-style crimes of israel in Palestine ("you're anti-semitic!")
3) any crime by american soldiers, anywhere they are ("they destroyed a kindergarten 'cause they are patriots! ")
4) any news about bankers or big companies bribing politicians and journalists, even in semi-legal ways, such as revolving doors, etc... ("So what, are you a communist?")
5) any news about bilderberg meetings, et similia ("it's just a conspiracy theory, bro")
What about false flagging 'False' flags? I can't see any kind of coordinated abuse of this system at all, especially on political issues (which of course, don't exist on Facebook).
Odds are all political/religious messages are false.
And no, your mileage will NOT vary.
You are welcome on my lawn.
You mean "fewer people", not "less people".
So how about when a bunch of religious people flag a story on evolution as false? Sounds like this semi-curating of stories will turn more on Facebook demographics than on objective facts.
Instead you'll get atheist or "the wrong religion(tm)" posts being flagged as false. Plus, not all political messages are such that "false will probably do". Which of the following political statements should be marked false?
"The economy was hit hard by the housing crisis"
"Unchecked human industry is negatively impacting the environment"
"Medical expenses are the number 1 cause of bankruptcy in America"
"The US constitution prohibits establishment of religion by congress"
I think all of them are true, but not everyone will agree.