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Drupal Creator Floats an "FDA For Data and Algorithms"

Posted by timothy on from the your-approval-is-pending dept.

jeffengel writes: When Facebook's news feed and Google's search bar have the power to influence voter decisions, is it time for government oversight? That's what Dries Buytaert, creator of Drupal and co-founder of Acquia, is proposing: an "FDA for data and algorithms." The move would aim to boost transparency, but it also raises tough questions. What exactly would such an agency be tasked with monitoring, and what would its penalties look like? Would it wield too much power, pushing the U.S. closer to China levels of information control? Buytaert is pitching the idea as part of a broader push for a more open Web that reduces the dominance of a handful of platforms.

5 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Which government? by tomhath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What country, or state, or city gets to decide truth? The entire proposition is absurd; people need to be educated to understand that all media outlets are biased rather than trying to have some government agency decide what bias is acceptable.

  2. Really? by rickb928 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Buytaert is pitching the idea as part of a broader push for a more open Web that reduces the dominance of a handful of platforms."

    So, to state this plainly, the plan is to get the government involved to make the marketplace more open to other competitors.

    Sure, that's gonna work out real well. Morons.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    1. Re:Really? by Kohath · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Buytaert is pitching the idea as part of a broader push for a more open Web that reduces the dominance of a handful of platforms."

      Because the handful of dominant platforms would never, ever have any influence on policy. Why would government regulators listen to a small number of well-recognized experts when they could listen to hundreds of chattering upstarts?

      The idea that government regulators will protect us from "the dominant few" is very common and tragically naive. Why do people keep falling for this?

  3. A precedent for the "FDA for Data" by Misagon · · Score: 4, Informative

    The "FDA for Data and Algorithms" sounds a lot like the Data Inspection Board that we have in Sweden.

    Every organisation over here (corp or non-profit) that keeps a record of personal information needs to be approved and registered with the agency. The agency performs inspections to see that the organisations comply with current laws.

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    "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
  4. Ministry of Truth by somenickname · · Score: 4, Funny

    I like the idea. I propose we call it the Ministry of Truth.