Mastodawn

jsj Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz Crazy hot take of a question, BUT: is it possible more misinformation about Covid is not seen as a result of this than actual good information would be provided as a result? As in, lesser of two evils?

Sukrit Tan Sep 14, 2023

@jsj @taylorlorenz

Agreed. They probably just want to not deal with the flood of misinformation that’s undoubtedly going to come

jsj Sep 14, 2023

@actsukrit @taylorlorenz That’s my thinking, given how their algorithms amplify misinformation and how they seemingly don’t care enough to fix that problem (or prefer to profit from it).

@jsj @actsukrit @taylorlorenz

Jeramee Sep 14, 2023

Exactly. This should be part of basic internet literacy: learn to find actual credible sources of information, which social media is not.

@actsukrit @jsj @taylorlorenz

Blocking search of those terms won't make a dent in the spread of dis/mis-info (especially given that their algos and easy-system-gaming already allow for it).

Alternative (and most likely) hypothesis:
They are preventing dis/mis info researchers from DOING THE RESEARCH--which relies heavily on search, thus preventing data from being published about how bad the spread of dis/mis-information is on their platforms.

@VirginiaMurr @jsj @taylorlorenz

Sukrit Tan Sep 14, 2023

That’s absurdly conspiratorial.

The far simpler explanation is they neither want to get in trouble for spreading misinformation or invest in dealing with it so they just wash their hands of it altogether.

“never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect, ignorance or incompetence.”

@actsukrit @jsj @taylorlorenz

Neither absurd nor conspiratorial.

It is absolutely in-line with the platforms' previous antagonistic relationship with researchers.

Just one example:
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/04/1024791053/facebook-boots-nyu-disinformation-researchers-off-its-platform-and-critics-cry-f

Side-note: If they wanted to stop the spread of mis/dis-info they would first and foremost fix their algos. They've not done that. That's a glaring indication that this move isn't the puritanical motivation you seem to want to believe.

Earthling Sep 14, 2023

@jsj @taylorlorenz @VirginiaMurr @actsukrit
How do they get in trouble for allowing the spread of misinformation if not by researchers looking at the problem and proving evidence? This way they can say they’re not participating in Covid misinfo while not stopping it.

@earthlingusa @jsj @taylorlorenz @VirginiaMurr

Sukrit Tan Sep 14, 2023

Not everything in the universe is driven by a researcher doing a study 🤦‍♂️

“This way they can say they’re not participating in Covid misinfo while not stopping it.” Yes, this is precisely what they’re doing. It’s the lazy negligent method of doing the bare minimum to say they’re doing something. There’s nothing well meaning or altruistic about this.

But it’s not a war against researchers. And it’s conspiratorial to think it is.

Earthling Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz @actsukrit @jsj @VirginiaMurr
Yes, dear. They’ll just “get in trouble” with no evidence, if you say so.

Sukrit Tan Sep 15, 2023

@earthlingusa

Because journalism totally can't happen unless a study is published in a university press first.

@actsukrit @jsj @taylorlorenz

A quick reminder that this is Zuck we're talking about. The same guy who thought it would be "good" to target KIDS who are emotionally vulnerable, so Zuck could make a buck.

(2017)
https://www.wired.com/2017/05/welcome-next-phase-facebook-backlash/

Facebook's Ability to Target "Insecure" Teens Could Prompt Backlash

Privacy watchdogs think a damning leaked document about Facebook targeting insecure teens could help usher in new era in privacy protections.

WIRED

Scott D. Strader 😐Sep 14, 2023

@jsj @taylorlorenz In other words: We're a social media platform that's not capable of fulfilling one of the key requirements of a social media platform. And we were built by people who created another social media platform.

Emily Sep 14, 2023

@sstrader @jsj @taylorlorenz so far this is a problem that's only been sufficiently solved by lowering the human moderator to user ratio. E.g., money or volunteers. They don't want to pay for the feature of being the source of new information, looks like.

Katzentratschen Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz Kinda ironic to put this information behind a paywall.

CurrentBias Sep 14, 2023

@katzentratschen @taylorlorenz it's our little secret: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/archive-page/

https://archive.ph/ls959

Archive Page – Get this Extension for 🦊 Firefox (en-US)

Download Archive Page for Firefox. Archive webpage with Archive Today

Katzentratschen Sep 14, 2023

@currentbias @taylorlorenz Thank you, though this wasn't my point.

Poppamunz

Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz people flocked to Threads knowing it was owned by a company with a history of shitty moderation practices... and then are shocked when it has shitty moderation practices

Cragsand

Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz I guess their moderation team felt they got overwhelmed with misinformation but instead of hiring more moderators to deal with the problem, they blocked everything instead.

Insert the old idiom about hammers and nails here 🔨

@batyalee 🌿Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz Threads is from Meta. Why would anyone expect Mark Zuckerberg to treat his anti-X platform differently from FB? It’s a business for him — not a public service organization.

Michael Sokolov Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz or they could take the fedi approach and simply ban search altogether

Corb_The_Lesser Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz My assumption is that Threads is not acting out of simple malice -- block access to legit covid info -- but lacks the means to stem the flood of lies about covid, so it blocks searching the topic as a second-best alternative.

Orangenoel Sep 14, 2023

Ob @gavinkarlmeier das schon gesehen hat? (Ohne Alarmismus, aber grundsätzlich: wtf?)

Gavin Karlmeier Sep 14, 2023

@sinensetin @taylorlorenz Danke!! Haben wir sogar drüber gesprochen

@gavinkarlmeier @taylorlorenz

Orangenoel Sep 14, 2023

🙈🙈🙈 bin ein paar Episoden hinterher gerade 🙈🙈🙈

Patriotic Cats Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz anyone thought Zuckerberg was going to be any better?

katrintheresa Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz wow to the headline!! I don’t have a subscription to read but this sounds crazy.

Lewis Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz The rich need, on their agenda, to stop allowing us to be sick.
Denial of information is part of the gaslight.
Keep repeating 'It's like flu'.

Bill Howard Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz Who could have predicted?

RodneyPetersonTalentAgency Sep 14, 2023

https://covidactnow.org/?s=47673515

Meanwhile in Florida where that motherfucking creep Ron DeSantis is a wanna be dictator recommending no one under 65 get the new Covid shot…

U.S. COVID Risk & Vaccine Tracker

Covid Act Now has real-time tracking of your community's COVID risk level. Explore how your community is doing.

Covid Act Now

andrewsehmann Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz this was so infuriating to hear about while you were on twit.

StarkRG Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz I never did figure out why people would want to use threads, but apparently they do. Weird.

Sterling Hammer

Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz doing this is just dumb. What a strange move 😕

So, they aren't tweaking their algos to prevent the spread of disinfo.

Instead, they are blocking researchers (who rely heavily on search) from gathering the data that proves that their platforms are responsible for the viral spread of dis/mis-info related to Covid and vaccinations.

Got it.

El Brown Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz I dunno. Anything that turns people away from getting vital information from social media is probably a good thing.

Frank Inserra Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz I understand the criticisms, but it galls me that the single greatest factor in continuing COVID deaths is vaccine denunciation and hesitancy (e.g., DeSantis just today, in fact). The toney, better than CDC analyses, will be drowned in a wave of this junk. Count on it like night follows day. Picking lint off CDC notwithstanding, if we could just get Americans to pay attention to vaccine recommendations, we would be so much better off.

Maxilo Overit Sep 14, 2023

I hate that IG is being called a platform, or social media for that matter. Like FB, Xitter and TikTok, it's a website a company is using to manipulate and control its users. No one should trust anything run by billionaires.

Rob Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz On the one hand you could rage at this news, if you thought there was some nefarious reason for it, but if you step back and look at it this way, Threads can't launch in Europe, they want to be part of this market, they want to federate with us, so what they don't want is all the misinformation that still circles COVID like fly's on dung. and to be labeled as the network that allows conspiracy to be propagated, when they want to appear whiter than white.

Arena Cops 🇺🇦✌Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz Threads is a corporate medium.

Corporate media are NOT social media.

#Mastodon is a social medium.

J.B. Shaw Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz Taylor Lorenz, Visit Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching at Merlot.org and search Covid-19. Enjoy 😉

Busy Bee Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz Did anyone really expect anything different from “Meta”?

Brosephine Wires Sep 14, 2023

@taylorlorenz I think this is good. Instagram is NOT the place to get Covid information. I think the past three years have taught us that, if nothing else.