Facebook's two billion users make billions of posts per day in more than a hundred languages, and Facebook’s human content moderators are asked to review more than 10 million potentially rule-breaking posts per week. Facebook aims to do this with an error rate of less than one percent, and seeks to review all user-reported content within 24 hours. Facebook is still making tens of thousands of moderation errors per day, based on its own targets.
Sometimes, Facebook will launch so-called “lockdowns,” in which all meetings are scrapped to focus on one urgent content moderation issue, sometimes for weeks at a time.
Potts said a wave of suicide and self-harm videos posted soon after Facebook Live launched triggered a three-month lockdown between April and June 2017, for example. During this time, Facebook created tools that allow moderators to see user comments on live video, added advanced playback speed and replay functionality, added a timestamp to user-reported content, added text transcripts to live video, and added a “heat map” of user reactions that show the times in a video viewers are engaging with it.
Facebook says its AI tools—many of which are trained with data from its human moderation team—detect nearly 100 percent of spam, and that 99.5 percent of terrorist-related removals, 98.5 percent of fake accounts, 96 percent of adult nudity and sexual activity, and 86 percent of graphic violence-related removals are detected by AI, not users... Facebook’s AI detects just 38 percent of the hate speech-related posts it ultimately removes, and at the moment it doesn’t have enough training data for the AI to be very effective outside of English and Portuguese.
its revenge porn policy and recently created software tool—which asks people to preemptively upload nude photos of themselves so that they can be used to block anyone from uploading that photo in the future—was widely mocked. But groups that fight against revenge porn say that preemptively blocking these photos is far better than deleting them after the fact, and some security experts believe the system the company has devised is safe.
Facebook would not share data about moderator retention, but said it acknowledges the job is difficult and that it offers ongoing training, coaching, and resiliency and counseling resources to moderators. It says that internal surveys show that pay, offering a sense of purpose and career growth opportunities, and offering schedule flexibility are most important for moderator retention.
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xwk9zd/how-facebook-content-moderation-works
Iranian media have been hit the hardest in this latest round, which makes sense since Twitter has been a key part of U.S. strategy to destabilize Iranian society for years
But considering that Twitter's usually weaponized for disinformation & propaganda in combination with Western-funded "social unrest", I'm curious what we're about to watch unfold in Iran
drwhat posted:I wonder if it's anything filterable, though.
dailymail, fox, etc
slipdisco posted:
This is exact 1-to-1 adoption of Stormfront talking points. Like, the person who wrote this is 100% certainly a neo-Nazi themselves.
I'm saying that whoever came up with that policy completely mirrored what Stormfront writes in its own manifestos and likely did so with intent. It's been expressly tailored to fit the exact way those groups have talked about themselves since well before Facebook ever existed, and I have a hard time believing that's a coincidence, because no one has ever actually been fooled by that shit on grounds of "consistency".
Edited by cars ()
cars posted:Termagant
I had to look this up and lmao it's a completely fake deity that Christians collectively hallucinated into existence based on nothing.
The origin of the name Termagant is unknown, and does not seem to derive from any actual aspect of Muslim belief or practice, however wildly distorted.
Thank god completely fabricated myths about different cultures such as this no longer drive our world view in this enlightened age
rolaids posted:cars posted:Termagant
I had to look this up and lmao it's a completely fake deity that Christians collectively hallucinated into existence based on nothing.
The origin of the name Termagant is unknown, and does not seem to derive from any actual aspect of Muslim belief or practice, however wildly distorted.
thats a ban
If half of that cash was used to bail out Greece, it would cut Greece’s debt problem to 70 per cent of its GDP, a level Bershidsky said is manageable.
In return, Greece could offer the five big tech companies a sweetheart tax deal. That’s the kind of deal Apple already has in Ireland, where it pays corporate tax of 2 per cent despite Ireland’s corporate tax rate coming in at 12.5 per cent as standard.
Bershidsky said the EU might be inclined to accept this kind of sweetheart deal in Greece even as it investigates it in Ireland, because it would not want Greece to default.
Greece could then become home to headquarters for Apple, Microsoft, Google Pfizer and Cisco, boosting jobs and tech in the country.
“I'm pretty sure this kind of bailout would get the Greek people's approval if put to a referendum,” Bershidsky said.
cars posted:Iranian media have been hit the hardest in this latest round, which makes sense since Twitter has been a key part of U.S. strategy to destabilize Iranian society for years
But considering that Twitter's usually weaponized for disinformation & propaganda in combination with Western-funded "social unrest", I'm curious what we're about to watch unfold in Iran
...A local Arab separatist group claimed responsibility, but Iran said the perpetrators were backed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
A widely posted image on Facebook showed members of the Revolutionary Guards military band, wearing tricolor sashes and carrying musical instruments, hiding in a drainage ditch — described by many commenters as a sewer — during the attack.
huh wow! whoa! amazing that social media companies just, happened, to silence Iranian media on all of their platforms all at once, right before those platforms were mobilized for regime change propaganda... goongrats to the propaganda image for being passively & organically “widely posted” by Ap Lant and his many cousins, uncles and grandmas
Last month, deep in a 500-page environmental impact statement, the Trump administration made a startling assumption: On its current course, the planet will warm a disastrous seven degrees by the end of this century.
Many coral reefs would dissolve in increasingly acidic oceans. Parts of Manhattan and Miami would be underwater without costly coastal defenses. Extreme heat waves would routinely smother large parts of the globe.
But the administration did not offer this dire forecast, premised on the idea that the world will fail to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, as part of an argument to combat climate change. Just the opposite: The analysis assumes the planet’s fate is already sealed.
The draft statement, issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), was written to justify President Trump’s decision to freeze federal fuel-efficiency standards for cars and light trucks built after 2020. While the proposal would increase greenhouse gas emissions, the impact statement says, that policy would add just a very small drop to a very big, hot bucket.
MarxUltor posted:Trump administration sees a 7-degree rise in global temperatures by 2100
Last month, deep in a 500-page environmental impact statement, the Trump administration made a startling assumption: On its current course, the planet will warm a disastrous seven degrees by the end of this century.
Many coral reefs would dissolve in increasingly acidic oceans. Parts of Manhattan and Miami would be underwater without costly coastal defenses. Extreme heat waves would routinely smother large parts of the globe.
But the administration did not offer this dire forecast, premised on the idea that the world will fail to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, as part of an argument to combat climate change. Just the opposite: The analysis assumes the planet’s fate is already sealed.
The draft statement, issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), was written to justify President Trump’s decision to freeze federal fuel-efficiency standards for cars and light trucks built after 2020. While the proposal would increase greenhouse gas emissions, the impact statement says, that policy would add just a very small drop to a very big, hot bucket.
and there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken
as for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down
nice piece on IBM helping the Nazis from a while back, with an appearance by forums poster/tankie grandpa Michael Parenti
In Philadelphia, 30 parks and recreation centers are outfitted with a small speaker called the Mosquito. It blares a constant, high-pitched ringing noise all night long — but one that only teenagers and young adults can hear.
Anyone over age 25 is supposed to be immune because, basically, their ear cells have started to die off.
Philadelphia parks officials have been installing the device since 2014, reported WHYY's Billy Penn, intending to shoo rowdy youths from the premises.
And it's not the only U.S. city to do so. Mosquito's Vancouver-based manufacturer Moving Sound Technologies works with roughly 20 parks departments around the country to implement the youth-repellent devices, says president Michael Gibson.
It's intended to prevent loitering and vandalism by teens and young adults at public facilities. But some say this age-based targeting is a form of prejudice.
Philadelphia City Council member Helen Gym refers to the devices as "sonic weapons" — and she's working to get them removed.
"In a city that is trying to address gun violence and safe spaces for young people," Gym said, "how dare we come up with ideas that are funded by taxpayer dollars to turn young people away from the very places that were created for them?"
"It does feel a little against teens," agreed 17-year-old Philadelphia resident Lamar Reed. "It makes us feel like animals. Not all teens are bad, just because we want to go outside for a breath of fresh air at night."
Despite the intended 13-to-25-year-old target range, 27-year-old Mary Kate Riecks said she can hear the Mosquito installed a few blocks from her Fishtown home. It gives her headaches when she strolls the neighborhood, she said.
"It almost is more like a feeling than a sound. It's kind of in the back of your head," Riecks said. "At least for me, it gives me a headache if I'm near it for too long. So I usually skip around this block or walk very quickly down it."
Riecks has been nearing her breaking point — she and her housemates have been brainstorming a door-knocking plan to organize the neighborhood against the device and work to get it removed.
There's precedent for banning the Mosquito. Localities all over the world have already rejected the device.
Washington, D.C., officials installed the anti-kid noisemakers at the Gallery Place Metro station in 2010. The National Youth Rights Association took issue with the effort almost immediately, and members filed a complaint alleging age discrimination. The city eventually asked the manufacturer to remove the devices.
"By calling attention to it, we were able to make it into a big deal," said NYRA President Brian Conner, 20. "We were able to make it clear that they'd be in a lot of trouble if they kept using this device."
In 2008, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child implored the United Kingdom to "reconsider ... the Mosquito devices insofar as they may violate the rights of children." Since then, several counties in England have followed suit and banned the device from certain public spaces.
But in Philadelphia, Parks & Recreation defends its use of the Mosquito, saying the devices are operational from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. only, and they're just one part of an overall anti-vandalism strategy that includes fences and gates, security cameras and night watch staff.
For now, the city is moving forward with installation. Despite the backlash, two new Mosquito devices are being installed at other city playgrounds as part of major renovation projects.
"It makes us feel like animals."
These high-pitched noisemakers were, in fact, originally designed for animals particularly dogs.
Elon Musk is ready to unveil his brain computer project, and he’s looking for volunteers willing to have four holes drilled in their skulls https://t.co/fkCTvPv70L
— Mark Milian (@markmilian) July 17, 2019
Libra is really, in financial jargon, an exchange traded fund (ETF), where the value of Libra is based on a ‘basket’ of five national currencies (dollars, euros, yen, sterling and Swiss franc) according to a weighted ratio. Libra is not a true international digital currency in its own right but dependent on the value of these major national currencies. It’s a private currency for Facebook users. It will be similar to the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) used by the IMF for the settlement of contributions and payments by national governments to the IMF. SDRs are also tied to the value of national currencies like the dollar.
And here is the rub. If you buy some Libra and hold it in your Facebook Libra ‘wallet’ for future purchases, you won’t get any interest as you would if you held dollar deposits in a bank. But this Libra sitting in wallets around the world will be invested by the multi-national board in financial assets to make money for them. In effect, all interest goes to the owners of this private currency – it’s a form of seignorage, previously only available to national governments and central banks for the use of their currencies. As the white paper puts it: “Interest on the reserve assets will be used to cover the costs of the system, ensure low transaction fees, pay dividends to investors who provided capital to jump-start the ecosystem, and support further growth and adoption…..Users of Libra do not receive a return from the reserve.”
Indeed, the huge amounts of Libra that build up in Facebook users ‘wallets’ would become available for the board to speculate in financial assets globally, thus adding a new dimension to the possibility of credit bubbles and financial crashes that could come back to hit billions of Libra users. The regulation of the banks and other financial institutions has not worked, as the global financial crash proved. And the huge rise of private sector debt continues alongside the rise in public sector debt that mushroomed to bail out the global banking system. With a successful Libra, there would be another new layer of credit-fuelled debt created, with repercussions for billions of people and this time without any deposit insurance from governments!
What is worrying from global capital’s view is that if a large section of a country’s population were to use Libra instead of the sovereign currency, central banks could be left powerless or unable to stop the rapid conversion of currency into Libra during periods of financial distress. Now you might say that’s good news for people, if not for capital. People need to break away from the control of central banks, commercial banks and governments and ‘free up’ the currency and reduce the cost of our transactions.
But Libra will not deliver on this aim. Libra’s claim that the currency will be designed and operated “as a public good” with “decentralised governance” is hard to tally with an operating structure comprised of unaccountable and highly-centralised global corporations such as Facebook, Uber and Paypal. With cash use increasingly restricted, we’re already reliant on a handful of big banks to manage our money and make payments, while Visa and Mastercard have achieved almost total dominance of the card market. Visa now accounts for 98% of debit cards issued in the UK. Libra is really a corporate attempt to assert even greater control over our money.
What we really want from a digital currency is transparency in its operations and privacy with your data – Facebook’s Libra is the mirror opposite of that. What it does show is the bureaucratic, inefficient and autocratic control of our money by the state and its institutions is now under threat from mega-global tech companies using their control of social media. This is ironic just when the supporters of Modern Monetary Theory are telling us that it is the state that controls and creates money so we can use the state to get employment and incomes for all. Now it seems the state will be challenged by mega private monopolies for the control of our money.
What we really need is democratic control of financial institutions and the take over of mega-tech companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon. Governments should then use technological innovation to develop an international digital currency controlled and run in the public interest. But such a public digital currency would require common ownership and control of financial institutions and digital monopolies. In the meantime it will be the US dollar or Libra… maybe.
https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2019/06/29/facing-up-to-libra/