Facebook "fact checking" used to push Trump-friendly agenda

Noodle · Mar 4, 2020

Facebook fact-checking is becoming a political cudgel

Facebook's fact-checking program is designed to stop false information from spreading. But being able to decide what's true can also be a political weapon, and for the past few days, it's been used in a fight over President Donald Trump's coronavirus response.

The battle centers on a recent Politico article about a South Carolina Trump rally, where Trump urged supporters to "treat coronavirus as a 'hoax.'" According to Facebook, this is a false statement that merits a prominent warning and potential damage to Politico's ability to reach Facebook users — but the truth is more complicated.

Essentially, Politico's Facebook post was flagged by Check Your Fact, a fact-checking group linked to conservative website The Daily Caller.

Check Your Fact rated Politico's claims "false information," explaining that "Trump referred to the alleged 'politicizing' of the coronavirus by Democrats as 'their new hoax.' He did not refer to the coronavirus itself as a hoax." Since the site is one of Facebook's trusted fact-checking partners, Facebook then splashed a warning over posts linking to the article.

As Legum explains, though, Trump's comments were characteristically ambiguous.

And you can argue that Trump is limiting his claim to Democrats arguing he's not prepared for the coronavirus. But the speech simply compares coronavirus to the "impeachment hoax" (which Trump describes as a "perfect conversation" that Democrats twisted into something negative), so it's also easy to argue that Trump is saying the coronavirus itself is similarly overblown.

In short, Trump is making a weird and unclear statement, followed by conflicting notes on how seriously we should be taking the coronavirus outbreak. And The Daily Caller's fact-checking wing is using its power — fairly or not — to push an interpretation favored by Trump, who has in fact made reckless and false claims downplaying the threat.

Legum argues that The Daily Caller's seriously flawed editorial record makes it unfit to judge truth.

Perhaps the most notable thing about this case is that conservatives are usually the ones arguing Facebook has censored them. Now, figures like Donald Trump, Jr. are celebrating the fact that "Facebook [weighed] in" on their side.

Facebook fact-checking is becoming a political cudgel

The social network has to act as an arbiter of truth

www.theverge.com

They also did the same for NBC news

This week, Check Your Fact rated two stories as false. "Trump rallies his base to treat coronavirus as a 'hoax' " from Politico, and "Trump calls coronavirus Democrats' 'new hoax' " from NBC News, as highlighted by Popular Information's Judd Legum.

It's hard to tell exactly what Trump means here. He could be calling coronavirus a hoax, concerns about its severity a hoax or Democrats' criticism of his response a hoax. Reputable fact-checking institution Snopes rated the claim that Trump called coronavirus a hoax as a mixture of true and false, noting, "Despite creating some confusion with his remarks, Trump did not call the coronavirus itself a hoax."

Perhaps Politico and NBC News' headlines went too far, or perhaps the headlines fairly describe Trump's characterization of the situation.

When asked about this, Facebook deflected responsibility, implying the audit process wouldn't be necessary because all of its fact-checking partners have been certified through the non-partisan International Fact-Checking Network. This group publishes ethics guidelines that include an accuracy standard that requires checkers "maintain high standards of reporting, writing, and editing in order to produce work that is as error-free as possible." Checkers are also supposed to follow criteria for determining story accuracy, and can apply mid-point labels like "Partly False" or "False Headline," which The Daily Caller didn't use here.

Facebook tells me that because it doesn't think it's appropriate for it to be the arbiter of truth, it relies on the IFCN to set guidelines. It also noted that there's an appeals process where publishers can reach out directly to a fact-checker to dispute a rating. But when I followed up, Facebook clarified that publishers can only appeal the fact-checker that labeled them, and can't appeal to other fact-checkers for a second decision or audit of the original label.

Facebook fact-check feud erupts over Trump virus 'hoax' | TechCrunch

Who fact-checks the fact-checkers? Did Trump call coronavirus the Democrats' "new hoax"? Those are the big questions emerging from a controversial "false"

techcrunch.com

Who saw this coming? We did.

Facebook hires the Daily Caller as fact-checkers

You can’t make this stuff up. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/apr/17/facebook-teams-with-rightwing-daily-caller-in-factchecking-program

www.resetera.com

Slayven · Mar 4, 2020

"We looked into ourselves and found nothing wrong"

finfinfin · Mar 4, 2020

da share z0ne on Twitter

“FUCK YOUTUBE, FUCK GOOLE, FUCK TWITTER, FUCK FACEBOOK, ECT ECT - https://t.co/Qtp3PuUDXE ADMIN”

twitter.com

(yes, this is just general right-wing bullshit, but, well, I'm sure it's a coincidence)

.exe · Mar 4, 2020

Just another way billionaires have undue influence over the country/world.

DustyVonErich · Mar 4, 2020

Facebook was a mistake

Daniel Westlake · Mar 4, 2020

Of course the million dollar question is why the hell is The Daily Caller of all outfits a trusted source?

Nightbird · Mar 4, 2020

Daniel Westlake said:
Of course the million dollar question is why the hell is The Daily Caller of all outfits a trusted source?

Friends in the "right" places

J2d · Mar 4, 2020

I mean what do you expect? Fuck the people who use Facebook, the company will never change so stop being a part of the problem and leave the platform to the swine that wants to populate it.

Eeyore · Mar 4, 2020

Daniel Westlake said:
Of course the million dollar question is why the hell is The Daily Caller of all outfits a trusted source?

My guess? They generate a lot of page views. And therefore ad calls. Could be wrong its just a guess.

Deleted member 3208 · Mar 4, 2020

DustyVonErich said:
~~Facebook~~ Social Media was a mistake

FTFY

finfinfin · Mar 4, 2020

Daniel Westlake said:
Of course the million dollar question is why the hell is The Daily Caller of all outfits a trusted source?

Balance.

Pomerlaw · Mar 4, 2020

Jegriva · Mar 4, 2020

I want to see The Social Network 2, David Fincher.

Pomerlaw said:

"Drink. Remember, humans like to drink."

theme park joe · Mar 4, 2020

Gernau Morat Gurgeh · Mar 4, 2020

WHo could possibly have predicted such an outcome

Deleted member 6582 · Mar 4, 2020

finfinfin said:
Balance.

I think this. It's an olive branch to conservatives who feel they are getting censored because reality has a known liberal bias.

SuperHans · Mar 4, 2020

Pomerlaw said:

I like his style.

Kmonk · Mar 4, 2020

It's hard to tell exactly what Trump means here. He could be calling coronavirus a hoax, concerns about its severity a hoax or Democrats' criticism of his response a hoax. Reputable fact-checking institution Snopes rated the claim that Trump called coronavirus a hoax as a mixture of true and false, noting, "Despite creating some confusion with his remarks, Trump did not call the coronavirus itself a hoax."

Perhaps Politico and NBC News' headlines went too far, or perhaps the headlines fairly describe Trump's characterization of the situation.

I'm pretty irritated with Snopes here. How is there any ambiguity whatsoever in what Trump said?

"treat coronavirus as a 'hoax."

It could not be more black and white.

killerrin · Mar 4, 2020

I had to think real hard about that one. At first glance looking at that image the first thing that comes to my mind is that it's saying that Trumps Statement was false. It feels stretching to flip it on its side and say that the article is false.

But then reading the article and seeing the justification behind the warning... And yeaaaahhh. That's pretty fucked up that Facebook is allowing that to go through. Hopefully the organization that vets sources revokes these fuckers ability to move independently of their goals.

EdibleKnife · Mar 4, 2020

Begging people to delete their FB accounts

Deleted member 3542 · Mar 4, 2020

Daniel Westlake said:
Of course the million dollar question is why the hell is The Daily Caller of all outfits a trusted source?

A lot of social media and outlets, even legit journalistic ones, are scared to be called "biased." It's something that keeps their shareholders up at night and that rolls downhill to how those outlets act.

Kmonk said:
I'm pretty irritated with Snopes here. How is there any ambiguity whatsoever in what Trump said?

Snopes is sometimes too focused on what is literally said and not the context of it. They need to include context on this kind of shit: It's Trump. It's a term he's used before in a certain way that rallies his base and cronies. It's specifically used here for a reason and they need to address that.

They don't like to "assume" but with Trump's history it's really not assumption.

AndyD · Mar 4, 2020

This became clear it would be a battleground when Trump himself started defining what he means by "hoax" to include anything negative about him. When he can redefine words, nothing will be off limits as the argument will always be "what he really means is...".

colorblindmode · Mar 4, 2020

Jegriva said:
"Drink. Remember, humans like to drink."

I was at the Facebook Menlo Park campus for an interview, and was waiting to get into the hardware quality building (it's in a weird building across the quad with HACK written across it). Anyways, I'm super nervous about this interview, because Facebook interviews are weird and they had just flown me out from NC to do the in-person. I was walking around and trying to get into the hardware building and this dude kept pacing in front of the doorway.

So this guy in a hoodie and I were doing this awkward dance of me trying to get around him and him either a) being oblivious to another human being in his vicinity or b) just being a douche and not letting me get around. Finally, I'm like, "Hey dude, excuse me, I've got to go through this door to an interview". The guy looks up, it's Zuck. He just stares blankly at me, says "Oh." and continues standing in the way. Finally I just sort of squeeze passed him and into the doorwar.

It's one of the more strange interactions I've ever had with another human and it only lasted like 10 seconds.

maxxpower · Mar 4, 2020

Pomerlaw said:

Such a punchable fucking face.

Kthulhu · Mar 4, 2020

They should've gotten an outside group and not a media company. Especially a media company with such an obvious bias.

bmdubya · Mar 4, 2020

EdibleKnife said:
Begging people to delete their FB accounts

Got rid of Facebook and Twitter recently. It was a lot easier than I thought, and it's so much better.

Box · Mar 4, 2020

Pomerlaw said:

He's like the pre alpha version of Data.

E: Like if Data is Robocop. Zuckerberg is this thing...

EdibleKnife · Mar 4, 2020

bmdubya said:
Got rid of Facebook and Twitter recently. It was a lot easier than I thought, and it's so much better.

Yep. Not only is it personally helpful for one's emotional and mental state to cull these social media outlets but it's pretty much the only way us as citizens can bite back when they choose to manipulate the truth, ignore marginalized groups and spread harmful rhetoric.

Rendering... · Mar 4, 2020

Pomerlaw said:

*BEEP BOOP* *DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE PROCESSOR OFFLINE. INSERT COMPATIBLE MOLECULES INTO ALIMENTARY PORT.* *BEBEBEBEEEEEP*

Deleted member 9305 · Mar 4, 2020

Greg NYC3 · Mar 4, 2020

Rendering... said:
*BEEP BOOP* *DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE PROCESSOR OFFLINE. INSERT COMPATIBLE MOLECULES INTO ALIMENTARY PORT.* *BEBEBEBEEEEEP*

I thought this forum had a policy against Cyborg shaming.

Dokkaebi G0SU · Mar 4, 2020

DustyVonErich said:
Facebook was a mistake

yeaaah. im starting to think this too...

Jegriva · Mar 4, 2020

Pomerlaw said:

"Drink. Remember, humans like to drink."

colorblindmode said:
I was at the Facebook Menlo Park campus for an interview, and was waiting to get into the hardware quality building (it's in a weird building across the quad with HACK written across it). Anyways, I'm super nervous about this interview, because Facebook interviews are weird and they had just flown me out from NC to do the in-person. I was walking around and trying to get into the hardware building and this dude kept pacing in front of the doorway.

So this guy in a hoodie and I were doing this awkward dance of me trying to get around him and him either a) being oblivious to another human being in his vicinity or b) just being a douche and not letting me get around. Finally, I'm like, "Hey dude, excuse me, I've got to go through this door to an interview". The guy looks up, it's Zuck. He just stares blankly at me, says "Oh." and continues standing in the way. Finally I just sort of squeeze passed him and into the doorwar.

It's one of the more strange interactions I've ever had with another human and it only lasted like 10 seconds.

To think that with that mind he could, I don't know, had studied a cure for cancer or something.

Rendering... · Mar 4, 2020

Greg NYC3 said:
I thought this forum had a policy against Cyborg shaming.

I don't trust any form of synthetic life that looks like it was spawned by dropping a flip phone into a toaster.

EdibleKnife · Mar 4, 2020

Jegriva said:
To think that with that mind he could, I don't know, had studied a cure for cancer or something.

That would require him caring about other people.

Greg NYC3 · Mar 4, 2020

Rendering... said:
I don't trust any form of synthetic life that looks like it was spawned by dropping a flip phone into a toaster.

I've actually wondered for a long time why all of these social media tycoons are such libertarian sociopaths. Were they born that way? Did the ivy league comp sci programs condition them into completely unfeeling and irresponsible jackasses? Does Silicon Valley's IT corporate culture only allow folks this brain damaged to rise to the top?

I feel like the answer is out there.

Phantom · Mar 4, 2020

Ban Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Insta, Snap, Tik Tok. That would be a great start. Social media is a cancer that has proven time and again to sell your data, push different agendas or completely disinform (propaganda).

Kthulhu · Mar 4, 2020

EdibleKnife said:
Begging people to delete their FB accounts

All my friends use Facebook Messenger and unfortunately I'm not interesting enough to make them all just use Discord.

Version 3.0 · Mar 4, 2020

So Facebook has moved from just allowing lies, to actively fighting against truth. This is bad. It's Fox News all over again.

Zed · Mar 4, 2020

Facebook is now boomer central so they aren't going to drive away their user base.

Facebook "fact checking" used to push Trump-friendly agenda

Never read a comic in his life

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