Facebook Said To Create Censorship Tool To Get Back Into China (theverge.com) 45
The New York Times is reporting (Warning: may be paywalled, alternate source) that Facebook has created a censorship tool to automatically suppress certain posts in specific geographic areas of China, according to three current and former Facebook employees. The tool was created in an effort for Facebook to "get into China, a market where the social network has been blocked." Business Insider notes that several Facebook employees have quit because of the tool: This software would give third parties, like internet service providers, the ability to monitor Facebook for popular stories, and suppress them at will. This tool is one of many that Facebook has experimented with to get back into China, where it's been blocked from users since 2009, says the report, and has never actually been used. Regardless, the fact that company leadership would even consider this approach has reportedly troubled some Facebook employees, seeing it as a betrayal of the social network's values around openness and transparency in the name of getting access to the vast market represented by China.
Hail Zuckerberg! (Score:2)
Hail Zuckerberg!
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FB == "whore"
that's all.
and that's why I will never join (never saw a FB page, in fact).
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Now that's just unfair to sex workers. Prostitution is an old and honest profession, lying to people to sell their info to others is an old and dishonest con. Not remotely the same.
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Ironic we can't see it either because of a pay-wall.
Sure you can. NY Times gives you a certain number of free page-views each month, and tracks them using a cookie. So just right click on any NY Times link, and select "Open Link in Incognito Window". It will work every time.
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I was mostly joking, but pay-walls will work on most regular users. Thus, it's de-facto censorship.
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I was mostly joking, but pay-walls will work on most regular users.
I have shown the "Incognito" trick to plenty of non-geek co-workers and they have no problem remembering it and using it. They just don't understand (or care) why it works.
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Let me try to say it again some other way. IN PRACTICE most either don't know about or won't use that feature. Whether they "can" is moot here. There is only one of you to show the whole world. Nobody else gives a fudge (so far).
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You anonymous cowards are all alike.
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At the New York Times that's no paywall, that's a trench latrine beyond lies a sewerage lake slowly but surely decomposing, better just to turn away, really why immerse yourself in that lake, join it's fake journalists neck deep in shite, only able to see the instruction of their corporate advertisers. Instead just wait for some one to put up an alternate link https://www.cnet.com/au/news/f... [cnet.com]. New York Times, sad to say, is just yesterdays corporate propaganda channel and blatant corrupter of democracy. Be
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May throw a slight spanner into the works of relocating.
That's Crazy (Score:2)
What would be the motivation? MZ has promised to give away [businessinsider.com] 99% of his facefortune in his lifetime.
So, if it is not about the money, what drives him?
Re: That's Crazy (Score:2)
Are you talking about the Mark Zuckerberg that came up with his 'Hot or Not' application to rank the women of his university (out of frustration when they wouldn't date him) and was sued by facebook co-founders, both real and imaginary (winklevos twins)?
I have a hard time holding "The Zuck" up as a pillar of values and integrity.
Don't worry (Score:1)
Make censorship dashboard visible (read only) (Score:2)
US freedom to grow (Score:2)
Who wants to be on censored media? How boring is that? Reading what your gov tells you? Been aware that you will be denounced by gov staff or the US brand just with one click?
Time to move to more freedom aware US brands that are fun, real and protect all their users from Communist party members and gov workers.
If a US brand wants to be with Communists, the rest of the world has the freedom find much better quality US brands.
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If you want communism gone, stop fucking supporting it! I wouldn't be surprised if there's actually an old post-WWII law on the US books that prohibits corporations from enriching communist governments, making all that Chinese offshoring illegal.
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The US moved China from trade lists with Cuba, North Korea, North Vietnam to country groups like Eastern Europe the Soviet Union so trade was then more liberal. Communist countries then got most favoured nation status. Also note the role of the Export-Import Bank.
There's selling out, then there's learning Chinese (Score:2)
Too evil for Facebook employees? (Score:3)
several Facebook employees have quit because of the tool
There's a lame joke about even evil having standards hiding somewhere in that quote.
Because ... (Score:2)
... money.
Why not regional subsidiaries? (Score:2)
Seems to me they might mitigate some issues by coping google and creating a parent company. Then create regional "facebook" like social sites that to a limited extent interoperate and share a lot of their code base. The various sister sites wouldn't have the same moral policies.