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DAYS SINCE
FACEBOOK EMPLOYEES
WERE "CONCERNED"
In the aftermath of an attempted insurrection by President Donald Trump's supporters last week at the US Capitol building, Facebook has served up ads for defense products to accounts that follow extremist content, according to the Tech Transparency Project, a nonprofit watchdog group. Those ads -- which include New Year's specials for specialized body armor plates, rifle enhancements, and shooting targets -- were all delivered to a TTP Facebook account used to monitor right-wing content that could incite violence. [...]
These ads for tactical gear, which were flagged internally by employees as potentially problematic, show Facebook has been profiting from content that amplifies political and cultural discord in the US.
"Facebook has spent years facilitating fringe voices who use the platform to organize and amplify calls for violence," said TTP Director Katie Paul. "As if that weren't enough, Facebook's advertising microtargeting is directing domestic extremists toward weapons accessories and armor that can make their militarized efforts more effective, all while Facebook profits." [...]
During Monday's interview, Sandberg also addressed the proliferation of hate-related content on Facebook. "I think there's a false belief that we somehow profit, that people somehow want to see this content," she said. "That's just not true." [cue laughter]
In a country that sells and markets military style weapons as if they are toys I am not sure we should be surprised that the people selling them want to advertise to find the people buying them.
Facebook is not really responsible for the sickness that pervades the USA, they just want to make a buck from it. Well, they are partially responsible for division, but ammosexuals were prevalent in the USA long before Facebook.
They are absolutely responsible, also fuck you very much.
If they can cash the checks for it, they can be accountable for it.
So, we can't blame Facebook for helping to sell weapons to people interested in terrorism, right? Obviously not: poor Facebook being unjustly maligned. Of course, if the people who were interested in terrorism had brown skin, or were muslims, well, things would be different then, wouldn't they? I mean, those people, those, you know, those people, we can't be selling them weapons, they might be blowing us up and stuff.
I don't know what the problem is. This is just a textbook example of the "invisible" hand of "the market," gracefully guiding money towards desired goods and services. /s
What's truly irksome is that for every one of these examples, there are untold thousands of others, as the machine cranks out personalized recommendations that only their targets see.
Good god, that Sandberg quote needs highlighting...
I can't decide who's worse: Sandberg or Zuckerberg?
Every Skeletor needs an Evil-Lyn.