First Apple, Then the Google, and Now a Young Person: Facebook Faces Phrastic Fault Finding
February 21, 2022
I am not sure I fully understand “What Does A Platform Look Like When It’s Dying?” The write up strikes me as somewhat mean spirited. Name a bad thing Facebook has done? Used corrosive information flows to rip apart social structures? Hey, what about the tweeter thing?
Created a marketplace for contraband? Hey, the Dark Web has been in that game for a decade.
Fostered human trafficking and child sex crime? Definitely not a pioneer in this area.
Overall the Facebook or Zuckbook is a manifestation of what’s possible online: Monopolies, ecosystems of idiosyncratic behavior like “No, you can’t change your icons”, and getting paid anytime a user or an advertiser clicks. Online is a fine, tidy, well-lit place (sorry, Ernest, I can’t do the “lighted” word form).
The write up states:
Well, two days ago, Meta, which is what Facebook calls itself now for some reason, tried to hold a post-Super Bowl Foo Fighters concert in its new VR platform that no one wants, but users couldn’t figure out how to actually access it and the ones that did said it looked like shit and sucked. Also, yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook’s corporate values now include the bizarre tagline “Meta, metamates, me.” And over on Instagram, Reels, the video feed on Meta’s once-cool photo app, is filling up with silent auto-playing one-second video memes everyone hates. Meanwhile, TikTok’s owner ByteDance reported last month that their 2021 sales grew by 70%. So, you know, you connect the dots there.
I think this means that the China-linked TikTok is the big dog of social media and video now.
Bad for Facebook? Yep. Bad for YouTube? Yep. Bad for identifying susceptible individuals who can be coerced to cooperate with a foreign power? Nope.
Stephen E Arnold, February 21, 2022
The Metazuck Shuts Down Iranian Accounts Posing as Scottish Nationalists
February 17, 2022
Here we have an all-too-rare case of Facebook (Meta) taking action against imposter accounts. Yahoo Finance reports, “Facebook Takes Down Fake Iranian Accounts that Posed as Scottish Locals.” The network in question, however, had not been particularly effective at influencing its target audience. Though the eight Facebook and 126 Instagram accounts had 77,000 followers between them, the most popular one only garnered 4,000 followers, and only half of those were actually located in the UK. We suppose even small victories can be used for PR purposes.
We are told the fake Scots were firm supporters of Scottish independence and critical of the UK government. The creators of these false accounts may have expected more bang for their rial, for they put in an unusual amount of effort to make them seem real. Reporter Karissa Bell writes:
“In a call with reporters, Facebook’s Global IO Threat Intelligence Lead, Ben Nimmo, said that it’s not the first time the company has caught Iran-linked fake accounts targeting Scotland, but that the latest network stood out for its ‘artisanal’ approach to the fake personas. ‘What was unique about this case was the effort that the operators took to make their fakes look like real people,’ Nimmo said. He noted the accounts spent considerable time posting about their ‘side interests,’ like football, in an attempt to boost their credibility. Some of the accounts also lifted profile photos from real celebrities or media personalities, and regularly updated the images in order to appear more real. Other accounts used fake photos generated by AI programs.”
That is a lot of effort to foment a bit of unrest in a corner of the UK. We wonder what else these imposters are up to and what they have planned for the future.
Cynthia Murrell, February 17, 2021
Facebook Gets a Bad Wrap: Analysis That Is
February 16, 2022
I read the Wrap’s “Why Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg Are Boxed In: Analysis.” (There’s a paywall in place, gentle reader.) My take on the write up is that Facebook has been boxed out by three interesting factors: [a] It is a product designed for college students circa 2004. These “objects of attention” in the early incarnations of the social network are now nosing into their 40s. The parents of these millennials or whatever the cohort is called have discovered Facebook. The silver citizens are definitely checking out grandkiddies via the ‘Book.
[b] The Facebook brand has morphed into Zuckbook or Meta or some crisis PR firm’s vision of smooth sailing into a safe harbor. Not many firms have the distinction of being viewed as a digital embodiment of the chemically infused Love Canal.
[c] Yeah, TikTok. Algorithms, short videos, and the benign Hoovering of data about users. And a China connection too. As sensitive as the Zuck’s radar has been, he appears to have zucked up.
The write up in Wrap takes a complementary view; for example:
Additionally, even if Zuckerberg succeeds in building a business ecosystem around the metaverse, the company will have to figure out an advertising model without relying on targeted ads. There are also consumer safety and security concerns that have not been addressed, and while it rebranded to Meta last October, Facebook is still strongly associated with its image.
Yep, the Apple move to eunuchize the Zuck was a sharp swipe at the Zuckbook.
Ouch.
Stephen E Arnold, February 16, 2022
Pardner, We Never Meta an Outfit with Which We Could Not Litigate
February 15, 2022
TikTok is expanding in Europe. The Zuckbook is threatening to pull out of Europe. Good or bad? Here’s an easier question: Can Texas get billions out of Meta (aka Zuckbook) for alleged misuse of facial recognition?
My hunch is that TikTok in Europe is bad. Texas winning some type of Zuckbook cash output is badder.
“Texas Sues Meta, Saying It Misused Facial Recognition Data” reports:
The suit involves Facebook’s “tag suggestions” feature, which the company ended last year, that used facial recognition to encourage users to link the photo to a friend’s profile. Paxton [Texas Attorney General] alleged the company collected facial recognition data without their consent, shared it with third parties, and did not destroy the information in a timely manner — all in violation of state law.
What’s interesting is that there are other AGs who may want to monitor this legal matter. If the Zuckbook avoids a Super Bowl fine, that’s okay. There are probably other technical fish to fry at the social media out.
But…
If the Texas AG prevails, how many other states will ask a couple of bright eyed and busy tailed lawyers to see if similar actions took place in their state?
I can name a couple. Can Meta, or is the Zuckbook team too busy trying to figure out how to deal with what one might call headwinds?
Worth watching Mr. Paxton’s interest in Meta I think.
Stephen E Arnold, February 15, 2022
Facebook Has Dictator-Like Control Of Platform
February 9, 2022
Russia is not shy when it comes to criticism. Russians usually target rival governments and politicians, but when they are driven it is not odd for a company or business leader to be in their critical crosshairs. Sputnik News is a Russian news service and it criticized Facebook for blocking it: “Muting Sputnik Arabic: Facebook Control Is Something Any Dictator Would Dream Of, Analysts Say.”
It is ironic that Facebook, a US-based company, where the first amendment in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights guarantees the right to freedom of speech, blocked the Arabic account of a Russian news outlet. If you did not catch the ironic bit, Russian is the former Soviet Union and as a socialist country it censored any undesirable information. Facebook Concierge Support did not explain why it blocked Sputnik’s Arabic account other than there was “potential non-compliance.” The Sputnik Arabic account has never been blocked, but some of its post have been flagged for “violating community standards.”
Facebook has silenced ideas it does not agree with in the past and this is yet another example of them doing it again. Facebook does not care about remaining neutral, the company only cares about its bottom line and controlling information.
Facebook whistleblower Ryan Hartwig said:
“ ‘The message from Facebook is clear: they have carte blanche to interfere in elections, influence politics, and control the news that Middle Easterners can be exposed to,’ Hartwig highlights. ‘This type of unilateral control of news and propaganda is only something dictators have dreamed of, and it’s being foisted on sovereign countries in the Middle East.’ According to the whistleblower, Facebook’s conduct is “extremely dangerous” because the platform is used by a substantial portion of netizens. ‘Free speech essentially doesn’t exist for the 3 billion users of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp,’ Hartwig stresses.
Facebook is a platform and a medium of discourse. It does not have the right to enact censoring in order to control the narrative. Instead Facebook is taking center stage in censorship as well as purporting that state-linked media is bad while privately owned social media is good.
Fortunately Facebook is already viewed as a toxic brand and younger generations see it as dated and meant for Baby Boomers. Facebook continues to control an interest in the media narrative, but time will erode its hold. It is too bad we have to wait for Facebook to lose its grip, but congratulations to Zuckerberg for drawing criticism from Russia! That is one heck of an accomplishment!
Whitney Grace, February 9, 2022
Facebook: Eliciting Glee from Those Who Should Love It
February 6, 2022
I read – and this is the “real” title – “The End of the Metaverse Hopefully. Read to the End for a Tremendous Meditation on February. Facebook Made Its Own World and Now It’s Stuck in It.” The write up appeared in an online publication called Garbage Day.
Here’s the conclusion which I found interesting for several reasons:
Basically, Facebook and Instagram is [sic] Squid Game, the algorithm is the big piggy bank, and the last three traumatized contestants in tuxedos armed with knives are an out-of-work magician, an antivax chiropractor, and a QAnon mom from Tuscon who runs a drop-shipping pyramid scheme. Which, of course, is not a platform that users will want to use. But it’s all Facebook has to fall back on now that its attempts to “build the metaverse” have been exposed as an absolutely ridiculous bluster. And it seems like that’s what they’re actually going to do. Zuckerberg said yesterday that that they would be focusing — or pivoting — to video again. It’s all they can do. They’ll pivot to video, then they’ll pivot to reactions, then they’ll pivot to groups, then they’ll pivot to news, then they’ll pivot back to video, all the while, shrinking and becoming less and less relevant until one day we won’t even notice they’re gone.
The Zuckbook faces an uphill climb. However, large companies like an aircraft carrier require some time to stop. With an admiral screaming at the captain, the inputs contribute nothing to the physics of a big, often technologically outdated, vessel chock full of explosives, fuel, and former Googlers.
I agree that Facebook faces headwinds. What’s important to keep in mind is that the Big Zuck has his hands on the controls. Like a cornered ferret, an animal control officer must appreciate what the clever little creature can do.
Let me offer a few examples:
- Act on rumors of accepting political advertising which is tailor made for the Facebook throw-fuel-on-the-fire algorithms of engagement
- Enter into for-free agreements with organizations engaged in intelligence activities for a wide range of governments. Here’s a hypothetical question: “How much would Mr. Putin’s colleagues pay for unfettered access to near-real time user activity in a geographic region?” If not Mr. Putin, what about an person who is an alleged oligarch?”
- Create differential advertising rates and charge more for ads which come with a nifty control panel designed to allow on-the-fly tuning?
- What are the subscription revenue opportunities of a service infused with artificial intelligence informed for grandmothers?
I recognize the brilliance of the Big Zuck who allegedly created the service in a dorm room. I think his business acumen is worthy of a case study if universities have business schools which focus on real world behaviors. I admire the Big Zuck’s desire to buy Hawaii.
However, ignoring the Zuckbook and the Big Zuck is not a good idea. Assuming that the aircraft carrier will crash into a reef and sink is not a good idea. Suggesting that the doomsday clock is accelerating is not a good idea.
What is a good idea? Think about a cornered ferret.
Stephen E Arnold, February 6, 2022
Instagram Takes a Stab at Adulting
January 31, 2022
Yahoo Finance explains that, “Instagram Will Now Reduce The Visibility Of ‘Potentially Harmful’ Content” on its platform. Instagram’s reasoning is to clean to up its algorithm and keep users happy, but to also prevent harmful content from getting exposure.
Instagram, like many social media platforms, is attempting to rein in photos and videos deemed “harmful content.” The problem is the definition of “harmful content.” Content with deliberate violence and abuse, bullying, hate speech, pedophilia, and depicting blood such as traffic accidents are obvious. Other videos fall into a bigger gray area.
Borderline content is the biggest problem for Instagram’s algorithm and needs a human filter to interpret it:
“While Instagram’s rules already prohibit much of this type of content, the change could affect borderline posts, or content that hasn’t yet reached the app’s moderators. “To understand if something may break our rules, we’ll look at things like if a caption is similar to a caption that previously broke our rules,” the company explains in an update.”
One of the biggest changes with the policy is that an account’s report history will be taken into consideration with what appears on its feed:
“Additionally, Instagram says it will now factor in each individual user’s reporting history into how it orders their feeds. ‘If our systems predict you’re likely to report a post based on your history of reporting content, we will show the post lower in your Feed,’ Instagram says.”
In 2020, Instagram removed accounts that were deliberately posting misinformation and were debunked by fact checkers. The newest policy will target individual posts and not entire accounts.
Whitney Grace, January 31, 2022
Facebook: Reluctant But Why?
January 26, 2022
The write up concerns Facebook in Australia. Australia has good relationships with the US. The bonds between Australia and the United Kingdom seem to be in reasonable shape as well. Australia, it seems to me, has been an origin point for some interesting ideas related to online.
“Meta Most Reluctant to Work with Government: Home Affairs” points out that Meta (originally just plain old super community minded Facebook) is less enthusiastic about working with Australia’s government than some of its very large, possibly monopolistic fellow travelers.
The write up reports:
In a submission to the House Select Committee Inquiry into Social Media and Online Safety, Home Affairs criticized Meta for not doing enough to protect its users and for not adequately engaging with the government on these issues. In its own submission, Meta said it has “responded constructively” to Australian government inquiries and is “highly responsive” to local regulators.
I think this means that Meta is doing a better job at foot dragging than some other big technology firms. Like Meta’s recognition as the worst company in the United States, the highly responsive outfit has tallied points in the “less enthusiastic” competition.
The Australian government and Meta have other issues which have caused the US company to arm wrestle with Australian officials; for example, encryption of Facebook Messenger content, dealing with Australian media’s interest in compensation for its content, and ideas about privacy.
The write up does not answer the question “But why?”
To fill the void, may I suggest a cou8ple of reasons:
- Keep people in the dark. Disclosures about Meta technology, business practices, or data systems might inform the Australian government. With the information, the Australian government could formulate some new ideas about fining or controlling the community focused US outfit. In short, Meta information may lead to meta prosecution perhaps?
- Take steps to prevent data moving around the Five Eyes. Information disclosed in Australia might find its way to the US and the UK. Despite these countries’ security methods, some of that disclosed data could seep into the efficient machinery of the European Union. It is conceivable that the risk of becoming even more responsive to Australia increases the risk of EU action with regard to the community oriented social media company.
- Circle the wagons to prevent user defections. Cooperating in any way that become public could cause some Meta users to delete their accounts and prevent others in their span of control from using Meta services. This means a loss of revenue, and a loss of revenue has downside consequences; namely, encouragement for other high technology companies to nose into Meta territory.
I want to emphasize none of these ideas appear in the write up cited above. Furthermore, these are views which I developed talking with my colleagues about Meta.
Net net: Meta does not want information about its systems, methods, research, and policies. Frances Haugen, it seems, did not get that email.
Stephen E Arnold, January 26, 2022
Meta Zuck: AIR SC Sort of Sketched Out
January 25, 2022
I read Facebook’s (Meta’s) blog post called “Introducing the AI Research SuperCluster — Meta’s Cutting-Edge AI Supercomputer for AI Research.” The AIR SC states:
Today, Meta is announcing that we’ve designed and built the AI Research SuperCluster (RSC) — which we believe is among the fastest AI supercomputers running today and will be the fastest AI supercomputer in the world when it’s fully built out in mid-2022.
Then this statement:
Ultimately, the work done with RSC will pave the way toward building technologies for the next major computing platform — the metaverse, where AI-driven applications and products will play an important role.
So the AIR SC is sort of real. The applications for the AIR SC are sort of metaverse. That’s not here either in my opinion.
So what’s going on? Here are my thoughts:
- Facebook wants to stake out conceptual territory claims as AT&T did with its non 5G announcements about the under construction 5G capabilities.
- Facebook wants to show that its AIR SC is bigger, better, faster, and more super than anything from the Amazon, Google, or other quasi-monopolies who want systems that will dominate the super computer league table for now and possibly forever unless government regulators or user behavior changes the game plan.
- Facebook believes the Silicon Valley marketing mantra, “Fake it until you make it” with a possible change. I interpret the announcement to say, “Over promise and under deliver.” I admit I have become jaded with the antics of these corporate giants who have been able to operate without meaningful oversight or what some might call ethical guidelines for a couple of decades.
In the old days, companies in the Silicon Valley mode did vaporware. The tradition continues? Sure, why not? There’s even a TikTok style video to get the AIR SC message across.
Stephen E Arnold, January 25, 2022
European Parliament Embraces the Regulatory PEZ Dispenser Model for Fines on Big Tech
January 24, 2022
I read about the Digital Services Act. “European Parliament Passes Huge Clampdown on Tracking Ads” states:
The European Parliament, the legislative body for the European Union (EU), has voted in favor of its Digital Services Act (DSA), which seeks to limit the power of American internet giants such as Facebook, Amazon and Google.
That’s mostly on the money. What’s not spelled out is that the procedure of identifying a tracking instance, building a case, adjudicating, appealing, and levying a fine is now official. It’s a procedure. Perhaps a bright French artificial intelligence professional will use Facebook or Google AI components to make the entire process automatic, efficient, and – obviously – without bias. No discrimination! But the DSA is aimed at outfits like Amazon, Facebook, and Google. Nope. Not discriminatory and also not yet a really official thing…yet.
I found this paragraph memorable:
According to the EU, the DSA covers several key areas, including introducing mechanisms by which companies have to remove “illegal” content in a timely manner in a bid to reduce misinformation, increasing requirements on so-called very large online platforms (VLOPs), regulating online ad targeting, and clamping down on dark patterns. The scope and scale of the DSA (and associated DMA) are huge, perhaps the biggest effort yet by a substantial world power (outside of China) to regulate what happens in cyberspace.
How does one redistribute “wealth”? Easy. Create a legal PEZ dispenser, push the plastic likeness of Mr. Bezos, Mr. Zuckerberg, or Mr. Pichai (who is the only one of the PEZ dispensers with AI in his name).
Stephen E Arnold, January 24, 2022
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