As the FBI ’s investigation into Russian election interference reach a fever pitch , Facebook rolled outa Modern News Feed alertMonday night . The bulletin told user who follow pages make by Russian trolls that those Sir Frederick Handley Page have been dispatch . And some of the affected users did not wish this .
A abbreviated search bring out that numerous people believe that this is an act of censorship by Facebook . Some users argued that they should be provide to decide what ’s “ true , fake , or otherwise , ” a challenge that ’s bound to be a slippy gradient in this geological era of algorithm - based confirmation bias .
Others took on a more conspirative spirit , claim that Facebook go wrong to reveal which Sir Frederick Handley Page were take out ( despite the alert carry a link listing the page in interrogative ) .
Facebook first released the informationin December , creatinga help pagethat showed users if they liked or followed Sir Frederick Handley Page and accounts associate with the Internet Research Agency , Russia ’s notorious troll farm , but today ’s alerting seems to have inspired newfound alarm . The fact that Facebook explicitly express which pages were deleted seems to have done piddling to trim down the anger over the allegedly undercover silencing .
It ’s worth pointing out that the Russian round page sweep the political spectrum , direct people on both the remaining and the rightfield . All sides , however , seemed certain that the Russian - linked accounts they followed were legitimate . “ No FB that ’s not how it ’s done , ” pen one user , convinced that the page Black Matters , which the House Intelligence Committee sayspaid thousands of dollars in rublesto promote its content , was being silenced . “ The stop was to remove phoney pages & potential Russian run page . ”
There are deal of reasons not to trust Facebook , especiallywhen it comesto simulated news . The societal connection removing page that it ’s identify as linked to a known Russian propaganda outfit , however , is not the most suspicious thing materialize here . Not only has Facebook testified before Congress about these accounts , but other companies like Twitter have identified similar subject on their web andare also commit to removing it .
One could argue that Facebook is doing too little too former , peculiarly as we pick up more about Russian interference in the 2016 election . But the melodic theme that Facebook is at war with the First Amendment by off these pages is naive at best .
Here ’s the matter . Any robot or troll anywhere in the mankind could create a page called , say , “ Veterans Come First . ” The machine or the man could satisfy that varlet with lots of real or real - look substance that keep oldtimer and the armed services . The page could await just as legitimate as something dress up by the USAA or your local American Legion Emily Post . In fact , Facebook is designed to make all pageboy wait the same , which is part of why fake pageboy or bastard intelligence articles can be so voiceless to spot . Just because something is on Facebook — or the internet as a whole — doesn’t mean it ’s lawful .
At the remainder of the twenty-four hour period , trusting an anonymous collecting of pixel is just as dubious as it sounds . Facebook is actually doing drug user a military service by withdraw the Russian troll content in the same way that it does users a service by removing abusive or inappropriate content , but many hoi polloi clearly do not see it that means .
enquire for comment , a Facebook representative say the company is “ undertaking significant efforts to let people on Facebook know that this tool is available , ” linking toan early blog poston the topic . In the meantime , unagitated down folks . We ’re all figuring this out together .
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