David Kanevsky’s Post

We worked on election integrity at Meta. It's time to fix the feed before it’s too late https://buff.ly/4aLW5OB insightful inside perspective on what can and should be done to help prevent election interference

Know this is gonna be an unpopular opinion but Meta ending 3rd party fact checking is an extremely overrated story. Coming out of the 2016 election we were all looking for someone to blame for Trump because we couldn't accept that as many people who voted for him actually wanted to vote for him. We blamed misinformation that Russia spread on Meta (and elsewhere) and decided that if that got fixed people would come to their senses. The reality of course is that a lot of Americans DID want Trump and Russia likely did more to influence this election than they did in 2016 because they had a lot more on the line in Ukraine. Meta brought in 3rd party fact checkers, in part, to address these concerns but they also throttled the reach of all political content and news. We liked the first change and hated the second -- but they accomplished largely the same goal. Meta -- and nearly every other platform except X under Elon -- decided that being in the political information business was a bad business to be in and just abandoned it as much as possible rather than police it. The reality is misinformation has been (and will continue to be) a central part of public discourse and democracies throughout the world. Republicans spread a fake story in 1944 about FDR dispatching a destroyer to collect his dog in Hawaii. Octavian spread misinformation against Mark Antony and Cleopatra. And we -- the United States of America -- have been historically very good at spreading misinformation in other countries (typically weak democracies) to get election outcomes we want. Is that a good thing? No! Is Trump taking it to extremes? Yes! But the way you combat misinformation is not by having referees on the sidelines awarding points for truth and deducting points for lies. The way you combat it is by having a credible alternative that people want to believe in. The tools of spreading misinformation are more powerful now than they have ever been and they pose serious risks. But those tools are equally powerful in broadcasting your own message. I would very much prefer to live in a world governed by facts and reason but we never have and never will. If we assume there is going to be any institution that saves us from that we're playing a losing hand. Relentless offense is going to be our best defense. Whining to the refs (who now have absolutely no interest in being refs whether we're talking about Meta or the New York Times) isn't going to get us anywhere.

Threads finally starts its own fact-checking program Meta’s newest societal network, Threads is starting its ain fact-checking programme aft piggybacking connected Instagram and Facebook’s web for a fewer months. Instagram caput Adam Mosseri noted that the institution “recently” rolled retired the quality for fact-checkers to complaint and people mendacious contented connected Threads. However, Mosseri didn’t stock immoderate details astir erstwhile precisely the programme was rolled retired and if it was constricted to definite geographies. It is besides not wide which organizations are Meta’s fact-check partners for Threads. We person asked the institution for much details, and volition update the communicative if we perceive back. The determination seems to beryllium mostly targeting mentation for the upcoming U.S. elections. India is successful the mediate of its wide elections arsenic well, but it is improbable that a societal web rolls retired a fact-checking programme during an predetermination rhythm alternatively of commencing the task earlier it the elections. In December, Meta said that it wanted to bring the fact-check programme to Threads. “We presently lucifer fact-check ratings from Facebook oregon Instagram to Threads, but our extremity is for fact-checking partners to person the quality to reappraisal and complaint misinformation connected the app,” Mosseri had said in a post astatine that time. https://ift.tt/EoJIhl3

Meta's recap on election interference makes one thing abundantly clear: covert foreign influence campaigns choose X, not Facebook. 👏🤦 Meta is also leaning heavily into "protecting people’s ability to make their voices heard," which could mean a lighter touch in regulating misinfo/disinfo on the platform, and more lenient rules surrounding aggressive rhetoric. https://loom.ly/YZdS3FU

🚨 Meta slow to respond to hate speech ahead of US election 🚨 As the US heads to the polls today, our latest investigation reveals troubling delays in Meta's moderation of hate speech on Senate candidates' pages. Despite claiming to ‘do more’ than any other platform to safeguard elections, 13 out of 14 reported hateful and abusive comments—including antisemitic slurs and violent language—went unaddressed for over three days. This not only threatens democratic discourse but also endangers marginalized communities. It is time for Meta to boost the speed and adequacy of its trust and safety measures and ensure candidates are protected from hateful comments. Read our full investigation here: https://lnkd.in/eGVsS6Ck

What To Know About Political Advertising On Meta in 2024. To help politicians and advertisers better understand the social media political landscape and develop factually correct and transparent political campaigns, Meta has invested more than $20 billion in teams and technology to combat misinformation, voter interference, and foreign influence in its election process.  Click the link to read more about political advertising on Meta and its properties for the 2024 election cycle. ➡ https://lnkd.in/gyzgi7Vn #Meta #PoliticalAdvertising #2024elections

Meta's Future Depends on BJP's Victory! Since 2014, the BJP has been in power. If the BJP wins the upcoming elections, it would mark their third term in power and the upcoming 2024 elections could be a game-changer for the tech world too! Based on national security concerns and tensions between India and China, the leading government BJP banned Chinese apps in 2021, including TikTok. This move was significant because it allowed Instagram to grow without competition from TikTok. Well, history has shown us that when different political parties take power, they often make changes to important policies of the previous government. If Congress were to win the upcoming elections, it's likely they would revisit the ban imposed by the BJP. They might frame it as a step towards improving relations with our neighbour, China. However, this move could have significant repercussions, especially for Instagram, considering the global popularity and growth of TikTok. We're all aware of Facebook's pivotal role in the 2016 elections and how Cambridge Analytica leveraged data to sway voters. Now, these elections aren't just crucial for the BJP; they're also significant for Meta and its dominance in India, a country with the largest online user base. Changes in power and policy could reshape the digital landscape, affecting platforms like Instagram and the wider tech world. Whether the BJP's policies continue or Congress brings revisions, these elections will shape India's politics and technology.  With so much at stake, it's exciting to see how this unfolds. 

Since X seems to be prioritizing engagement only those who pay for verified accounts and is an otherwise hellhole of right-wing bigotry, and since Meta is de-prioritizing political content, I'm trying something new tonight by writing in a live chat on my Substack newsletter, American Doom. We have a small but, I think, loyal following, so it will be interesting to see who shows up. You can subscribe to Doom below and join in.

Meta's Insights from the 2024 Global Election Events In an extraordinary year marked by significant electoral activities worldwide, including major elections in countries such as the United States, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the European Union, the role of digital platforms in facilitating public discourse has never been more crucial. Meta, the tech giant that owns platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, has taken center stage in this context, emphasizing its responsibility to safeguard democratic processes and ensure that individuals can freely express their opinions during these critical times. Evolution of Election Integrity Efforts Meta has been evolving its approach to election integrity since 2016, learning from past experiences […] https://lnkd.in/drAS8eaw https://lnkd.in/dTM5hwDR

Houston....we have yet another dark corner to spotlight... 🔦💡CrowdTangle—set to be discontinued on August 14, 2024—is a critical tool employed by a vast network of journalists, researchers, and election observers to scrutinize the flow of information across Meta’s platforms during critical periods, especially elections. Despite numerous unanswered calls from government, civil society, and academia to delay CrowdTangle’s shut down to after the U.S. election and simultaneously improve functionality of its replacement, Meta will proceed with walking back transparency and erecting yet another barrier to the preservation of information integrity, accountability, and trust in platforms when it is needed most. https://lnkd.in/gpYeKNd4