Posted on 06/23/2020 12:23:31 PM PDT by DeweyCA
What lesson can we draw from the latest Project Veritas peek into Facebook’s content moderators? Perhaps the oldest lesson of all — power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Will anyone truly feel surprised to hear these bureaucratic functionaries chortling with glee over their control over other people’s political speech and the imposition of their own agendas over that of Facebook users?
“We are essentially in charge of what gets said and what gets stifled,” former moderator Zach McElroy tells James O’Keefe, and it’s very clear that they all know it:
In one example, McElroy captured as a screenshot, President Donald Trump posted on Facebook about Republican successes, including electing a GOP governor of Mississippi. In the screenshot, Trump’s account is labeled “Verified and Shielded,” but a seemingly innocuous comment on the post: “Cleaning up the house” with heart emojis is flagged in the Single Review Tool for adjudication.
One of the content moderators was asked if she deleted every Republican item that came up on her queue, she said: “Yes! I don’t give no f*cks, I’ll delete it.” …
Another content moderator, Lara Kontakos, was asked what she did when she saw a posts supporting the president: “If someone is wearing a MAGA hat, I am going to delete them for terrorism.”
Then, Kontakos looked around at her colleagues: “I think we are all doing that.”
Steve Grimmett, a content review lead, said it was Facebook’s culture to target the president and his supporters. “It’s a very progressive company, who’s very anti-MAGA.”
Is it culture, or is it policy? Mark Zuckerberg has denied having any policy that aims at political speech, and has actually been more resistant than other social-media corporate leaders to get aggressive on viewpoints. However, one or more of these undercover conversations indicate that Zuckerberg is saying one thing to Congress and in public, but putting a very different policy in place internally at Facebook.
McElroy’s on-the-record statements conflict with Zuckerberg’s claims enough that O’Keefe wants Congress to take note of it:
“Zach McElroy’s story raises serious doubts about the Capitol Hill testimony of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who gave lawmakers the impression that his company only takes content that could cause harm, such as relating to terrorism or hate speech, but never for politics,” said James O’Keefe, Project Veritas’ founding CEO.
“Facebook and other social media platforms are protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, because they claim that unlike traditional publishers that do not actively edit content—they say they are like the phone company just stringing wires on poles,” said O’Keefe.
“Facebook’s $400 billion market capitalization is tied to this protection and our report shows for the first time anywhere Facebook’s robust and human-directed process for restricting the marketplace of ideas, which calls into question their CDA 230 immunity,” he said.
I’m not crazy about going after Section 230, which does a lot more than protect Facebook. If people want an end to social media of any kind as well as comments sections on websites, curtailing Section 230 is exactly what will create that outcome. It might be better to take a look at Facebook’s empire in light of anti-trust legislation, along with Google and other Internet giants, and force them to spin off previous acquisitions. Too much expressive power on the Internet has come under the control of too few hands, and it has created a space in which no meaningful competition can arise to challenge these editorial policies.
Hopefully, a Senate committee will drag Zuckerberg back in front of the cameras and show him this tape. They could also call McElroy to rebut whatever denials Zuckerberg offers, as well as subpoena the content moderators seen in this video to demand some answers on whether Zuckerberg knowingly lied to Congress about the nature of that moderation. That would make for a good start toward accountability.
https://youtu.be/l7o4A16QCxE
The platforms need to be regulated like utilities. They should have absolutely no say what goes on the platform. If it’s something illegal, it’s for law enforcement to handle.
.
Time To Trust Bust Facebook. (Break up the Monopoly)
To save them from the Temptation of becoming EVEN BIGGER Censor Nazis.
To save them from a fate of being Hung From Lampposts because of further
betraying the People of the United States.
“Arrogant and Stupid” otherwise will be their Epitaph.
.
Facebook moderators have names and addresses. These should be public knowledge.
Agree, 100%
Isn’t ‘cheetoh’ a breed of cat? Did the author perhaps mean ‘cheeto?’
Of course they’re chortling with delight. You KNOW they are chortling with delight because they are stupid enough to do the thing and never ever realize that it’ll eventually cost them all of their “power”.
Great idea, censor the censors and dox the doxers!
One of the content moderators was asked if she deleted every Republican item that came up on her queue, she said: “Yes! I don’t give no f*cks, I’ll delete it.” …
Another content moderator, Lara Kontakos, was asked what she did when she saw a posts supporting the president: “If someone is wearing a MAGA hat, I am going to delete them for terrorism.”
Then, Kontakos looked around at her colleagues: “I think we are all doing that.”
Steve Grimmett, a content review lead, said it was Facebook’s culture to target the president and his supporters. “It’s a very progressive company, who’s very anti-MAGA.”
leftists are the most intolerant people on earth.
All my Trump and conservative posts are coming with. “Fact check warnings”
Meanwhile, offensive liberals constantly trash, white, Christian, conservative, religious people and nothing happens.
If anyone had referred to Obama as some sort of junk food or candy, they’d probably still be on unemployment.
"Scratch a liberal and find a fascist" has been an axiom for quite a while. It's only gotten worse with time.
I've heard Parler is good but know nothing about it.
If there isn't one there has to be a Conservative or group that has the brains and money to do it.
I've heard Parler is good but know nothing about it.
If there isn't one there has to be a Conservative or group that has the brains and money to do it.
Progs being progs.
No. Cure.
.
Nothing much can be done now, before the election - which FB (and other social media) will help to define and shape. Had action been taken even a year back, it would be a totally different story. Now, it’s day late & dollar short time.
LinkedIn: Lara Kontakos, Social Media Content Moderator at Cognizant
Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lara-kontakos-a780778a
when I was checking Kontakos, I came up with other Cognizant people, which made me go searching the company:
30 Oct 2019: The Verge: A Facebook content moderation vendor is quitting the business after two Verge investigations
Moderators complained of filthy offices and severe mental health strain
By Casey Newton
Cognizant had hired thousands of moderators around the world to remove hate speech, terrorism, and other inappropriate content from platforms including Facebook, Google, and Twitter...
Cognizant will honor its remaining contracts but will wind down its commitments over the course of 2020, the company said...
A follow-up report in June focused on a site in Tampa, FL, where moderators broke their non-disclosure agreements to describe a pattern of mistreatment by managers. They described working in offices that were often filthy, and where cases of sexual harassment had resulted in multiple complaints being filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The Phoenix and Tampa sites will both close after March 1st, Facebook told The Verge in a statement...
Cognizant “makes up a small percentage of Facebook’s global content review efforts,” the spokesman said. Facebook said it would increase the number of moderators it has working at a site in Texas, which is operated by Genpact.
“One of the reasons we work with partners is to be able to make adjustments quickly to ensure Facebook remains safe for people,” the spokesman said. “Cognizant’s content reviewers have played a valuable role in keeping our platforms safe for people all over the world and we thank them for the work they’ve done and continue to do.”
Related links:
The secret lives of Facebook moderators in America
Facebook moderators break their NDAs to expose desperate working conditions
Google and YouTube moderators speak out on the work that gave them PTSD
https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/30/20940956/cognizant-facebook-content-moderation-exit-business-conditions-investigation
Genpact is mentioned in The Verge article:
Wikipedia: Genpact
Genpact began in 1997 as a unit within General Electric...
In 2007, Genpact launched a joint venture with an Indian company NDTV to offer outsourcing services for the media industry.[2]
Bain Capital became the firm’s largest shareholder in October 2012...
In February 2019, Genpact contractors in Hyderabad who were assigned content moderation tasks for Facebook reportedly experienced psychological trauma while evaluating videos depicting suicide, torture, terrorism, and pornography...
On 7 January 2019, it acquired riskCanvas, an end-to-end Financial Crimes software platform, from Booz Allen Hamilton...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genpact
Steve Grimmett in PV video seems to be at Accenture, according to google result:
“Steve Grimmett. Content Analyst at Accenture”
Accenture missing on this page, it seems, even tho I linked from a google result that included it:
Apollo: Steve Grimmett, Capacity Planning Team at ?
2018-present
Austin, Texas, United States
Content Review Specialist March 2018-July 2018
https://www.apollo.io/people/Steve/Grimmett/54a53d467468692fa2ee9588
19 Jun 2019: CNET: Facebook content moderation is an ugly business. Here’s who does it
Content moderators protect Facebook’s 2.3 billion members. Who protects them?
by Queenie Wong
PRO Unlimited
Based in Boca Raton, Florida, PRO Unlimited provides services and software used by clients in more than 90 countries...
A Facebook spokeswoman said the social media giant no longer uses PRO Unlimited for content moderation. PRO Unlimited didn’t respond to a request for comment...
Accenture
One of the most prestigious consultancies in the world, Dublin-based Accenture has more than 459,000 people serving clients across 40 industries and in more than 120 countries, according to its website...
In February, Facebook content reviewers at an Accenture facility in Austin, Texas, complained about a “Big Brother” environment, alleging they weren’t allowed to use their phones at their desk or take “wellness” breaks during the first and last hour of their shift, according to a memo obtained by Business Insider...
Some of Accenture’s clients have included other tech giants such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon. More than three-quarters of Fortune Global 500 companies work with Accenture...
Arvato
One of Facebook’s largest content moderation centers is in Germany, a country that started enforcing a strict hate speech law last year that would fine social media companies up to 50 million euros ($58 million) if they didn’t pull down hate speech and other offensive content quickly enough...
Arvato, owned by the German media company Bertelsmann, runs a content moderation center in Berlin...
The company, based in Gütersloh, Germany, has 70,000 employees in more than 40 countries. It’s been providing Facebook with content moderation services since 2015...
Genpact
New York-based professional services firm Genpact won a contract with Facebook last year to provide content moderation, according to The Economic Times (India)...
https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-content-moderation-is-an-ugly-business-heres-who-does-it/
Bertelsmann’s Arvato is mentioned in CNET article:
26 May 2019: Politico: How Europe’s biggest media company infiltrated the EU
How Bertelsmann mixes business, philanthropy and Continental politics
by Matthew Karnitschnig
“Together with the European Commission, we’re developing new ways and instruments to reach and engage the public,” Aart Jan de Geus, a former Dutch labor minister and former deputy head of the OECD, told a small group of journalists, explaining that Europe’s media had a crucial role to play in the effort.
By “we,” de Geus meant the organization he has led since 2012, the Bertelsmann Stiftung, a foundation controlled by the wealthy German family behind Bertelsmann SE & Co., the giant media group where Selmayr worked as a Brussels-based lobbyist until 2004...
Message control has been a Bertelsmann specialty for nearly two centuries...
With its far-flung holdings and liberal ideals, Bertelsmann epitomizes the “globalist” values that are fueling populist resentment across the West. The EU’s close association with the group, however well-intentioned, could end up giving Europe’s anti-establishment forces just the kind of ammunition they’re looking for.
Though many Europeans may have never heard of Bertelsmann, it touches almost all of their lives. With operations scattered from Tallinn to Athens, the closely held group is not just a “société européenne” in name. Its stable of properties includes Europe’s biggest commercial broadcaster, RTL, which reaches millions every day over dozens of television and radio stations across the Continent. It also controls Penguin Random House, the world’s largest book publisher, with authors ranging from Michelle Obama to Dan Brown and Jamie Oliver.
The company, which employs more than 100,000 people...
https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-inc-bertelsmann-business-philanthropy-politics/
22 Apr: Locus Mag: Bertelsmann to Become Climate Neutral
Bertelsmann, the parent company of Penguin Random House, has pledged to become climate neutral by 2030. They plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% as compared to 2018, and to pay for offsets for the remainder. The company joins 800 other organizations worldwide as part of the Science Based Target Initiative...
23 Jun: South China Morning Post: European Union leaders urge Xi Jinping to drop Hong Kong national security law, or risk ‘negative consequences’
•‘China risks very negative consequences’ if it imposes national security law, says European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
•But she sidesteps questions as to the exact measures the EU would take
by Stuart Lau
Xi, on his part, fended off the EU’s categorisation of China as a rival, pledging to work together with the bloc on cooperation and upholding multilateralism...
The EU’s complaints also touched on climate change, despite China’s official stance in support of the Paris Agreement.
“China has repeatedly projected itself a leader in global climate issues, and China is indeed on our side on this. However, being a leader brings responsibility to follow up with actions,” von der Leyen said.
The duo urged China to commit to climate neutrality as soon as possible after 2050, with von der Leyen adding: “We count on China to live up to its commitments under the Paris Agreement and step them up and lead by example.”...
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3090159/european-union-leaders-urge-xi-jinping-reconsider-hong-kong-national
the young, smug “progressives” who do the censoring for Big Tech don’t have a clue who the puppet masters are. same goes for the useful idiots aligning themselves to BLM/Dems.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.