Posted on 07/06/2014 10:34:23 AM PDT by dalight
EPIC Challenges Facebook's Manipulation of Users, Files FTC Complaint EPIC has filed a formal complaint to the Federal Trade Commission concerning Facebook's manipulation of users' News Feeds for psychological research. "The company purposefully messed with people's minds," states the EPIC complaint. EPIC has charged that the study violates a privacy consent order and is a deceptive trade practice. In 2012, Facebook subjected 700,000 users to an "emotional" test with the manipulation of News Feeds. Facebook did not get users' permission to conduct this study or notify users that their data would be disclosed to researchers. In the complaint, EPIC explained that Facebook's misuse of data is a deceptive practice subject to FTC enforcement. Facebook is also currently under a 20 year consent decree from the FTC that requires Facebook to protect user privacy. The consent decree resulted from complaints brought by EPIC and a coalition of consumer privacy organizations in 2009 and 2010. EPIC has asked the FTC to require that Facebook make public the News Feed algorithm. For more information, see EPIC: In re Facebook; and EPIC: FTC.
Facebook buries all kind of content that subscribers have “opted into”.
It pushes group think.
It keeps forcing users to use “Top Stories” but permits them to temporarily set it to “recent” postings. The user is then given the reminder option to set it “back” to top stories.
If you are a “commercial” interest (anything that is a group, even if non-profit or even registered, band, artist, whatever), your posts are hidden from your followers (those who’ve even clicked the FOLLOW tab) to encourage the host to pay $$$ to “promote” a post (for example, if you have 200 subscribers, your post may be seen by only 11 people if you don’t cough up $5 or $10).
IF you can make your posts go viral (with a lot of likes, shares, and comments), then they will “trend” and appear on other peoples’ walls.
Hell, beyond all of that, you may be “friends” with 400 people, but you’ll only see the news feed items from about a dozen people that you have “engaged with” by messaging on FB, posting on their wall, etc.
FB has long been suppressing content from subscribers’ newsfeeds.
If you are interested in personal privacy, close your Facebook account. And for God’s sake, keep your kids off it.
I have to agree, but also, agree that part of this is by user preference, to not be inundated. So picking choosing what is relevant is what this process should be doing. But, that Facebook can be engaged by a political party to specifically and selectively alter your feed in a way as to modify your behavior.. is kind of beyond the pale... if you would. (When a feature becomes a bug.)
Not about privacy, about manipulating peoples emotions for economic and political gain. The “privacy” angle is just the nature of the legal framework this was pursued under by EPIC. It was all about the things Facebook did in 2009 and 2010, that recently were published in an Academic study that raised eyebrows when people started putting 2 + 2 together.
Yahoo.com pushes “up” and “down” stories in the news display as well.
Years ago there were thumbs up and thumbs down buttons to help bias the news. Guess what Democrats did to the daily news articles and editorials?
I didn’t know it had gotten quite that bad
Fairly broad charge, no?
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