I normally don’t follow politics because politics doesn’t really follow me – it tends to stalk me instead. Yet today, with social media in the headline, I paid attention – because it’s not just politics involved. There’s artificial intelligence as well, or what is accused of it.
From the first article:
A US federal judge has limited the Biden administration’s communications with social media companies which are aimed at moderating their content.
In a 155-page ruling on Tuesday, judge Terry Doughty barred White House officials and some government agencies from contacting firms over “content containing protected free speech”.
It is a victory for Republicans who have accused officials of censorship.
Democrats said the platforms have failed to address misinformation.
The case was one of the most closely-watched First Amendment battles in the US courts, sparking a debate over the government’s role in moderating content which it deemed to be false or harmful…
“Biden officials must limit contact with social media firms“, BBC News, Annabelle Liang, 5th July, 2023.
By itself, it’s pretty damning for the Democrats, who like the Republicans, aren’t my favorite people in the world. It isn’t an either/or proposition, but it’s usually simplified to that so that both sides keep reading for advertising.
Now here’s the second article.
Evidence of potential human rights abuses may be lost after being deleted by tech companies, the BBC has found.
Platforms remove graphic videos, often using artificial intelligence – but footage that may help prosecutions can be taken down without being archived.
Meta and YouTube say they aim to balance their duties to bear witness and protect users from harmful content.
But Alan Rusbridger, who sits on Meta’s Oversight Board, says the industry has been “overcautious” in its moderation…
“AI: War crimes evidence erased by social media platforms“, BBC Global Disinformation Team, Jack Goodman and Maria Korenyuk, 1 June 2023.
The artificial intelligence angle is from a month ago. The political angle dealing with Democrats and Republicans (oh my!) is today, because of the Federal Judge’s ruling. Both deal with content being removed on social media.
The algorithms on social media removing content related to Ukraine is not something new when it comes to Meta, because yours truly spent time in Facebook jail for posting an obvious parody of a Ukrainian tractor pulling the Moskov – before it was sunk. It labeled it as false information, which of course it was – it was a parody, and any gullible idiot who thought a Ukrainian tractor was pulling the Moskov deserves to be made fun of.
Clearly, the Moskov would need 2 Ukrainian tractors to pull it. See? Again, comedic.
These stories are connected in that the whole idea of ‘fake news’ and ‘trusted information’ has been politicized just about everywhere, and by politicized I also mean polarized. Even in Trinidad and Tobago, politicians use the phrases as if they are magical things one can pull out of… an orifice.
Algorithms, where they are blaming AI, are injecting their own bias by removing and leaving some content. Is some of this related to the ruling about Biden officials? I imagine it is. How much of a part of it is debatable – yet, during Covid, people were spreading a lot of fake news that worked against the public interests related to health.
The political angle had a Federal Court intervene. No such thing has happened with the artificial angle. That’s disturbing.
Looks like getting beyond Code 2.0 is becoming more important, or more late. What you see in the echo chambers of social media are just red dots, shining on the things others want us to see, and not necessarily the right things.
Hello from the UK. Thank you for your post. Re “during Covid, people were spreading a lot of fake news that worked against the public interests related to health.”
Indeed so. And most of this came from the governments. They told us among other things that COVID 19 was a new deadly virus rather than the seasonal ‘flu re-branded to make more money for big pharma etc.
alphaandomegacloud.wordpress.com\2022\08\17\what-is-the-flu-a-k-a-covid-19-and-why-vaccines-are-pointless-at-best\
Kind regards
As a former Navy Corpsman who took MD level courses while I was in the Navy, I have to strongly disagree with the post you linked – but not all of the comment.
I would agree that big pharma made a lot of money off of vaccines. I think the influenza vaccine is really the best example of this. Vitamin D does have immune system benefits, as you can see here:
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-d/
It actually cites research where Vitamin D helps with influenza A but not influenza B.
I do agree that big pharma requires scrutiny, and I have my own issues regarding them. However, what you’re spreading doesn’t jive with most medical knowledge I’m aware of and in that regard it’s dangerous.
I’m going to assume you mean well, and I’ll ask you to research more. You’re clearly intelligent, but there’s more to it than you think.
Thank you for your reply. Come now Taran, just because you took MD level courses in the Navy does not mean you understand what is going on.
I am 63 years old with a working life in building surveying and for what it’s worth a professional qualification as a Chartered Building Surveyor. I have been involved in detailed analysis of buildings and their defects.
I used to think vaccines were of some use but not for the ‘flu as I saw people fall ill anyway so what was the point. But in 2020 I researched properly and changed my mind.
I now know that the whole of big pharma is based on the fundamentally flawed germ/viral theory. Big pharma have captured the academic and medical western world to fit its business model. It funds most research and even a casual investigation will show this to be the case. If people were made well by big pharma this would not be good for profits.
It is not rocket science and I do not appreciate your patronizing tone ‘you mean well’.
I would not be talking to you like this if I had not researched properly, so I suggest that you do your homework and check things out.
As to saying “what you’re spreading doesn’t jive with most medical knowledge I’m aware of and in that regard it’s dangerous.” you are to be blunt talking bollux.
If you have not realised the scam of vaccines by now let alone the fraud of big pharma then I’m sorry to say you do not live in the real world. Of course the truth is dangerous to big pharma and its cronies.
And the truth is that vaccines contain if anything poisons and poisoning oneself has never been good for one’s health now has it??
I have told you the truth; ignore it at your peril.
So you’re saying that your experience as a chartered building surveyor trumps my experience in the actual medical field in the context of… medicine. And bear in mind, I’m not a doctor and I don’t claim to be one – and I don’t try to dispense medical advice or theories.
I don’t see the need to further this conversation. 🙂
I wish you well.
Yes I am. I have explained why. How old are you? How long were you a Navy Corpsman? You have been working with National Geographic and have been made redundant I gather.
You say of yourself “I don’t try to dispense medical advice or theories.” So? You are happy to say you studied medicine so you must base what you said about misinformation on that. You should be able to justify it in reasoned arguments so why haven’t you? What are you afraid of?
You understand some of the problems with big pharma, why are you not taking a broader view?
You want to shut off a discussion because of what exactly? I challenged your assumptions and you don’t like it.
I have good reasons for my articles, not least because I was undergoing immuno-theory treatment for an alleged cancer in 2020. It turned out I had been poisoned by sodium nitrite (E250) in bacon I ate. It is legally allowed in processed meats despite the fact that E250 has a history of neuro-toxic side effects.
I was being treated at the height of the start of the COVID 19 nonsense in April/May and I knew in June what was really going on.
You must realise that with the internet there is a lot of information to be gleaned. One has to be wise and sift carefully. I have been trained to do this. It is just as well that I was not a doctor as I might have fallen for big pharma propaganda.
But there are those trained in medicine who have seen through big pharma lies too. If you are too blinded by your own arrogance and condescension then that is your look out. I have warned you and that will have to do.
You must realize with the internet that there is also a lot of bad information circulating as well.
The one link I put in my comments, with the effects of vitamin d on influenza strains, puts your post in question.
If you really want to disseminate credible information, I’m afraid you must do better than leaving long comments here.