Isn't the algorithm a form of censorship in and of itself?

It decides what to show and what to hide. Yes, you can drill down to find what you want, but that will either never happen at scale or might be entirely impractical.

That's a good and I think more interesting question. I don't have a good answer for you :)

They can't show everything so a filter must be used. They try to show you things similar to what you have liked so you are happy, along with ads related to what you like so you will buy. I can hide/unlike/unfollow things I don't like to tune the filter. How is this complicated? Do people who hate Facebook not understand how to use it? Edit:sp

This debate centers around whether Facebook is a publisher or a carrier (like a phone service). There are some ways that Facebook inserts itself much more directly than a carrier would:

1) They control the feed algorithms.

2) They set policies around what activity is allowed by users.

3) They run ads at their discretion.

4) They control all of the application tooling, which in turn establishes what users can and can't do.

You can look at the situation as users asking for more control over those 4 points. We can do it either by breaking up the tooling and devolving more authority to users, or we can do it via government-regulated policies.

1) I can tweak what is shown on the feed to good effect

2) I don't want porn, terrorism, hate or scams on my newsfeed

3) It cost a lot of money to run and maintain Facebook

4) Apple controls apps on it's store, Google too. Control has to be put in place to prevent scams, hacks and bitcoin miners from being installed. Facebook isn't the internet. It's a safe social space for my 81 yr old mother.

> Facebook, twitter, and other social networks give people a voice and a community.

No, it doesn't. That the point. It gives people a some of curated information subset from what people they know is saying, probably out of context, and heavily biased. That's not a community, because it's not made of whole people.

They also give voice to some of your thoughts that they decide they want to. That's not voice, or at least, that's not voice to you, that's voice for them, while impersonating you.

> No, it doesn't

I'm part of several communities in both Facebook and Twitter, so I fail to see your point.

This is actually why most people use Facebook/Twitter nowadays.

It's not you talking on those communities. It's an impersonation of you by Facebook, with as much fidelity to the real you as Facebook deems necessary. The same applies to all the "people" you interact with there.

The problem is that people lack critical thinking and prefer echo chambers to real debate. I'm a bit guilty of it myself but I do not filter my closer friends just because I don't agree with them on social platforms, but I refuse to argue with them online either. I always invite them to a beer if they want to do that.

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