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Re:Algorithm Is the Problem, Not Mark Zuckerberg by Barrin92 on Monday June 08, 2020 @11:43PM (#23463447)
Three problems with the post. First off I'm a little bit annoyed by contrasting systemic problems of misinformation on these platforms with anecdotes about long lost friends. Yes, that some person from Japan could message the author is nice, but it's not really relevant given the levels of the threat we're talking about here. It's just an emotional appeal, sort of a reverse "but think of the children". (it also doesn't really require Facebook)

Secondly, the algorithm isn't to be blamed for anything. Algorithms don't have agency (as of yet at least), they're tools and humans are responsible for deploying them or turning them off if they misbehave. We cannot offload responsibility on them, they're just machines.

Last point is the argument about due process. Due process is important within the context of the law, but not everything on the world runs on formalistic processes. That's not possible given how many micro-decisions we have to deal with that are ambiguous. Zuckerberg is not required to uphold any due process in any strong sense of the term when managing his platform. Norms might be a better term, or maybe guidelines. But at a company level, there is significant need for case-by-case decision making. Zuckerberg is not the state.

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