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Facebook Tests Prompts That Ask Users If They're Worried a Friend is 'Becoming an Extremist' (cnn.com) 172

Some Facebook users in the United States are being served a prompt that asks if they are worried that someone they know might be becoming an extremist. Others are being notified that they may have been exposed to extremist content. From a report: It is all part of a test the social media company is running that stems from its Redirect Initiative, which aims to combat violent extremism, Andy Stone, a Facebook spokesperson, told CNN. Screen shots of the alerts surfaced on social media Thursday. "This test is part of our larger work to assess ways to provide resources and support to people on Facebook who may have engaged with or were exposed to extremist content, or may know someone who is at risk," Stone said. "We are partnering with NGOs and academic experts in this space and hope to have more to share in the future," Stone added. One of the alerts, a screen grab of which made the rounds on social media Thursday, asks users, "Are you concerned that someone you know is becoming an extremist?" "We care about preventing extremism on Facebook," explained that alert, according to a screen grab posted on social media. "Others in your situation have received confidential support."
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Facebook Tests Prompts That Ask Users If They're Worried a Friend is 'Becoming an Extremist'

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  • I'm worried (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 02, 2021 @09:04AM (#61543724)

    About any friends still on Facebook

  • snitches get stitches!! Also this may lead to fruit of the poisonous tree issues in court.

    • Also this may lead to fruit of the poisonous tree issues in court.

      No, there is no reason to think so.

    • snitches get stitches!!

      It is this thinking that allows crime to flourish in certain neighborhoods. The "fruit of the poisonous tree" doctrine was a mistake and it wouldn't even apply here.

      • The "fruit of the poisonous tree" doctrine was a mistake ...

        Not at all. The doctrine is the US courts' answer to the question, asked since at least Roman times, "who shall watch the watchers? [because they won't watch each other]".

        It is the implementation of the Fifth Amendment's prohibition on self-incrimination (which, in turn, is largely to keep the authorities from torturing confessions out of suspects). By making the results of such actions useless for prosecution (and even counter-productive, leadin

  • that could go wrong here.

  • When the Regime is looking for unwanted people, the did shit like this.

    Now it's The Narrative looking for unwanted non-Narrative-think.

    Get off Facebook, people.
    • Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, START

      Sign of a loner. Those who played with friends include SELECT before START.

    • You're right. Just last week I saw a Facebook van pull up to my neighbor's house and round them all up for a "work camp". Facebook goons stomped on the faded Trump 2020 lawn sign and drove off.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Friday July 02, 2021 @09:32AM (#61543888) Homepage Journal

      Nah, it's just Facebook covering its arse. Terrorists keep posting their manifestos and live-streaming their mass murder sprees, and Facebook wants to be seen to be Doing Something. This is something, so they are doing it.

      Next time it happens their spokesperson will carefully lay the blame with their friends who failed to report their extremism.

      • More importantly for Facebook, it's "doing something" that won't solve the actual problem: their algorithms are tweaked to keep people looking at Facebook, and therefore ads, and it just so happens that as a side effect the way they do that ends up being by continuously showing someone increasingly extreme content.

        The actual problem that Facebook and all these other sites that rely on "recommended content" has with generating extremists is that, as it watches what content gets you to stay on the site, it's able to better "bin" you into some extreme. (And it's not just a left/right thing, it'll work on anything that you care to become extreme about that people create content for. Favorite OS, favorite console, favorite sports team, whether the Earth is flat - whatever.) By seeing what content best poked the buttons of other people like you, it knows what content to show you to best poke your buttons.

        The more insidious thing is that it also knows which content is least likely to keep you on the site, and filters that out. And that content tends to be the "moderating" content, stuff that's not that interesting because it's just facts or because it fairly covers a story.

        And Facebook has no intention of ever changing this, because their goal is keeping you on the site, looking at ads. If it turns you into an extremist - well, that just means they're better able to target ads at you.

    • Facebook isn't a regime. Your comparison is false.
      • by Kazymyr ( 190114 )

        Facebook isn't a regime yet. However, every step they take seems to bring them closer to that goal.

    • When the Regime is looking for unwanted people, the did shit like this.
      Now it's The Narrative looking for unwanted non-Narrative-think.
      Get off Facebook, people.

      You mean that regime that kicked in doors, abducted and murdered people?

      Facebook is providing links to support groups.

    • hire IBM to run it!

  • by Dan East ( 318230 ) on Friday July 02, 2021 @09:19AM (#61543804) Journal

    This makes swatting really easy and convenient.

  • Why are you on facebook?

    (Van Morrison)
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=pP... [youtube.com]

    Also Poppy tells you what to do. Obey Poppy.
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=k_... [youtube.com]

  • by GlennC ( 96879 ) on Friday July 02, 2021 @09:32AM (#61543886)

    Facebook is asking if the barn door needs to be closed.

  • by Anonymous Coward
    I never thought I'd live in a time when the holocaust could be repeated. How quickly we forget that when we give up freedom of speech, speech is quickly controlled by those in power. Wrongthink is punished and we are encouraged to snitch on our neighbors. It's only a matter of time now until we start jailing our own political dissidents including journalists, people who post wrongthink on social media. It won't be long after that before they start erecting the gulags and concentration camps to house those "
    • nah, this time around the freedom of speech is taken by allowing "private" organizations ( akin to company towns, in a way) take away speech and saying "see, the guv'mint didn't do it!!!".
  • ...I would *absolutely* answer yes EVERY TIME.
    Doesn't matter who.
    If I could bait the system into me being friends with famous people and politicians, and try to trigger it on them? ABSOLUTELY>

    Good thing we're not a police state like China.

  • Only certainities.

  • Facebook is becoming an extremist.

  • I'm a false positive (Score:5, Interesting)

    by t0qer ( 230538 ) on Friday July 02, 2021 @10:27AM (#61544156) Homepage Journal

    Due to some involvement in local politics 10 years ago, my friends list has ballooned to over 2400 people. Majority of these folks, I really just don't know them. I don't want to know them either. So I thought I'd conduct a grand social experiment myself. What would happen if I suddenly switched sides?

    I started posting pro-trump stuff. Qanon, anti-vaxx stuff. I posted things about 9/11 was an inside job. What's amazing is how many people that barely know me start becoming amateur psychologists. Concern trolls abundant. Instead of responding with logical replies, a lot of people devolve to name calling and insults. It's no wonder that many of the folks that are actually into these things are so reinforced to believe it. It's "Us VS the world". The entire idea of being woke is akin to the John Carpenter movie "They Live"

    Aside from that though is from my activities I see a programmed response from people not into these things. Anger, detest, and absolutely no empathy. Things the majority of them would not respond with face to face, suddenly they're emboldened to say because they're sitting behind a screen miles away. The right side is the same way, using the same methods of dehumanizing the left.

    The weird thing is, both sides are pretty well programmed, but both sides will also say, "No we're not!" I fully expect to see those kinds of responses to this comment, as well as a few shining jewels of wisdom sprinkled in there.

    • Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday July 02, 2021 @11:47AM (#61544580)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by ToasterMonkey ( 467067 ) on Friday July 02, 2021 @01:10PM (#61544892) Homepage

      Qanon, anti-vaxx stuff. I posted things about 9/11 was an inside job. What's amazing is how many people that barely know me start becoming amateur psychologists. Concern trolls abundant. Instead of responding with logical replies, a lot of people devolve to name calling and insults.

      So you were intentionally trolling everyone with batshit insane conspiracy theories, and in response, everyone treated you like you were either intentionally trolling or batshit insane? You expect a logical reply to "9/11 was an inside job" from a complete stranger over the Internet?

  • Be a Facebook Informer. Betray your Family and Friends. Fabulous prizes to be won.

  • by nehumanuscrede ( 624750 ) on Friday July 02, 2021 @12:31PM (#61544750)

    " Are you worried someone you know is becoming an extremist ? "

    Absolutely !

    You really need to keep an eye on that Mark Zukerberg guy.
    His business model sure seems to be pretty shifty imo.
    What's he need everyone's information for anyway ?

    You never know, he may just up and snap at any time. :D

  • The solution to Facebook problems is less Facebook, not more.

  • To Republicans, ALL Democrats are extremists
    To fundies, ALL atheists, skeptics, members of different religions or LGBT advocates are extremists
    To generalize, anyone with power or wealth to protect defines any disagreement, however slight, as extremist if it threatens their power or wealth


    • To Democrats, ALL Republicans are extremists.
      To atheists, ALL Religious people are extremists.

      See, I can do it, too. Yeah, both sides look at Those Other People as devils who will destroy all that is good, right, and proper in society.

      Note that, as an example, President Biden is one of those multimillionaires you think are threatened by Those Other People.

  • It's odd that they've chosen to cross this boundary of exposing their profiling abilities for 'extremism' flagging, but they're not alerting on:
    • Pedophilia
    • Spousal abuse
    • Suicide
    • Workplace violence

    They know all the thumbs-up given by many people who were absolutely known to have committed above acts. Their data scientists should be able to correlate patterns of the thumbs-ups to identify other Facebook users leaning in the same directions.

  • Extremism happens on both ends of the political spectrum. There are obvious dangers of "big brother" and people turning in their neighbors.. but we are not there yet. geez... Our country is facing multiple problems and seems to be handling it all in the most immature of ways..

    I don't have a lot of hope for the world. I don't want to get poltiically involved but I feel as if we need some extremists in the middle, to protect us from the extremists on the far right and left.

    --Matthew

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Surely no one will use this to "SWAT" their foes, or fill it with false positives on purpose to make it useless.

      Welcome to the ongoing "Sovietization" of America, and both the Republicans and Democrats have been in on it for many years. In the Soviet Union, kids were encouraged by their teachers to turn in their own parents for "unpatriotic activities" for extra meal rations. Looks like we are heading that way now.

  • They're learning from their friends in China. What happens if you report a friend? Do they send the Red Guards (==Antifa) to sack his house?

  • Someone I know on Facebook has been posting a ton of Fox News links in recent months. Please show me the prompt so I can report her.
  • So far four of my friends have made posts that I replied to and I got this shit saying I was exposed to extremist content. Two were pictures of motorcycles, one was a friend telling someone else "I'm a Muslim but I've never been to a mosque and the third was an ad for some stupid ass beard cream.
    Yup, extremism is everywhere when you classify everything as extremist propaganda.

"Oh what wouldn't I give to be spat at in the face..." -- a prisoner in "Life of Brian"

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