[kictanet] The Tricky Power in Facebook's Hands...

Sun Sep 11 11:29:34 EAT 2016

You have absolutely captured the challenge and the responsibility. Heads up that we are planning to host a conversation in Nairobi, similar to one we hosted in Johannesburg a couple of months ago, about online speech, free expression, censorship, our community standards/reporting policies and what goes into these incredibly complicated decisions. In Jo'burg, we also had Google/YouTube-would be great to replicate that.

We find that the community benefits from learning from the people at Facebook/Google making these decisions (and seeing just how much thought goes into them!), and we learn from the community in ways that help us make better decisions.

Stay tuned for an invitation in the next month or so!

Ebele Okobi | Public Policy Director, Africa
m. +44 (0) 771 156 1315<tel:+44%20(0)%20771%20156%201315>
10 Brock Street | London<x-apple-data-detectors://0/1> | NW1 3FG
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[6F376569-CC77-422B-BAD3-794055B1E02B]

On Sep 11, 2016, at 7:22 AM, Waithaka Ngigi via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:

Ali,

From a technical PoV, I empathize with FB, Google et.al. You have millions or photos, videos being uploaded by the minute and based on their policy, you need to ensure that these digital content meets that criteria.

No way human beings can keep up with that, you've got to use algorithms. And considering the no of false positives we get, which is very few, they're quite good then.

Then you have the problem of 'Context'.... This is one of the hardest areas in computing to figure out. And inevitably, that's what leads the algorithm to mark that photo as inappropriate because of nudity, since the algorithm didn't have the historical context of that photo.

Fast forward to attending the Turkana festival, where a lot of the local women will be topless‎. Upload those pictures on FB, FB most likely refuses to accept them because of the nudity, you make noise as we unfortunately  expect FB to start understanding culture!

Such corner cases in Computing are a nightmare to solve, but fortunately, solving those nightmares is what leads to‎ Turing Awards!

Waithaka Ngigi

Alliance Technologies
www.at.co.ke<http://www.at.co.ke>
From: Ali Hussein via kictanet
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2016 7:42 AM
To: Ngigi Waithaka
Reply To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Cc: Ali Hussein; Nanjira Sambuli
Subject: Re: [kictanet] The Tricky Power in Facebook's Hands...

Listers

The fact that Facebook finally reversed its decisions is commendable. And should be applauded. However, as Tony indicated it raises more questions than answers.

1. Should the most important and powerful Super Editor the world has ever seen be an algorithm or be influenced by Machine Learning?

2. If so at what point should human intervention be built in?

3. Even with human intervention we see that both Google and Facebook (rightly or wrongly) have been accused of certain biases. How do companies with such immense powers to influence our daily lives tamper their powers to ensure 'fair coverage'?

I suspect both Facebook and Google are still coming to terms with these issues and that people like the Norwegian Editor and you and I must play our part to remind them to tamper their immense powers for the betterment of society.

Ali Hussein
Principal
Hussein & Associates
+254 0713 601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

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"Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi

Sent from my iPad

On 10 Sep 2016, at 1:03 PM, Mildred Achoch via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:

Definitely a lesson for all content regulators.

"In his open letter, Hansen points out that Facebook’s decision to delete the photograph reveals a troubling inability to “distinguish between child pornography and famous war photographs”, as well as an unwillingness to “allow[ing] space for good judgement”.

Mildred.

Check out the Rock 'n' roll film festival, Kenya TV Channel!
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On Sat, Sep 10, 2016 at 8:01 AM, Nanjira Sambuli via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:
1. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/08/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-napalm-girl-photo-vietnam-war<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.theguardian.com_technology_2016_sep_08_facebook-2Dmark-2Dzuckerberg-2Dnapalm-2Dgirl-2Dphoto-2Dvietnam-2Dwar&d=DQMFaQ&c=5VD0RTtNlTh3ycd41b3MUw&r=ArvepG4_wcNu_X9xi3nb_Xa9WsGLVfmK6mwPdVONOTE&m=ovJ2kiZP7Ptrf5adme2oIFTw9hq5HllvDSL9jAVFdZw&s=OxVwmlCzZtMMkX6W6SdxumdAx0int6psScq6zzJeHlo&e=>
2.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/09/facebook-deletes-norway-pms-post-napalm-girl-post-row?CMP=fb_gu<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.theguardian.com_technology_2016_sep_09_facebook-2Ddeletes-2Dnorway-2Dpms-2Dpost-2Dnapalm-2Dgirl-2Dpost-2Drow-3FCMP-3Dfb-5Fgu&d=DQMFaQ&c=5VD0RTtNlTh3ycd41b3MUw&r=ArvepG4_wcNu_X9xi3nb_Xa9WsGLVfmK6mwPdVONOTE&m=ovJ2kiZP7Ptrf5adme2oIFTw9hq5HllvDSL9jAVFdZw&s=s-Jknt4dHi0Hbx1Hnd0K0GaaNxpkWgUqTvTC_Phg5YM&e=>

Regards,
Nanjira.

Sent on the move.

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