[kictanet] Can Facebook fix its own bug? and what lessons for Kenya Elections 2017?

Wed May 3 12:15:15 EAT 2017

Blessed Wednesday!
I am compelled to imagine my village chief running after every mad man , or  sending troops after each of us presumably relatively sane ones as we have our private gatherings and share our opinions with family and friends.
However, where the line is drawn in the instance of the Facebooks and other media touted as "social" and "not editorial news media" is when it appears (real or imagined) that they propagate certain kind of views to go viral. This was the wholabaloo and yes for the Kenyan elections(or anywhere) it should be cause for concern.
Do the Facebooks have the ability and capacity to do this? I suspect we may perhaps need to ask the algorithms used.
There is no bargaining, digital consumer education is a must must to be enhanced and it is not to be left just to the private sector who creates the solutions. 
Secondly, with the digital developments, in the real police, there must be a new kind of "digital police service", which perhaps should be an algorithm.

Have a blessed day.
Regards/Wangari ---
Pray God Bless. 2013Wangari circa - "Being of the Light, We are Restored Through Faith in Mind, Body and Spirit; We Manifest The Kingdom of God on Earth".

    On Wednesday, 3 May 2017, 11:24, Ahmed Mohamed Maawy via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

 The buck here does not only end with Facebook.
This discussion is very similar to the Privacy Policy discussion. For instance, we can enact Privacy Policy on Software and Services but does it help that much if the consumer is not aware what a Privacy Policy is and what its meant to be all about?
Facebook can add to the situation by making it easier to spot fake news. But then, we will argue that:   
   - This will suppress freedom of expression.
   - Will beat the purpose or need to have Facebook become a "social platform" instead of a "news platform".
This is why you can report a post as well as have facebook flag a news item, but Facebook is not in a position to block it, unless there is significant action on the side of the consumer for it to be done so. To block it from the source is equal to censorship.
There should be more of a drive to have consumers aware of what fake news is, how to spot it, and how to report it, and how to get awareness out there on what the truth is.
On Wed, May 3, 2017 at 6:55 AM, Ali Hussein via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

Listers
There's no doubt that Facebook has become THE News Platform that humanity relies on. The numbers are staggering. Nearly 2 billion people use Facebook every month and 1.2 billion daily. It has become a mirror of our lives. In more ways than we can imagine. 
In 2016 however, Facebook's huge influence in our lives became its biggest liability - During the U.S. election, propagandists — some working for money, others for potentially state-sponsored lulz — used the service to turn fake stories into viral sensations, like the one about Pope Francis’ endorsing Trump (he hadn’t). And fake news was only part of a larger conundrum. With its huge reach, Facebook has begun to act as the great disseminator of the larger cloud of misinformation and half-truths swirling about the rest of media. It sucks up lies from cable news and Twitter, then precisely targets each lie to the partisan bubble most receptive to it.
Locally we are seeing similar versions of the problems of the US Election being enacted. The most visible one was during the months long doctors' strike where pro and against teams were using not only Facebook but twitter and Whatsapp to spread truths, half-truths and outright lies. 
Should Facebook be held responsible for 'fact-checking' (which by the way they have already instituted certain measures to do this) and hire editors to 'police' what people post? Or is this a reflection of how society is and has nothing to do with Facebook or Social Media at large. The only problem with this is that Pre-Social Media lies and fake news usually were confined to certain social groups, parties, families etc. Today, you can be an instant famous or infamous person by a click of the button.
What can we do in Kenya and Africa in general to ensure this doesn't adversely affect our socio and cultural foundations?
Read on:-
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/ 04/25/magazine/can-facebook- fix-its-own-worst-bug.html?_r= 0

AliHusseinPrincipalHussein & Associates Tel: +254 713 601113
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