FB revamp now includes Breitbart as "trusted news source"

[Duhon]

Ha.

Hahaha.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA--

Facebook’s launch of a new section on its flagship app dedicated to “deeply-reported and well-sourced” journalism sparked immediate controversy on Friday over the inclusion of Breitbart News, a publication whose former executive chairman explicitly embraced the “alt-right”.

Facebook News is a separate section of the company’s mobile app that will feature articles from about 200 publishers. Friday’s launch is a test and will only be visible to some users in the US.

The initiative is designed to quell criticism on two fronts: by promoting higher quality journalism over misinformation and by appeasing news publishers who have long complained that Facebook profits from journalism without paying for it. The company will pay some publishers between $1m and $3m each year to feature their articles, according to Bloomberg.

Participating publications include the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, Bloomberg and ABC News, as well as local newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune and Dallas Morning News.

Founded in 2005 by conservative writer Andrew Breitbart, the outlet is notorious for its role in promoting extreme rightwing narratives and conspiracy theories. Thousands of major advertisers have blacklisted the site over its extreme views. Breitbart News achieved greater influence and a wider audience under its executive chairman Steve Bannon, who went on to run Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016. For years, the publication used a “black crime” tag on articles and promoted anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant views.

In 2017, BuzzFeed News reported on emails and documents showing how the former Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos had worked directly with a white nationalist and a neo-Nazi to write and edit an article defining the “alt-right” movement and advancing its ideas.

Facebook has long faced scrutiny for its reticence to police white nationalism and far-right hate on its platform. In July 2017, the Guardian provided Facebook with a list of 175 pages and groups run by hate groups, as designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center, including neo-Nazi and white nationalist groups. The company removed just nine of them.

Following the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in August 2017 – which was organized in part on a Facebook event page – the company cracked down on some white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. Enforcement was spotty, however, and a year after Charlottesville, several groups and individuals involved in Charlottesville were back on Facebook. It was not until March 2019 that the company decided that its policy against hate should include white nationalism, an ideology that promotes the exclusion and expulsion of non-white people from certain nations.

Asked about the inclusion of Breitbart News at a launch event for Facebook News in New York, Zuckerberg declined to comment on “any specific firm” but added, “I do think that part of having this be a trusted source is that it needs to have a diversity of … views in there. I think you want to have content that kind of represents different perspectives, but also in a way that complies with the standards that we have.”

-- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahahaaaahaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaahhhhhhh...

... so, this is where we are.

Breitbart. Fucking Breitbart.

To operate its news tab, Facebook is paying a number of media outlets between $1-$3 million to license their content. While I don't know yet if Breitbart is among the beneficiaries, the prospect of Steve Bannon's former employer-slash-platform for the alt-right peddling shit like these in a platform as large as fucking Facebook and getting paid boggles the mind.

Almost as much as the notion of Breitbart being "a trusted news source" that delivers "high-quality" "deeply-researched and well-sourced" journalism to millions of users.

But apparently this is where diversity gets you -- libs get the news they want, cons get the news they want, and the truth? Fuck the truth, it never gave us what we wanted anyway!

Let me be outstandingly clear here: I am for freedom of speech. I've waffled both ways about it in the past, but it's better to know who you're dealing with than to walk in blindly, expecting nothing -- or worse, something else.

But can we at least agree that Breitbart both does NOT deserve the platform Facebook is giving it? Can we at least agree that Breitbart is bottomfeeding horseshit? Can we agree on those?

[Czechoslovakia and Zakarpatia]

This is like citing Conservapedia as a reputable source on politics and science or Naturalnews as a reputable source on medicine. Pure quackery, and given how monumentally incompetent Zuckerberg is, its no surprise Facebook is citing far-right conspiracy theorists as reliable factcheckers.

[Forfalskaland]

Correct me if i'm wrong but isn't Facebook now employing fact checkers that are all Conservatives?

[Duhon]

Correct me if i'm wrong but isn't Facebook now employing fact checkers that are all Conservatives?

idk, i don't have fb
but conservatism does not automatically mean enjoying fucking garbage, and breitbart is garbage

[-Astoria]

Well done, Facebook.

*slow clap*

What on earth is wrong with you today?

[Grenartia]

Well done, Facebook.

*slow clap*

What on earth is wrong with you today?

Corporate greed. That, and reactionary, fascist bullshit draws clicks and reactions.

[Nakena]

Well done, Facebook.

*slow clap*

What on earth is wrong with you today?

Corporate greed. That, and reactionary, fascist bullshit draws clicks and reactions.

They shutdown various trumpist and "right-wing" outlets however before. Now Breitbart is suddenly all gucci. Out of nowhere.

I believe FB doesnt knows what it is doing and has no coordinated policy.

[Duhon]

Corporate greed. That, and reactionary, fascist bullshit draws clicks and reactions.

They shutdown various trumpist and "right-wing" outlets however before. Now Breitbart is suddenly all gucci. Out of nowhere.

I believe FB doesnt knows what it is doing and has no coordinated policy.

i wouldn't know about that

when zuck was questioned on the matter, the nearest thing to an answer he gave was that diversity of sources went into consideration of which was treated as a "trusted news source"

[Dumb Ideologies]

There are very few trustworthy news sources these days. Even places I used to go for relatively cool-headed takes now have what I'd diplomatically call a "very pronounced editorial steer".

[Attempted Socialism]

There are very few trustworthy news sources these days. Even places I used to go for relatively cool-headed takes now have what I'd diplomatically call a "very pronounced editorial steer".

There's an absurd amount of difference between the falling standards of some news sources (And, for the record, I don't think it's falling) and the non-news, anti-knowledge, wrong-and-awful opinion-spewing operation known as Breitbart.
Sure, "reputable" news sources backed the US attacks against Iraq, and yellow journalism is a thing, but sensationalising headlines, promoting war criminals and having clear editorial stances are still news-related or news-adjacent, which is remarkably different from Breitbart.

[Ifreann]

Shock as Facebook, which is run by Republicans and very concerned about its reputation among Republicans, keeps making decisions that benefit Republicans.

[Unstoppable Empire of Doom]

Buzzfeed and Breitbart are journalistic jokes. I trust the homeless guy more who rants about the end times being soon and america actually being a giant bear in the bible which slew babylon which is actually germany....

[Sovaal]

Ha.

Hahaha.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA--

Facebook’s launch of a new section on its flagship app dedicated to “deeply-reported and well-sourced” journalism sparked immediate controversy on Friday over the inclusion of Breitbart News, a publication whose former executive chairman explicitly embraced the “alt-right”.

Facebook News is a separate section of the company’s mobile app that will feature articles from about 200 publishers. Friday’s launch is a test and will only be visible to some users in the US.

The initiative is designed to quell criticism on two fronts: by promoting higher quality journalism over misinformation and by appeasing news publishers who have long complained that Facebook profits from journalism without paying for it. The company will pay some publishers between $1m and $3m each year to feature their articles, according to Bloomberg.

Participating publications include the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, Bloomberg and ABC News, as well as local newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune and Dallas Morning News.

Founded in 2005 by conservative writer Andrew Breitbart, the outlet is notorious for its role in promoting extreme rightwing narratives and conspiracy theories. Thousands of major advertisers have blacklisted the site over its extreme views. Breitbart News achieved greater influence and a wider audience under its executive chairman Steve Bannon, who went on to run Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016. For years, the publication used a “black crime” tag on articles and promoted anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant views.

In 2017, BuzzFeed News reported on emails and documents showing how the former Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos had worked directly with a white nationalist and a neo-Nazi to write and edit an article defining the “alt-right” movement and advancing its ideas.

Facebook has long faced scrutiny for its reticence to police white nationalism and far-right hate on its platform. In July 2017, the Guardian provided Facebook with a list of 175 pages and groups run by hate groups, as designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center, including neo-Nazi and white nationalist groups. The company removed just nine of them.

Following the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in August 2017 – which was organized in part on a Facebook event page – the company cracked down on some white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. Enforcement was spotty, however, and a year after Charlottesville, several groups and individuals involved in Charlottesville were back on Facebook. It was not until March 2019 that the company decided that its policy against hate should include white nationalism, an ideology that promotes the exclusion and expulsion of non-white people from certain nations.

Asked about the inclusion of Breitbart News at a launch event for Facebook News in New York, Zuckerberg declined to comment on “any specific firm” but added, “I do think that part of having this be a trusted source is that it needs to have a diversity of … views in there. I think you want to have content that kind of represents different perspectives, but also in a way that complies with the standards that we have.”

-- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahahaaaahaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaahhhhhhh...

... so, this is where we are.

Breitbart. Fucking Breitbart.

To operate its news tab, Facebook is paying a number of media outlets between $1-$3 million to license their content. While I don't know yet if Breitbart is among the beneficiaries, the prospect of Steve Bannon's former employer-slash-platform for the alt-right peddling shit like these in a platform as large as fucking Facebook and getting paid boggles the mind.

Almost as much as the notion of Breitbart being "a trusted news source" that delivers "high-quality" "deeply-researched and well-sourced" journalism to millions of users.

But apparently this is where diversity gets you -- libs get the news they want, cons get the news they want, and the truth? Fuck the truth, it never gave us what we wanted anyway!

Let me be outstandingly clear here: I am for freedom of speech. I've waffled both ways about it in the past, but it's better to know who you're dealing with than to walk in blindly, expecting nothing -- or worse, something else.

But can we at least agree that Breitbart both does NOT deserve the platform Facebook is giving it? Can we at least agree that Breitbart is bottomfeeding horseshit? Can we agree on those?

I don’t read Breitbart, so I can’t speak for its objectivity or bias or anything, but if Facebook is your primary source of news i personally think you’re an idiot.

[Ifreann]

I don’t read Breitbart, so I can’t speak for its objectivity or bias or anything, but if Facebook is your primary source of news i personally think you’re an idiot.

Facebook is many people's primary source of news. Whether those people are idiots or not, it's a problem that a for-profit corporation is establishing itself as the arbiter of truth. Of course, it would also be a problem for Facebook to carry on doing nothing as total bullshit is propagated on their network.

[Sovaal]

I don’t read Breitbart, so I can’t speak for its objectivity or bias or anything, but if Facebook is your primary source of news i personally think you’re an idiot.

Facebook is many people's primary source of news. Whether those people are idiots or not, it's a problem that a for-profit corporation is establishing itself as the arbiter of truth. Of course, it would also be a problem for Facebook to carry on doing nothing as total bullshit is propagated on their network.

Last I checked you can still go else where for your news, including often directly to those news sights.

But what do I know, in the moron spewing bullshit more often than not.

[Ifreann]

Facebook is many people's primary source of news. Whether those people are idiots or not, it's a problem that a for-profit corporation is establishing itself as the arbiter of truth. Of course, it would also be a problem for Facebook to carry on doing nothing as total bullshit is propagated on their network.

Last I checked you can still go else where for your news, including often directly to those news sights.

But what do I know, in the moron spewing bullshit more often than not.

People can go elsewhere for their news, yes. But they don't.

[Grenartia]

Facebook is many people's primary source of news. Whether those people are idiots or not, it's a problem that a for-profit corporation is establishing itself as the arbiter of truth. Of course, it would also be a problem for Facebook to carry on doing nothing as total bullshit is propagated on their network.

Last I checked you can still go else where for your news, including often directly to those news sights.

But what do I know, in the moron spewing bullshit more often than not.

Well, here's the thing. People prefer convenience over anything else.

That isn't some "hurr durr millenial bad" take. That's just a fact of life. Evolution itself arguably selects for laziness, and laziness has been the primary driver of human innovation from prehistory through the present day. Sure, farming is hard work, but its less effort for more food than hunting and gathering. And so on.

So yes, you can get your info from some place other than facebook, but if you're spending a lot of time scrolling on FB anyways, and people are talking about current events there, you're inevitably going to start relying on FB for your info on current events. Kill two birds with one stone, after all.

[Kowani]

Zuckerberg’s abomination needs a nice anti-trust action.

[Ostroeuropa]

It's as reputable as the other ones, so...

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

I suspect Facebook will go the way of Friends Reunited, Google+, Bebo et al fairly soon anyway. Especially if they pursue Libra. They basically keep making decisions that piss people off, and however much they fudge the figures people are abandoning it.

[The Derpy Democratic Republic Of Herp]

Breitbart is just another echo chamber. Another part of the cancer that slowly consumes western demorocy.

[Ifreann]

I suspect Facebook will go the way of Friends Reunited, Google+, Bebo et al fairly soon anyway. Especially if they pursue Libra. They basically keep making decisions that piss people off, and however much they fudge the figures people are abandoning it.

If nothing else, Boomers aren't going to be alive forever, and it's only natural that the youf of today are going to prefer a social network that doesn't have their parents and grandparents on it.

[The East Marches II]

Corporate greed. That, and reactionary, fascist bullshit draws clicks and reactions.

They shutdown various trumpist and "right-wing" outlets however before. Now Breitbart is suddenly all gucci. Out of nowhere.

I believe FB doesnt knows what it is doing and has no coordinated policy.

That is probably the case. Coordinated policy and competence is a very passé thing.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

I suspect Facebook will go the way of Friends Reunited, Google+, Bebo et al fairly soon anyway. Especially if they pursue Libra. They basically keep making decisions that piss people off, and however much they fudge the figures people are abandoning it.

If nothing else, Boomers aren't going to be alive forever, and it's only natural that the youf of today are going to prefer a social network that doesn't have their parents and grandparents on it.

Also old gits like me are getting pissed off with Facebook's behaviour and complete disinterest in what their users want.

[Ifreann]

If nothing else, Boomers aren't going to be alive forever, and it's only natural that the youf of today are going to prefer a social network that doesn't have their parents and grandparents on it.

Also old gits like me are getting pissed off with Facebook's behaviour and complete disinterest in what their users want.

That too. I've been meaning to delete my Facebook page for years, I really must get around to it some time.