Police to get tough on internet trolls.

[RichardCoulter]

A man who called a footballer a "Black donkey" in a message has been arrested on suspicion of sending a malicious communication:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47552029

Looks like they are starting to use the Malicious Communications Act to help tackle online abuse.

[RichardCoulter]

It seems that the things posted online has reached a new low:

https://metro.co.uk/2019/03/22/peopl...-dead-8981558/

This has made me feel physically sick. I wonder if they thought that posting pictures at Auschwitz for 'amusement' ever entered their heads and was grossly disrespectful to over a million people and their surviving relatives who were murdered here?

[RichardCoulter]

Mark Zuckerberg now accepts that regulators and Governments should play a more active role in controlling the internet and asks for their help:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-47762091

[deadite66]

The great wall of Europe incomming.

[RichardCoulter]

The Government has now announced that they will be creating an independent regulator (paid for by the tech companies) to oversee inappropriate content on the internet to make the UK "the safest place to be online on the globe".

Websites who break the rules could be blocked, face substantial fines and their senior management could be held personally liable for any failings.

A newly introduced 'duty of care' would require sites to deal with harmful content and become responsible for the safety of their users. There are also calls for annual transparency reports to show the statistics for harmful content and how they are addressing it.

These new rules will apply to any site of any size that allows users to share or discover user generated content or interact with each other and includes social media, file hosting sites, forums, messaging services and search engines:

https://www.itv.com/news/2019-04-08/...e-safety-laws/

A twelve week consultation will now take place before draft legislation is published.

[nomadking]

It's the mainstream media(eg soaps, films, etc) that are broadcasting and encouraging harmful content.


With the internet people are SELECTIVELY LOOKING for particular content. The initial idea is already there in their minds. So where else does the initial idea come from promotion by the mainstream media and possibly other people around them. They are putting thoughts in people's heads that weren't there beforehand.

Originally Posted by nomadking

It's the mainstream media(eg soaps, films, etc) that are broadcasting and encouraging harmful content.


With the internet people are SELECTIVELY LOOKING for particular content. The initial idea is already there in their minds. So where else does the initial idea come from promotion by the mainstream media and possibly other people around them. They are putting thoughts in people's heads that weren't there beforehand.

And that’s how FB and Twitter work - they look at things your contacts are viewing, and show them on your timeline, or push stuff that people pay to be displayed to users with appropriate profiles.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by Hugh

And that’s how FB and Twitter work - they look at things your contacts are viewing, and show them on your timeline, or push stuff that people pay to be displayed to users with appropriate profiles.

And in how many instances is that the case? Even so, the initial interest originates ELSEWHERE. Stop talking nonsense and address the REAL issues.


The biggest set of "adverts" for a particular behaviour come from the media reporting on it.

Originally Posted by nomadking

And in how many instances is that the case? Even so, the initial interest originates ELSEWHERE. Stop talking nonsense and address the REAL issues.


The biggest set of "adverts" for a particular behaviour come from the media reporting on it.

a lot of the time - it’s how their algorithms work.

Las year, advertisers spent $40 billion on sponsored content on Facebook - they don’t do that for the good of their health.

Just because you don’t understand/agree with it, doesn’t mean it’s not true.

[nomadking]

But how many even remotely related to harmful content? That STILL leaves the question of "where did the INITIAL idea spring from".

Originally Posted by nomadking

But how many even remotely related to harmful content? That STILL leaves the question of "where did the INITIAL idea spring from".

From their friends and acquaintances, or from sponsored content, which then gets introduced into feeds.

For instance, their friends like internet gaming, and some of them look at 4Chan stuff, which then feeds their friends other stuff that other gamers and 4Chan users like, which could then show up in the person’s FB or Twitter feed.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by Hugh

From their friends and acquaintances, or from sponsored content, which then gets introduced into feeds.

For instance, their friends like internet gaming, and some of them look at 4Chan stuff, which then feeds their friends other stuff that other gamers and 4Chan users like, which could then show up in the person’s FB or Twitter feed.

And if indeed that is what is going on, WHICH IT ISN'T, where are those friends and acquaintances getting the INITIAL idea from?


Eg there are SO many things that I only have any knowledge of, because of the media banging on about them. If the media didn't say anything, LESS people would have even the faintest notion of those things. Classic long time example is the media going on about thin runway models and anorexia. How many girls would be aware of it, if it wasn't for those gripes by the media?

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by nomadking

And if indeed that is what is going on, WHICH IT ISN'T, where are those friends and acquaintances getting the INITIAL idea from?


Eg there are SO many things that I only have any knowledge of, because of the media banging on about them. If the media didn't say anything, LESS people would have even the faintest notion of those things. Classic long time example is the media going on about thin runway models and anorexia. How many girls would be aware of it, if it wasn't for those gripes by the media?

Actually it is going on. How do you think the likes of Stephen yaxley Lennon and Breitbart got to the position they did? It wasn’t as a result of media coverage. It’s also worth remembering that ISIS have been very successful taking advantage of the way people share data online to recruit people.

That does not mean the media don’t bear a lot of the blame. They do, but it’s not either/or. It’s both.

[RichardCoulter]

Facebook has just announced that far right people and groups are to be banned from their platform in an effort to control hate speech and stop the encouragement of discrimination, hate, attack or exclusion against people for simply being who/what they are:

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...-britain-first

This is a far cry from their previous line that such posts were acceptable in the name of free speech. I suspect that they are trying to clean up their act before the new legislation comes in.

[Russ]

It won’t control hate speech. This will just move it somewhere else.