I’m sure most people are sitting at home all warm and cozy knowing that Mark Zuckerberg is going to let AI tools improve Facebook by developing a system where AI will detect and remove hate speech on his data collection platform before it is seen by anyone. Whew, I was worried for a second there thinking that friends of mine on FBIbook may possibly affected by hate speech. After all, there is nothing more despicable, vile, loathsome, or contemptible than hate speech. The greatest achievement the West has accomplished over the past century is the condemnation of people who spew hate speech.
Wait a minute, what the hell am I rambling on about? Hate speech? Can anyone give a coherent definition of what hate speech is? Mark Zuckerberg was asked that question recently when he testified in front of Congress by Senator Ben Sasse from Nebraska and here was his response. “Senator, I think that this is a really hard question and I think it’s one of the reasons we struggle with it. There are certain definitions that — that we — that we have around, you know, calling for violence or —“At that moment, Senator Sasse interrupts and says “let’s just agree on that.”
From that aforementioned verbal exchange you can assume that neither individual has a clue how to define hate speech other than language that is used to incite violence. Well if we are going to go down that path, I guess that all the mainstream propaganda networks like CNN, Fox, MSNBC etc. are going to have a tough time getting anything posted on Zuckbook since day after day, and year after year, all they do is repeat talking points muttered by state officials about the necessary use of violence, whether it be sanctions, drone bombings, or the use of boots on the ground, to attain political objectives by the U.S., UK, and Israel. They spew ‘hate speech’ on a daily basis, at least according to the definition agreed upon by Zuckerlord and Sasse. The legal definition of hate speech, at least according to Merriam Webster’s dictionary is this: speech that is intended to insult, offend, or intimidate a person because of some trait (as race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, or disability).
Regardless of how you define “hate speech,” it leads folks down a slippery slope into a world where individuals, or AI, have the ability to censor people’s ability to speak freely according to their interpretation of what they feel is hate speech. That is something that is impossible to do for a human, and will be a disaster if left to AI and algorithms. You already see that with YouTube and there censorship program. The best thing that folks can do is simply leave Fuckbook for good. People have no obligation to use it, nor do they need to. This is where individual choice can solve this problem once and for all and hopefully will be the end of Facebook as we know it. If you need to use social media, use a site that is open source like Minds, or on the blockchain like Steemit. Leave the censoring (policing of speech) of Fakebook by Zuckerberg, his soon to be hired 20,000 employees to manage content and security, and AI to censor his pals, if he truly has any, and himself!
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2018/04/10/zuckerberg-struggles-answer-sasses-plea-define-hate-speech-really
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mark-zuckerberg-optimistic-ai-tools-to-flag-remove-hate-speech-on-facebook-will-be-developed-in-5-10-years
Image Sources: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mark-zuckerberg-optimistic-ai-tools-to-flag-remove-hate-speech-on-facebook-will-be-developed-in-5-10-years
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