News Facebook admits that the Linux topic crackdown was 'in error' and has been fixed

[Admin]

Facebook's heavy-handed censoring of Linux groups and topics was made 'in error,' the social media juggernaut has admitted.

Facebook admits that the Linux topic crackdown was 'in error' and has been fixed : Read more

 

[COLGeek]

With the changes made to their rules, I would expect more "in errors" in the future. Users need to be fully aware of what they are being "fed" on this, and similar, platforms. They need to understand how the algorithms work and how they will "double down" on topics.

Feeding non-factual "news", stuffing ads down your throat in an attempt to get your money into someone else's pocket, and platforms for endless scammers has made social media a cesspool for malicious activity.

Please be smart, discerning, and protect yourself when using.

 

[why_wolf]

Seems more likely its because FB is turning on a new shadowban system to suppress posts Zuck doesn't like while not officially "banning" them. But the system is too aggressive, possibly some programmer giving us all a hint that its there. Though chances equal the programmers are just that bad at their job.

Please don't forget the "mysterious" banning of words like "democrat" that happened just last week across all Meta platforms. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g32yxpdz0o

 

[evdjj3j]

Why does anyone use FB anymore. Every post in my feed is either AI generated pictures or posts by Life Tips.

 

[davisch]

The censorship pendulum swings... This is whey we need to be principled and always oppose censorship, regardless of how much we dislike the people speaking (or writing). The reigns will change hands and the powers you cheer for today will be powers you cry because of tomorrow.

 

[Evildead_666]

Today it's Linux stuff, tomorrow its any free speech.

Wake up and smell the roses, ditch FB/IG/anything by them.

Get your "News" elsewhere.
X/Twitter is being lambasted for being "Non Censored".
You should think about that for a bit.

If you're going to be on platforms that prone censorship, just remember who does the censoring (it isn't you ;-) )

 

[LibertyWell]

Uhh Microsft owns a healthy chunk of facebook. They last thing they want is for folks to know there are alternatives to winblows 11

 

[bit_user]

Today it's Linux stuff, tomorrow its any free speech.

Yeah, it really should give us pause how long it took FB to rectify this, when it has thousands of hard-core Linux users & devs among its employees. I assume some internal advocacy is what ultimately broke the logjam. I wonder what chance other topics face, without such help.

Wake up and smell the roses, ditch FB/IG/anything by them.

100%. I can understand using it to communicate with family members who won't use anything else, but for an org like DistroWatch, it seems obvious to me that Mastadon is a better choice.

X/Twitter is being lambasted for being "Non Censored".

Oh, it's censored. Musk only values free speech when it's not about him. Furthermore, it's clear that he views X as a tool for spreading propaganda and disinformation.

 

[bit_user]

Uhh Microsft owns a healthy chunk of facebook. They last thing they want is for folks to know there are alternatives to winblows 11

That was true maybe 10-20 years ago. Today, Microsoft has their own Linux distro.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure_Linux
​

They even contribute directly to the Linux kernel, but it seems their activity has fallen off a bit, lately.

Development statistics for 6.12 [LWN.net]

lwn.net

 

[MobileJAD]

Why on earth does anyone even use Facebook or Twitter anymore? On one hand they are both full of misinformation but also they are full of AI generated crap and bots.

 

[Joseph_138]

Facebook is bleeding users, and is rapidly becoming the next Myspace, and is doing everything they can to stem the outflow.

 

[ferdnyc]

All hail the oligarchy. 10/10 management, would shovel all of my data into its gaping, ravenous maw again.

 

[ferdnyc]

Facebook is bleeding users, and is rapidly becoming the next Myspace, and is doing everything they can to stem the outflow.

IS it? Because, I'd think a simple thing they could do would be NOT committing stupid unforced errors like this. If they're going to keep demonstratively conveying their utter disregard for users' interests and expectations... well, I was gonna say people will decamp for somewhere less contemptuous, but I'm not sure any such service exists.

 

[bit_user]

I was gonna say people will decamp for somewhere less contemptuous, but I'm not sure any such service exists.

I'm not a social media user (other than this forum), but I'd look at Mastadon. I think BlueSky is also federated, so you can run your own node if you want.

 

[Dragoon91786]

As an aside, I recognize that the "source" was speaking to PC Magazine [an even greater disappointment in the journalism enterprise]. However, given it was FACEBOOK itself, its PR team, that contacted PC Magazine [similar to the government giving a press conference], taking that statement and running with it as fact is not a particularly "journalistic" thing to do. This, by definition, is what preeminent journalists mock as "stenography journalism" or "acting as stenographers to the powerful", a.k.a., "access journalism".

Mark, I say this out of respect. Please, try harder next time. The same goes for Tom's and the entirety of the Tech Journalist community.

[Though, I know independent journalists, particularly, those on streaming platforms, thank you because it is this very lack of rigorous journalism that has enabled them to exist. So, perhaps, keep up what you are doing. [Shrug] Or rather, lack of it. You do you, I guess.