News Facebook flags Linux topics as 'cybersecurity threats' — posts and users being blocked

[Admin]

Facebook is banning posts which mention various Linux related topics, sites, or groups.

Facebook flags Linux topics as 'cybersecurity threats' — posts and users being blocked : Read more

 

[Gaidax]

Well, given that Facebook is probably running on Linux-based servers, then they aren't wrong about that assessment.

 

[SomeoneElse23]

If I had to guess, I'd say AI has some role in this blunder.

 

[oofdragon]

Facebook is utter G****

 

[Findecanor]

Considering how many scam and phishing ads there are on Facebook, I'd say that Facebook is the security threat.
My mum is on Facebook and I have to help her with such things on a fairly regular basis.

 

[rambo919]

It will be hilarious if some genius decides that using Linux is the new "wont take the mandatory experimental medical treatment".

 

[DavidLejdar]

Makes for some marketing slogans though. Like:

#Linux - for the U.S. elite, too much freedom to handle

 

[why_wolf]

I can proudly say I deleted my FB account last week. Vive la résistance!

 

[bit_user]

I find it surprising that the Open Source movement still uses commercial platforms like FB and X. A lot of them have moved over to Mastodon, but too many are still active on these legacy platforms and supporting their harmful business models.

I guess I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for DistroWatch or other FOSS people/orgs who get smacked down by FB. There's an element of hypocrisy in them using these platforms, when better options exist. Just look at this episode as Facebook helping you to do the right thing!

 

[Li Ken-un]

Oldie but goodie:

8. Is your son obsessed with "Lunix?"

BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War. It is based on a program called "xenix", which was written by Microsoft for the US government. These programs are used by hackers to break into other people's computer systems to steal credit card numbers. They may also be used to break into people's stereos to steal their music, using the "mp3" program. Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as "telnet", which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone.

Your son may try to install "lunix" on your hard drive. If he is careful, you may not notice its presence, however, lunix is a capricious beast, and if handled incorrectly, your son may damage your computer, and even break it completely by deleting Windows, at which point you will have to have your computer repaired by a professional.

If you see the word "LILO" during your windows startup (just after you turn the machine on), your son has installed lunix. In order to get rid of it, you will have to send your computer back to the manufacturer, and have them fit a new hard drive. Lunix is extremely dangerous software, and cannot be removed without destroying part of your hard disk surface.

 

[hotaru251]

Well, given that Facebook is probably running on Linux-based servers, then they aren't wrong about that assessment.

they are mostly using linux servers for their stuff....which is ironic as calling linux malware is legit stupid & i just take it as them saying their products are malware (as they run on what they say is malware)

 

[rambo919]

Apparently it's just that anything pointing to distrowatch gets flagged..... but no one knows why

 

[das_stig]

Meta should be banned as virus as it wants to assimilate and steal as much information as possible, mis-information hub and redirect wealth in to the hands of a few, who most consider a threat to peace and future human existence.

 

[qwertymac93]

If I had to guess, I'd say AI has some role in this blunder.

Absolutely, but the fact that humans are unable to fix it after over a week is deeply concerning. Literally every programmer at Facebook knows this is absurd, and are probably using Linux in some form themselves, but they seem powerless to rectify it. If something this blatantly wrong is impossible to reverse in a timely manner, what other, more subtle "mistakes" will go under the radar?

 

[tibers]

Hey folks. First post! woooo! I run a linux group on facebook. What I think is happening is two things:

1. Facebook doesn't know the difference between "bad code" and "good code". They just see "code". Given the fairly niche topic of code on facebook versus (for example) a github repo with a discussion attached to an issue, facebook says "all code is assumed to be bad code". And from a statistical perspective, I can understand why. I would bet 90% of the code which people bump into on facebook is malicious. However I would also bet that 90% of malicious code is some flavor of javascript, which should be fairly trivial for computers to identify. I feel a modicum of effort would make the user experience much nicer.
2. Spam. It's just spam. Most code uses # as a comment and I've been restricted after adding comments to shell scripts and comments to my 3D printer configuration (klipper) and trying to help folks there. Facebook sees

   #My Comment

   as hashtag spam. And again, it's probably true that 90% of multi-line hashtag things are probably hashtag abuse. On the other hand, if they invested effort into actually identifying the content people are posting, the user experience would improve.

It would be nice if facebook had something like "this group is for technical topics" and we could trade the hashtag functionality for being able to post code. I think hashtags are rarely used on group posts, but post something with a comment in it, and get a timeout. Also this is from a company who supposedly is at the forefront of AI development with Llama, so it's embarrassing that they can't identify code reliably.

 

[williamjeremiah]

I mean, most social media sites are what you make of it.
It's how AI is being implemented, that's utter G**** (I don't even know what that G word is supposed to be).

 

[qwertymac93]

I mean, most social media sites are what you make of it.
It's how AI is being implemented, that's utter G**** (I don't even know what that G word is supposed to be).

A censored five letter word that starts with G? A slang term for the perineum? This might be one of those situations where censoring the word only leads to imagining worse 😄

 

[COLGeek]

By the way, there has been no censoring by anyone but members in what they posted. I assume the G = garbage, the number of *s is irrelevant.

Distraction demystified. Carry on...

 

[williamjeremiah]

By the way, there has been no censoring by anyone but members in what they posted. I assume the G = garbage, the number of *s is irrelevant.

Distraction demystified. Carry on...

It was mere d** humor. No worries.

 

[skshow289]

I am liking FB here lately a lot more than I used to but they definitely gotta get this in order.

 

[subspruce]

It was mere d** humor. No worries.

I think you meant "dad humor".

 

[williamjeremiah]

I think you meant "dad humor".

dry

 

[COLGeek]

I am liking FB here lately a lot more than I used to but they definitely gotta get this in order.

Be careful what you ask for because you will get it. Aside from communicating with friends and family, the absolutely worst place possible for actual "news". It will get worse.

Just my educated $0.02. Keep the change.

 

[subspruce]

dry

ok. I was proven wrong. not the end of the world. I guess the humor was too dry for me to be able to think about the censored word.

 

[Wimpers]

Oldie but goodie:

LILO? That must already be an old hacker that does not know about UEFI...
Modern hackers use GRUB(2)! 😛