Fakebook
Kara Swisher, writing at The New York Times, has called out Facebook for not doing anything to stop the proliferation of a doctored video of Nancy Pelosi.
This is ridiculous. The only thing the incident shows is how expert Facebook has become at blurring the lines between simple mistakes and deliberate deception, thereby abrogating its responsibility as the key distributor of news on the planet.
Would a broadcast network air this? Never. Would a newspaper publish it? Not without serious repercussions. Would a marketing campaign like this ever pass muster? False advertising.
No other media could get away with spreading anything like this because they lack the immunity protection that Facebook and other tech companies enjoy under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 was intended to spur innovation and encourage start-ups. Now it’s a shield to protect behemoths from any sensible rules.
I’m seriously considering dropping out of the Facebook ecosystem completely. Honestly, there’s little there that interests me anymore.