Is Facebook a threat to Democracy?

www.bbc.com...
Rupert Murdoch: Facebook should pay for news
He said social media firms should pay publishers a fee in the same way that cable network operators pay for the channels they offer.
"His comments come as Facebook admitted that social media posed a potential threat to democracy and pledged to tackle the problem head-on."

Can Facebook influence an election result?

I think the last election showed that Facebook is not a threat to Democracy.
theconversation.com...

"By combining the information of who voted with the information about their political leanings, Facebook is in a unique position of knowing how each button variation has affected each voting group."

I guess only Hillary voters post the "I voted" button.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I think only insofar as it's an intelligence dulling echo chamber for a large portion of America.

This isn't a democracy, it's a representative republic.
So I don't think it can be a threat to anything.

Well, scratch that, it's a threat to intelligence.
Human intelligence, not the governments.

Democracy doesn't exist.

a reply to: JAGStorm


Is farcebook™ a threat to democracy? Only if You have a farcebook™ account. There is a picture of Agent Zuckerberg w/His laptop that has both the camera and audio port covered w/tape...

Let me as You a question.. drumroll ///////////

What will be a bigger conspiracy in 25-50 years, 9/11 or the farcebook™ IPO on the heels of the revelation that farcebook™ is nothing than an Information Seine, constructed to suck every bit of information out of You including eating and bathroom habits...

e.g. Any intraweb chat about "coming for the guns" and brain donors far and wide get on farcebook™ and type in CAPS 'they can screw off they'll never get mine!!!!!!!!!!!' then hit 'like' on every other wingnut doing the same thing..

Democracy doesn't exist. It's a lie for the brainwashed masses, a lie which is used to justify evil of unimaginable amplitudes.

Yep, you are all living a lie.

Democracy is an illusion created to give everyone the false idea of choice and freedom. Nothing but a lie. Everyone is on a leash of some sort that has you restricted to a certain degree.

Don't subscribe to Facebook. If you are subscribed, unsubscribe. Disaster avoided.

a reply to: JAGStorm

LOL,last time I remember joining Facebook was an option,bunch of people telling where they are eating dinner,some threat maybe to a millenium who live on it

a reply to: Oldtimer2

Funny that you mentioned that, it seems these days young people don't use Facebook, they say it is for old people!

No more so than any other media.

Facebook is a place where anyone can and anyone does have discussions and puts forth philosophical and political opinions. That's a good thing. It's great for democracy and the exchange of ideas.

The problem is, that we don't use it like that. We use facebook and instagram etc as a way to be voyeurs into other peoples lives, to live vicariously through them and instead of political discussion we use it as political bullying. trying to shout our arguement the loudest to win. We do that hear on ATS too, by the way.

a reply to: amazing

I had a neighbor that I was friends with on Facebook. I moved and forgot about her as we were mostly acquaintances. Fast forward several years, I was in the grocery store and we started chatting and she mentioned every recent post I had on Facebook. That was real eye opening. Just like on here, there are people that watch but just sit in the background!

I have a lot of friends in different countries, Facebook has been the easiest way for us to stay in touch.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: amazing

I had a neighbor that I was friends with on Facebook. I moved and forgot about her as we were mostly acquaintances. Fast forward several years, I was in the grocery store and we started chatting and she mentioned every recent post I had on Facebook. That was real eye opening. Just like on here, there are people that watch but just sit in the background!

I have a lot of friends in different countries, Facebook has been the easiest way for us to stay in touch.

Funny isn't it. I have friends and relatives all over the world too and it does make keeping in touch easy. That's a good thing.

I doubt it. Face Book is SOOOOOO loaded with spam and commercials, I don't see much interest forthcoming. Not the type that would make any measurable affect on government. I think it's on the same road My Space took before their collapse.

I dropped Facebook like a smelly hot-potato.
Don't miss it one little bit.
My friends know my number and I know theirs.

a reply to: JAGStorm

First of all, lets examine the suggestion, that Facebook is a threat to democracy.

Facebook is a system which gives people the opportunity to become digitally connected to friends and family, but also become involved with groups of people, all around the world, who have like interests, like goals and ideals.

Let us be perfectly aware of the realities involved here... it is the above connection with persons of like mind, which gives a group on Facebook its power, because it allows groups to measure their strength more accurately, without the requirement to refer to a government agency to spin the numbers, or hide them, or whatever. Furthermore, they offer the people involved the ability to actually ORGANISE together with pre-set calendar options, run polls of their own, without reference to outside authority, or anything else of that nature.

Now, Facebook has some serious problems. Its penetrated by and in fact IS a financial entity, which means that its motivations cannot be trusted. It also contains advertisements for other products, services and companies. It is also penetrated deeply by the global intelligence infrastructure, members of various services, groups within those services, both at the user level, and at the company level, one of the many vectors by which intelligence on individuals is gathered by all parties in that industry. It also provided, until recently, a home for fascists in my country, a place where they could commune and discuss better methods of assaulting persons of colour, persons who speak our language with an accent, people who were not born here, or people who were born here, to parents who were immigrants. These are all deeply negative things.

But...

Facebook groups led by citizens and populated by citizens, have made positive differences in their communities, by connecting on Facebook, and leading actions in those communities, which would not have come about otherwise. Facebook groups led by citizens have operated successful campaigns to change their lives locally, and get things heard in parliament, both in this country and elsewhere. Facebook also provides a place for people to organise against fascist terrorist organisations of every stripe, to share intelligence amongst members about what fascist groups are doing, where they are doing it, and how best to combat the threat that fascism represents, which in my country certainly, is historically and currently a far greater level of threat than any other type of terrorism presents. Facebook has the capacity to be used for both good and ill, like any tool, electronic or otherwise.

I do not trust its motivations as a company, I do not trust its owners in the least, and nor am I naive enough to assume that everyone who is met there, is who they say they are.

However, as long as the majority of users operate their accounts to keep themselves connected to their fellow man, rather than to drive wedges between them (which has been my experience thus far), the net effect can only work out as being objectively positive.

Like a pistol or a sabre, the potential for a person to do great good with it, is just as large as the potential for someone to do ill with it, and as with any tool, whether it be the tool of freedom of speech, the tools American members have the right to bear for their defence, or the tools I use in my trade, the only thing that determines how an individual uses the tool, is their morality.

democracy. ?/ well facebook may be but seeing I know of no country that is a democracy. I would say no its not a threat to it .
There are still people who buy into its a democracy ?

originally posted by: WarPig1939
Democracy is an illusion created to give everyone the false idea of choice and freedom. Nothing but a lie. Everyone is on a leash of some sort that has you restricted to a certain degree.

well then, just go to the Alaska wilderness, build your own hut, and you can have all the "choice and freedom" you want

The US is a democracy also. Every eligible citizen in every state votes for the representatives. They are not assigned by nazi dictators.