Sources: a group of Facebook data scientists asked for resources to measure COVID misinfo on Facebook at the start of the pandemic, but execs denied the request

The company doesn't know some specifics about how falsehoods about Covid-19 and vaccines for the virus spread on its social network.

New York Times 2021-07-20 Sheera Frenkel

Context & Ripple Effects

Early in the pandemic, the White House sought platforms’ help to combat and track COVID-19 misinformation. By July, Facebook’s handling of the issue had drawn a DC attorney general subpoena for internal documents and criticism following meetings with Biden officials.

The reported refusal to fund measurement helps explain why Facebook could not answer key questions about the spread of COVID and vaccine falsehoods. Later coverage of a previously shelved transparency report put the reach of vaccine-doubt content back at the center of scrutiny.

First-order effects

Facebook’s executives face a clearer accountability gap: internal researchers reportedly sought measurement capacity that the company did not provide while COVID misinformation was spreading.
Regulators and federal officials pressing Facebook for evidence gain a concrete basis to question the company’s visibility into its own enforcement problem.

Second-order effects

Facebook’s later actions against alleged vaccine-misinformation superspreaders are harder to assess without the measurement work researchers requested, shifting attention from takedown counts to evidence of reach and impact.
Content-transparency reporting becomes more consequential for Facebook because external scrutiny is filling an information gap that internal measurement might have addressed.

Third-order effects

The episode points to platform governance in which decisions to resource internal research become a central test of whether companies can substantiate their public safety claims under regulatory pressure.

The trend: COVID misinformation scrutiny is shifting from demands for content removals toward demands that platforms measure, disclose, and defend the effectiveness of their interventions.

Discussion

@sheeraf Sheera Frenkel on x
NEW - There is a reason Facebook cannot give the White House the data they want on Covid misinformation. They don't have it. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@qjurecic Quinta Jurecic on x
Generally I think comparisons between FB and the government are misplaced, but they're useful here: if a government decided to just not keep records on some kind of public health hazard, that wouldn't be acceptable either https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@justinhendrix Justin Hendrix on x
Devastating new report from @sheeraf: At the beginning of the pandemic, Facebook data scientists had a plan to figure out how many users saw false or misleading health info that would require time and money. The plan was never approved. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@evelyndouek Evelyn Douek on x
At some point, it becomes willful blindness. You can't just track the good stuff. https://twitter.com/...
@charlie_white Charles T. White on x
This is what happens when we give control of our country's stupid people to the clueless robot Zuckerberg, who is programmed to be greedy with a lust for power: https://twitter.com/...
@justinhendrix Justin Hendrix on x
Facebook employs hundreds of social scientists and data scientists. It simply did not prioritize this.
@gregbensinger @gregbensinger on x
Importantly, however, they've perfected measuring ad impressions https://twitter.com/...
@ct_bergstrom Carl T. Bergstrom on x
All I've seen by way of focus on outcomes is Guy Rosen's lazy comparison between absolute rates in facebook users and non-users. No causal inference, not even an effort to find adequate comparison groups. Facebook has some of the best data scientists in the world and we get this?…
@moonalice Roger McNamee on x
Ugh. They White House asked the wrong question, creating an opportunity for FB to string the process out beyond the attention span of policy makers and journalists. https://twitter.com/...
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
If I am reading this right, the company that has all the data when it comes to selling you comfy slippers does not have the data when it comes to COVID disinformation? https://www.nytimes.com/...
@gretchenspeters Gretchen Peters on x
I disagree it is a blind spot @sheeraf. It's willful negligence. It's a conscious decision not to look too closely. #FB Insiders have told me this over and over. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@aricohn Ari Cohn on x
There's also a reason they shouldn't: Social media platforms shouldn't hand over data to the government unless legally compelled to. https://twitter.com/...
@diakayyali @diakayyali on x
This except I think increasingly the comparisons are not misplaced and this is a reminder of why- because they're making life and death decisions. https://twitter.com/...
@wrklsshrd Sam Jeffers on x
@ShiraOvide I have sympathy with all this - it's difficult stuff for sure - but the electoral fraud and Q stuff would surely have highlighted the need for a methodology...
@ceciliakang Cecilia Kang on x
Astounding and great reporting from @sheeraf. This is adds to what we discovered in AN UGLY TRUTH https://twitter.com/...
@orientaljanedoe Jane Chung on x
that VP, Guy Rosen, was co-founder of Onavo, a VPN company Facebook acquired in 2013 after it was reported the VPN part was just a trojan horse, and that Facebook's goal all along was to steal troves of users' data, Facebook pulled the plug so that's what Integrity means to FB ht…
@shiraovide Shira Ovide on x
What if Facebook had just said that out loud: Misinformation is hard to define and harder to measure and we don't know the numbers. (People would scream if Facebook said this and ask why Facebook weren't trying harder but the truth is a good start, no?) https://twitter.com/...
@klonick Kate Klonick on x
& I'm not saying that's a GOOD thing or that they should continue not collecting that info going forward, but it does mean that I maybe believe them—for the very reasons we criticize them! ie being only $$ driven—when they say they put zero dollars into collecting this 2/2
@samred @samred on x
Ars was already warning people in March 2020 about vaccine misinfo campaigns: https://arstechnica.com/... & https://arstechnica.com/... This report points to right around that time in history. And, welp, it looks really, really bad for FB. https://twitter.com/...
@frankrebecca Rebecca Frank on x
They say this, and yet they claim to have the most sophisticated ad targeting system in the world that can paint a three dimensional picture of any person for an advertiser. I can't decide which one I want to be the lie... https://twitter.com/...
@justinhendrix Justin Hendrix on x
Facebook issued a detailed rebuttal on Saturday to the White House allegation that social media companies are “killing people” with misinformation about vaccines. This report would suggest that rebuttal was issued with no actual knowledge of the scale of the problem.
@heidiotoo HeidiO on x
.@finkd can't bring himself to spend what would amount to a handful of pennies- for him- to save millions of us from dying. He knew there was a problem, he knew there was a way to gather the info needed to stop a disinfo-demic but he chose not to spend money on that. #FuckZuck ht…
@ct_bergstrom Carl T. Bergstrom on x
More bullshit from Facebook. Just “supported by the facts” line is mighty convenient when you are in sole possession of the information needed to ascertian them. https://twitter.com/...
@justinhendrix Justin Hendrix on x
It's not that the data isn't there- it's that it's not structured to be accessible to managers. Basically like selling cigarettes with no knowledge of the ingredients.
@ramaswmysridhar Sridhar Ramaswamy on x
@ShiraOvide These problems are not as hard as we make them out to be. You start with an eval guideline and template. You then settle on a methodology (3/5 agreement, for example). You can then give precision/recall numbers by calibrating against an expert panel.
@klonick Kate Klonick on x
But (& hear me out) this makes sense if you know how targeted advertising works which is matching a slipper ad to a batch of anonymized user profiles who might buy slippers Collecting data on who viewed COVID disinfo doesn't seem like something they'd want/need to collect 1/ http…
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Brutal. What an abhorrent leadership failure. Time and $$$ were a requirement? This plus a reminder on Rosen's surveillance app role in last ten minutes. Press are digging in. White House just pointed towards the toxic leadership garbage dump and someone threw a match on it. http…
@dispositive Gautam Hans on x
Implausible deniability. Then again, didn't they recently admit they forgot about a content moderation provision for three years in an FBOB case? https://twitter.com/...
@mollymckew Molly McKew on x
FB execs openly pander to the “the market will decide” crap and “people will leave if they don't like the product” They make it clear if you are on FB, you endorse their policies and practices. So don't be.
@mollymckew Molly McKew on x
This is the magic FB formula: don't analyze data that will show X because then you have to do something about X and it's better not to look because then you can keep playing the “how could we know” card But my real question is: why is anyone still in Facebook? https://twitter.com…
@fboversight @fboversight on x
“Facebook has a COVID disinformation problem because Facebook has a right-wing extremism problem,” said RFOB, an advocacy organization critical of the social media giant, in a statement." @SilvermanJacob @newrepublic https://newrepublic.com/...
@sheeraf Sheera Frenkel on x
There was a lot of debate this weekend about why Facebook couldn't give Biden the data on Covid misinfo. The problem is that measuring misinformation is complicated, and FB data scientists have said they are a year out (or more) from being able to do it: https://www.nytimes.com/.…
@juliacarriew Julia Carrie Wong on x
One thing to try to resist w/ the Biden v Facebook anti-vaxx debate is Facebook's concerted efforts to keep everyone's memory incredibly short. Facebook was actively promoting anti-vaxxer groups to people searching for vaccine information in *2019* https://www.theguardian.com/ ..…
@jkosseff Jeff Kosseff on x
Yes, everyone hates Facebook. We get that already. But what should it look like? And how do we get there in light of legal, technical, and operational constraints? That's a much more difficult and important discussion.
@kellymakena Makena Kelly on x
Asked if he would hold FB accountable for misinfo, Biden says: “I'm not trying to hold people accountable. I'm trying to make people look at themselves in the mirror. Think about that misinformation going to your son, your daughter, your relative ... That's all I'm asking.”
@oliverdarcy Oliver Darcy on x
This is ... quite a walk back. https://twitter.com/...
@dylanbyers Dylan Byers on x
Awkard position for the pundits who, emboldened by the president's initial words, went out and said: “Biden is right, Facebook is killing people...” https://twitter.com/...
@kaitlancollins Kaitlan Collins on x
Asked whether the platform has done enough so far to blunt the spread of misinformation, Biden says, “To be completely honest with you, I don't know that they did anything today, up to over the weekend, I don't think they had. But I don't know.”
@owillis Oliver Willis on x
Facebook to advertisers: we can microtarget anything with a pulse, even the dead sometimes Facebook to the govt: finding misinformation is hard you guys, pay no attention to the billions we have in the bank we could spend on this bull. shit. https://twitter.com/...
@tedcruz Ted Cruz on x
🚨Breaking news🚨 From now on, all Facebook posts will end with: “I'm Joe Biden, and I approve this message.”
@egavactip Mark Pitcavage on x
“On Facebook alone, the dozen are responsible for 73% of all anti-vaccine content...And 95% of the Covid misinformation reported on these platforms were not removed.” https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@nicktrebla @nicktrebla on x
Majority of Covid misinformation came from 12 people, report finds. These 12 people influenced 59 million gullible followers like Barnaby Joyce, Boris Johnston and Donald Trump https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@zerohedge @zerohedge on x
*PSAKI: WE ARE NOT IN A WAR WITH FACEBOOK, BUT WITH VIRUS Is Facebook sending White House censorship phone calls straight to voicemail?
@sivavaid Dr. Siva Vaidhyanathan on x
This problem is not going to get easier. Even if a thousand social scientists had this data we would be no closer to a full view. This is just a lot more complicated than most people thing. Why? Because the problem with Facebook is Facebook. https://twitter.com/...
@s … Dr. Siva Vaidhyanathan🗽🤘 🏽 on x
Take this from one of the OG Facebook critics: Making it about Facebook is a waste of precious time. No one who runs Facebook cares about real people in the real world. We are data to them.
@brooklynmarie Brooke Binkowski on x
Not to mention white supremacists have been trying to form a global alliance for decades. Facebook algos and groups did that for them https://twitter.com/...
@profcarroll David Carroll on x
There is no viable economic mechanic to punish Facebook for its downstream social and economic harms such as vaccine disinfo because its primary revenue stream derives from small and medium sized businesses that wholly depend on Facebook for customer acquisition.
@bigblackjacobin Edward Ongweso Jr on x
If I was Biden I would simply double down on the accusation that Facebook is killing people and not walk it back the next business day
@lanceulanoff Lance Ulanoff on x
I fully expected this clarification https://www.wsj.com/...
@juliacarriew Julia Carrie Wong on x
You can't pick up a telephone book and automatically find the names and contact info of 1000 people who are susceptible to anti-vaxx propaganda, or white nationalism, or QAnon, or boogaloo violence. But Facebook will do that for you, usually for free, without you even asking.
@repthomasmassie Thomas Massie on x
The White House has admitted to working with Facebook to track, flag, and block certain content and content creators. Which begs the question: how involved is the government in Facebook's efforts to track and flag VIEWERS of content the government hasn't approved? https://twitter…
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
This comment will surely irk many Facebook employees who have been working on the company's efforts to tackle Covid misinformation for more than a year. https://twitter.com/...
@s … Dr. Siva Vaidhyanathan🗽🤘 🏽 on x
I have sympathy for Murthy and Biden as they push Facebook to crack down on the anti-vax stuff. But it's not going to happen — and certainly not in time to save this country from the next (current?) wave. Don't make it about Facebook. Make it about schools. De-escalate.
@shelbytalcott Shelby Talcott on x
Psaki doesn't directly answer when asked whether the administration plans to make public what it's flagging as misinformation for Facebook.
@blackamazon @blackamazon on x
And part of that short memory is that Facebook, the Senate and the misinfo space and the Democratic safety space ? We're told this in 2016 when it was targeting Black people and in other countries about MASSACRES they knew it had consequences https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
I'll bite. Take the 2019 German federal cartel office decision vs Facebook and apply globally. No access to any of my data outside of the app itself - and no sharing across their apps. That will solve a whole lot of problems. Trust me. https://twitter.com/...
@zamaan_qureshi Zamaan Qureshi on x
There are going to be folks at the White House who are going to be pissed about this statement. Some at WH want Facebook to share with them how much *misinformation* about vaccines people have seen. Repeat pressure from the WH on FB may have forced that data. https://twitter.com/…
@juliacarriew Julia Carrie Wong on x
Does Facebook kill people? Eh, who's to say (besides the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar)? But it sure as hell does its level best to bring together the people who kill other people and help them find new recruits and new targets.
@ewerickson Erick Erickson on x
If the White House's demands for Facebook and misinformation were met, all the people who said COVID came from a lab would have been banned a year ago when now that is increasingly the consensus.
@jesselehrich Jesse Lehrich on x
“At the start of the pandemic, a group of data scientists at Facebook held a meeting with execs to ask for resources to help measure the prevalence of misinformation about Covid-19... The execs never approved the resources & the team was never told why” https://www.nytimes.com/..…
@marshablackburn Sen. Marsha Blackburn on x
Biden needs to release every email and contact that his administration has had with Facebook regarding their crusade to monitor our speech. https://www.foxnews.com/...
@mikeloychik Representative Mike Loychik on x
The only thing Facebook is killing is free speech.
@orientaljanedoe Jane Chung on x
Did someone get a call from Mark? Sheryl? https://twitter.com/...
@anandwrites @anandwrites on x
A few years ago, Mark Zuckerberg said he wanted to end all disease. Today, he is one of the chief obstacles to a healthy, vaccinated world. This isn't a contradiction. Billionaires like him use do-gooding pledges to buy the space to do profitable harm. https://podcasts.apple.com/…
@comfortablysmug Comfortably Smug on x
So Biden's statement on misinformation was misinformation https://twitter.com/...
@jkosseff Jeff Kosseff on x
I'd love to see a media outlet ask 50 gov officials/commentators to describe what social media should look like in an ideal world. My guess is that you would get *very* different answers, but it would be more productive than the current discussion.
@wsj @wsj on x
President Biden's attack on Facebook on Friday followed months of mounting private frustration inside his administration over the social-media giant's handling of vaccine misinformation, according to U.S. officials https://www.wsj.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
if your worldview is Facebook and White House cycle was “just a distraction” or White House just needed their Crowd Tangle account approved, it won't end well. Facebook will continue to take ten steps backward and a few steps forward.... it's a leadership and biz model issue.
@elienyc Elie Mystal on x
LOL @ Biden figuratively telling Facebook to “grow up” https://twitter.com/...
@allison__news Allison Harris on x
“We are not in a war or a battle with Facebook,” @PressSec says the war is instead with coronavirus, after President Biden cleaned up his comments Friday that it's not Facebook killing people, but the 12 people responsible for spreading 65% of the misinformation on the platform.
@chrismegerian Chris Megerian on x
“We're not in a war or a battle with Facebook,” Jen Psaki says, adding that the real enemy is the virus.
@adamserwer @adamserwer on x
It's both true that facebook can ban whomever it wants from its platform without running afoul of the First Amendment, and for the same reason, the Biden can't tell them what or who to ban https://twitter.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
you shouldn't take me calling you a murderer personally https://t.co/ca34gTd000
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
The WH gets its weekend of rage at FB in the news, pegged to headline-friendly Biden “killing people” comment, after missing its vaccination goal Then Biden gets to quietly walk back on Monday You can even hate FB and see how manufactured this news cycle was
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
Not to say that the concerns are entirely unjustified or irrelevant, I just feel like Biden's instantly infamous “they're killing people” quote is probably best understood as more of an exasperated “c'mon, man!” than an attempt at coercing censorship.
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
what a ridiculous news cycle this has been https://twitter.com/...
@therecount @therecount on x
President Biden clarifies his comment saying Facebook is “killing people”: “My hope is that Facebook, instead of taking it personally ... that they would do something about the outrageous misinformation about the vaccine.” https://twitter.com/...

Chronicles