Discussion

• @doctorow Cory Doctorow on x

  Facebook just escalated its war on NYU's #AdObserver project, a project that monitors and discloses Facebook's failure to live up to its promise to block paid disinformation. 1/ https://twitter.com/...

• @accountabletech @accountabletech on x

  Members of Congress on both side of the aisle are deeply troubled by Facebook's actions to ban independent researchers. If Facebook is serious about transparency, they should restore researchers' access to the platform immediately. https://twitter.com/...

• @profcarroll David Carroll on x

  My take on why Facebook is not preventing another Cambridge Analytica by banning NYU ad researchers. It's just being a terrible, horrible, no good company by smearing independent accountability efforts. https://techpolicy.press/...

• @justinhendrix Justin Hendrix on x

  Outrage about Facebook's treatment of the NYU researchers behind the Ad Observer is good. But regulating ad tech would be better, says Nathalie @MarechalPhD in @techpolicypress: https://techpolicy.press/...

• @mozilla @mozilla on x

  Facebook claims they shut down the researchers accounts due to privacy problems with the Ad Observer. In our view, those claims simply do not hold water. We know this because we reviewed the code ourselves before recommending it. Read more here: https://blog.mozilla.org/...

• @doctorow Cory Doctorow on x

  The fact of the matter is that FB is a company whose profits depend on hiding all kinds of fraud and sleaze from the public. That's why they gutted Crowtangle, the tool that researchers relied on for insight into the platform. https://pluralistic.net/... 12/

• @projectlincoln @projectlincoln on x

  .@Facebook has gone full authoritarian. https://www.nbcnews.com/...

• @cradvocacy @cradvocacy on x

  At a time when the nation is grappling with issues like misinformation, targeted advertising, and algorithmic bias, we need more transparency and accountability for internet platforms, not less. 3/4

• @doctorow Cory Doctorow on x

  The reality is disinformation is really profitable for FB. I am skeptical about how well paid disinfo really works, but it's clear that there are lots of rich people who are convinced that it works, and they pay FB millions to try their hand at it. https://pluralistic.net/... 11/

• @econliberties @econliberties on x

  🚨 @Facebook conveniently shut down a NYU research study about targeted ads as soon as they found out NYU was looking into what role @Facebook played in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 🚨 https://www.vice.com/...

• @doctorow Cory Doctorow on x

  In attacking Ad Observer, Facebook isn't just shooting the messenger - they're poisoning the well, sabotaging real privacy measures. It's another shameful chapter in the sordid tale of a company that shouldn't exist. 16/

• @zamaan_qureshi Zamaan Qureshi on x

  Great piece from @profcarroll. Conflating Cambridge Analytica with the NYU Ads Observatory is not only wholly inaccurate, it's deeply offensive to the academics (@LauraEdelson2) doing great work at NYU. https://twitter.com/...

• @fboversight @fboversight on x

  So far the experts' consensus on Facebook disabling NYU researchers accounts on privacy grounds is a loud “B...S!”

• @paulbernaluk Prof Paul Bernal on x

  Leave Facebook. I know, I've been saying it for a decade, but seriously. Leave Facebook right now. https://twitter.com/...

• @bostonjoan Joan Donovan on x

  @MarechalPhD lays it out clearly. Facebook is an advertising company. @RepLoriTrahan has a bill to open up platforms to researchers. The rules need to be clear, consistent, and fair about data reuse and portability. https://twitter.com/...

• @cradvocacy @cradvocacy on x

  CR strongly condemns both Facebook's account termination for the NYU researchers who built the Ad Observer browser tool, and the disingenuous excuse of privacy claims by which they attempt to justify these actions. 2/4