Facebook and Twitter recommendation algorithms could be deactivated under new plans from Russian lawmakers.
A new bill to be put before Russia’s parliament could reportedly enable the government to regulate and restrict algorithms that recommend content and accounts which Moscow officials say promote social discord or break local laws.
On Friday, sources within the State Duma told Moscow daily, Kommersant, that a new bill to be introduced later this year will oblige American tech giants such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, as well as domestic-made networks like VK, to allow their users to disable algorithms that create specialized, individual content.
Deputies from the governing United Russia party are said to have mooted the proposals based on fresh concerns around how suggested content could be increasing the risks of social conflicts and provocations.
Anton Gorelkin, a member of the Committee on Information Policy, told Kommersant that the document is in its final stages.
“It involves the regulation of recommendation services of social networks. Their transparency is important.” He added that “whether online movie streaming sites will also fall under the regulation is up for debate.” Gorelkin also wrote in recent days that “recommended algorithms are adjusted so that there is always fake information, provocations, and bullying throughout the user’s feed.”
Last month, following Russia’s parliamentary elections, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that the algorithms used by social networks were distorting the conversation online and furthering the interests of other nations.
“When I check Twitter recommendations on who to follow – of course, the first person who comes up is Navalny, who is serving a criminal sentence. Isn’t this interference in the affairs of a foreign country? It’s blatant interference,” Medvedev alleged.
Irina Levova, the director of strategic projects at the Institute for Internet Research, argues that greater legal attention should be paid to algorithms on the basis of how the suggested content affects users.
“If the system is capable of having a significant impact on the rights, freedoms and well-being of people and poses risks to life, health and property, additional requirements should be established for it,” she said.
However, Levova added that mechanisms used to boost services for businesses do not carry such threats.
However, some businesses fear they will lose out on maximizing their reach to customers if algorithms are restricted.
Mikhail Ilyichev, general director of the Sber.Zvuk audio service, told Kommersant that businesses could see a fall in financial incomes, as disabling the recommendation mechanism will mean that the user sees less targeted advertisements based on cookies and browser history.
This is not the first time that social networks have faced criticism from the Russian government.
Last week, the country’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said after the global outage of Facebook’s platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp, that the fault highlights the failures of the California-based conglomerate and the need for Russia’s own sovereign internet capabilities.
“We must understand that such a blackout can happen at any second, based on the processes that are now gaining momentum in the US,” Zakharova said.
“Yesterday they showed you everything. We aren’t cutting ourselves off, but their technologies are failing to such a degree that three and a half billion people were cut off.”
Recently, a leaked Facebook’s secret blacklist of ‘dangerous individuals and organizations’ showed it has over 4,000 entries. Among them are entities sanctioned by the US as terrorists, historical villains, cartels, militia groups, as well as dissidents.
https://twitter.com/RWMaloneMD/status/1444734152079728644?t=zm99saT6Kga0nbt1Yz_cjw&s=19
Meanwhile, a so-called independent fact-checker website FactCheck.org is exposed to be funded by the same $1.9 billion vaccine lobby group that it is supposed to check.
The site is a Facebook partner whose articles are used to censor critical voices on the social media platform. It is headed by the former CDC director, which is again a conflit of interest.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that Facebook has attacked the sovereign nation of Australia and that his government will not be intimidated by Facebook’s threats.
Other nations from around the world have joined in sparking a global war against the threats from Big Tech.
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In the period before Teddy Roosevelt, the question was whether the robber barons would rule the U.S. Now the question is whether the tech moguls will rule the world.
I’ve deleted my Facebook accounts now, but while I still used them I also used a browser add on called; Fluff Buster Purity, which allows you to remove any element on your FB page you don’t want,
I had mine set so my home page was virtually blank!
I got so irritated with Youtube I had a look around and have downloaded a thing called; FreeTube,
I now view YT content remotely via this application without needing to sign in, no recommendations, no age or regional restrictions, it’s like how I always wanted Youtube to be!
I also use AdBlock-Plus set to full intolerance to avoid all online advertising and marketing,
I use a thing called Disconnect to block unneccessary 3rd party tracking,
I use a thing called Behind the Overlay that allows me to remove any overlays that pop up on any websites,
I use a thing called Skip Redirect that stops bad links from redirecting my browser to unsolicited sites,
I run CCleaner after every browsing session to wipe all unwanted cookies and history,
all this stuff is free to download, intall and use for domestic purposes,
I think Russia is on the right track with FB & Twitter etc. it sounds exactly what I’ve been trying to do for myself via ingenious add-ons, extensions and programs for my browser,
I use Mozilla Firefox but most of these things are available for multiple browsers,
keep pushing back, don’t let the bastards get to you!