OMG, Facebook. WTH are you thinking??!!?? This isn’t personal data. You’re literally threatening the few outside researchers attempting to assist the public in holding you accountable after you covered up your 2016 failures and pushed to avoid outside accountability. Disturbing. https://t.co/k62C8j1svF
— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) October 23, 2020
Facebook is demanding that a NYU research project cease collecting data about its political-ad targeting practices, setting up a fight with academics seeking to study the platform without the company’s permission. https://t.co/ggPCwpxDf4
— Anthony DeRosa ? (@Anthony) October 23, 2020
good thread. this is classic Facebook. Look the other way if it involves allies in power. Attack if it potentially exposes you. https://t.co/25VmzuU8ix
— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) October 24, 2020
Facebook is remarkably creative in finding ways to prove it is a dangerous threat to our society. https://t.co/SivW7mx89V
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) October 23, 2020
Ooh, ???. This is the lead researcher on NYU project Facebook is trying to shut down. Laura is fighting back!! https://t.co/xMOMbruJOv
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) October 23, 2020
If Facebook were truly committed to research into its platform, it would create a safe harbor within its terms of service for research that is manifestly in the public interest and that protects user privacy. We proposed just that two years ago.https://t.co/Vs3OyF9Pf8
— Alex Abdo (@AlexanderAbdo) October 23, 2020
Facebook is demanding that a @nyuniversity research project stop collecting data about its political-ad targeting practices, setting up a fight with academics seeking to study the platform without the company’s permission. https://t.co/y4Gg59KlYd
— Steven Russolillo (@srussolillo) October 23, 2020
Yet another example for why we need mandatory APIs for these systems (that cannot be shut down via ToS) https://t.co/2tUY45Albd https://t.co/T2QXh9WH1R
— Albert Wenger ??⌛ (@albertwenger) October 24, 2020
This is a disturbing development.
— Alex Abdo (@AlexanderAbdo) October 23, 2020
Last Friday, Facebook sent a cease-and-desist letter to two NYU researchers (@LauraEdelson2 and Damon McCoy), demanding that they shut down their research into political ads and disinformation on FB’s platform.https://t.co/ksBVmqV27K
This is now relevant to this thread from yesterday about Facebook and microtargeted political ads. Facebook’s refusal to change its rules concurrent with blocking researchers monitoring it gives me a very, very bad feeling. https://t.co/LIwBV22XQs
— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) October 23, 2020
This is not a fight that Facebook should be having: Facebook Seeks Shutdown of NYU Research Project Into Political Ad Targeting - WSJ https://t.co/FiVJ1DCCTk
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) October 24, 2020
This is so outrageous. This project is run by @FBoversight member @LauraEdelson2 who has been doing critical work scrutinising Facebook’s ads in run-up to election. Now Facebook has sent her a cease & desist letterhttps://t.co/guMZgxhEWn
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) October 23, 2020
Once again @Facebook showing a lack of seriousness about fighting dark money, political manipulation, and disinformation. “Facebook tries to block tool aimed at promoting transparency around political ads” https://t.co/Ek2jwqlUuL
— Mark R. Jacobson (@markondefense) October 24, 2020
Tired: BuzzFeed reporting leaked internal and brutal self-assessments on how news organizations need evolve.
— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) October 24, 2020
Wired: WSJ’s countless reports uncovering Facebook’s public disruptions. This time threatening academics digging into its sometimes toxic microtargeting of political ads. https://t.co/zluOK6trkD
Facebook promised to stop selling discriminatory job ads.
— Jeremy B. Merrill (@jeremybmerrill) October 23, 2020
I showed in August that they're still doing it anyways.
Now Facebook is making legal threats to shut down #AdObservatory —the only project that lets us keep them honest.
https://t.co/VdbvnGRAOE https://t.co/EHGoGa9YwE
A week ago, Facebook sent me a C&D asking us to take down AdObserver and delete our data. The public has a right to know how political ads are targeted, so we will not be complying with this request. Please consider installing https://t.co/b36aJApAfR
— Laura Edelson (@LauraEdelson2) October 23, 2020
Facebook is trying to shut down a political ad transparency tool *wait for it* in the run up to one of the most consequential elections in US history. The tool, built by NYU researchers, is relied on by dozens of local journalists and civil society groups. https://t.co/WfLf81X5O8
— Ramya Krishnan (@2ramyakrishnan) October 23, 2020
Facebook threatens academic researchers examining the way it targets users with political ads; says "enforcement actions" may follow if they don't delete their findings. https://t.co/K7zGSPRRh1
— Dell Cameron (@dellcam) October 23, 2020
Such an outrageous move by Facebook, even in a climate where our threshhold for outrage is getting to be pretty highhttps://t.co/OnB2n4Y9B7
— Tamsin Shaw (@ProfessorShaw) October 23, 2020
With just over a week before US election, @facebook is pushing to stop a digital tool that promotes transparency around online political ads https://t.co/UIFxTdHg3v
— Mark Scott (@markscott82) October 23, 2020
Facebook are relentlessly resistant, obstructive and happy to use legal means to suppress legitimate independent research on their platform - must read thread from @knightcolumbia ‘s @AlexanderAbdo https://t.co/tYAKTtM0nA
— emily bell (@emilybell) October 24, 2020
We will stand up to Facebook’s double-standard where data brokers scrape and sell Facebook profiles to the GOP and get away with it while rigorous academics legitimately recruit volunteers to study ad targeting get bullied because they help reveal to the public how Facebook works https://t.co/tBReZ3XoVK
— David Carroll ? (@profcarroll) October 24, 2020
In timing I do not understand, Facebook demanded that NYU researchers call off their volunteer-driven collection of data on political ad targeting two weeks ahead of the US election:https://t.co/o6oPZzkISA
— Jeff Horwitz (@JeffHorwitz) October 23, 2020
When FB shuts something down because of privacy concerns, you can be confident that the privacy in question is that of the powerful, often FB itself. https://t.co/OtVYVKq2GO
— Roger McNamee (@Moonalice) October 23, 2020
I wrote about why we built this and some of our preliminary observations here:https://t.co/51nW2IMo3b https://t.co/dd8aSi6uNK
— Laura Edelson (@LauraEdelson2) October 22, 2020
The day we write about how Facebook's ad system is screwing up and not labeling some political ads, based on research from NYU, Facebook sends NYU a cease-and-desist letter. So much for transparency. https://t.co/SljdFtVj0rhttps://t.co/EZYuVny04d
— Ryan Mac ? (@RMac18) October 23, 2020
The Streisand effect might turn this into the biggest study of political ad targeting yet.?
— Kate Crawford (@katecrawford) October 24, 2020
If you're on Facebook, consider joining ?️ https://t.co/AgIq90vOb2
Facebook cannot tell everyone it is committed to openness and transparency on ads and then penalize people who put that to the test https://t.co/TkUwqoA0P9
— Tony Romm (@TonyRomm) October 23, 2020
Considering that the whole enterprise that is now Facebook originated in scraping Harvard directory photos, I find this hilarious.
— Jonathan Morris (@jmorriscal) October 23, 2020
Facebook sends its attack dogs against the NYU Ad Observatory for its essential work studying effects of ad targeting on the political process. This is disgusting, especially knowing there are actual data abusers out there actually selling Facebook data to political operatives. https://t.co/CLsEOh54Ju
— David Carroll ? (@profcarroll) October 24, 2020
For several years now, I have emphasized the importance of empowering researchers, who are frequently the first to identify and track new social media platforms' abuses.https://t.co/l2HNahrST5
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) October 23, 2020
This seems to happen in every election now, where FB misses some political ads and they don’t get properly labelled and added to their Ad Library.
— Who Targets Me (Install our browser extension!) (@WhoTargetsMe) October 23, 2020
The question is how they actually get missed...https://t.co/GJPRkafP5C
It will come as a shock to no one that Facebook has cited user privacy as the reason they must clamp down on this project. ? https://t.co/Fq0hqu7olb
— The Spook who sat by the Ring Doorbell (@hypervisible) October 23, 2020
Bad faith: @facebook has claimed for years that it wants journalists, watchdogs, & academics to use its political ad archive, but it’s trying to stop @nyuniversity researchers from collecting bulk data?
— Alex Howard (@digiphile) October 23, 2020
Self-regulation is not enough.https://t.co/W0tisZu8be https://t.co/HkHfquNS33
Argument for: maybe they're enforcing their policies now? Just in time!
— Alex Russell (@slightlylate) October 23, 2020
Argument against: Imagine having so little faith that your own practices standing up to scrutiny that you try to block mere observation of them. https://t.co/1EBYapDDK8
Also amazing & hilarious detail. Last week we discovered Allison Hendrix was Facebook exec who failed to ensure Cambridge Analytica deleted FB data. Failed to do any due diligence whatsoever. Guess what?? She’s in exact same role today. And she’s the exec who took this decision pic.twitter.com/V7oWeR2z0H
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) October 23, 2020
Facebook workers, this is where you put your labor. Choose a better path. Your children will thank you. https://t.co/Wprjehm5LW
— Mike Monteiro? (@monteiro) October 23, 2020
Facebook demands the right not only to affect our elections fundamentally, but to be protected as they do it, w/ terms that block transparency. The law should give no power to these secrecy clauses. It should penalize any effort to enforce them. https://t.co/NYqly5QIym
— Lessig (@lessig) October 24, 2020
Facebook is demanding @nyuniversity stop tracking and documenting the social media company's political advertising for their research studies. There is a very real risk that Facebook's algorithmic bias in favor of Democrats will be revealed. https://t.co/RgM3mikge6
— @amuse (@amuse) October 24, 2020
Facebook Seeks Shutdown of NYU Research Project Into Political Ad Targeting https://t.co/oTBwevDN43
— Apar (@apar1984) October 24, 2020
Facebook tries to block tool aimed at promoting transparency around political ads https://t.co/eoDcnH8iaW
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) October 24, 2020
1. With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, Facebook is trying to hobble Ad Observatory, a public resource that’s been used by dozens of news organizations to report on #politicalads.https://t.co/LkSp9bgOb9
— Nancy Watzman (@nwatzman) October 23, 2020
Facebook made promises after the 2016 election to do better.
— Firefox ? (@firefox) October 24, 2020
Well, here we are about a week from the election and they’re breaking those promises. This is too important to F up again, FB.https://t.co/WFqTGnzPg3
For several years now, I have emphasized the importance of empowering researchers, who are frequently the first to identify and track new social media platforms' abuses.https://t.co/l2HNahrST5
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) October 23, 2020
With less than two weeks to go before the election, Facebook is trying to cripple a resource used by dozens of journalists and researchers to report on who is trying to influence the public and how wth political ads https://t.co/gMCIIskHae
— Carroll Bogert (@carrollbogert) October 24, 2020
Facebook has told researchers at NYU to stop using a digital tool that tracks how people are targeted with political ads ahead of the Nov. 3 election. https://t.co/bKpYJlLV5F
— Sudeep Reddy (@Reddy) October 24, 2020
With less than two weeks to go before the election, Facebook is trying to cripple a resource used by dozens of journalists and researchers to report on who is trying to influence the public and how wth political ads https://t.co/xvX6Nh6SFZ
— craig newmark (@craignewmark) October 24, 2020
Facebook doesn’t appear to be adhering to its latest election ads policy.
— OpenSecrets.org (@OpenSecretsDC) October 23, 2020
It has continued to allow ads from conservative nonprofits and fringe groups that seek to undermine the election.https://t.co/Zz3GGC5BJc
Facebook put its foot down last month and announced it would immediately ban advertisements designed to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election. So far, it’s not exactly a success. Read more in our latest analysis with @FastCompany. https://t.co/AqUhw2VkiV
— MapLight (@MapLight) October 23, 2020
When I read articles like this, sometimes I feel like I should make a talk on what personality based microtargeting actually is (and isn’t) - and beyond a theoretical basis, actually enumerate the empirical evidence behind the different approaches. https://t.co/N8HiIT5ilZ
— Christopher Wylie ?️? (@chrisinsilico) October 23, 2020
NYU's Ad Observatory released new data that shows how both the Trump and Biden campaigns are using personality targeting to find and persuade voters. https://t.co/AOyZk5pUrA
— David Carroll ? (@profcarroll) October 23, 2020
Here are the weirdly-specific filters that the presidentical campaigns are using to microtarget you.
— Jeremy B. Merrill (@jeremybmerrill) October 23, 2020
Great story by @TateRyMo using #AdObservatory data.https://t.co/JE3zufwGZv
2020 has seen enough. The last thing we need is to watch FB repeat some of its same mistakes from 2016 leading up to this election.
— Firefox ? (@firefox) October 24, 2020
The third-party tools they’re trying to shut down are the best option to get data people need to hold them accountable. https://t.co/tsz5jJUYxv pic.twitter.com/5QtoPap99y
Facebook has sent a legal threat to NYU demanding that they take down Ad Observatory and stop supporting the plugin (once again, this is a plugin that Facebook users choose to install specifically to hold the company to account).https://t.co/s0OjJJJJdg
— Cory Doctorow #BLM (@doctorow) October 24, 2020
4/
Facebook tries to block tool aimed at promoting transparency around political ads https://t.co/YbUYBkci9o pic.twitter.com/oQk2enNosf
— Vote Early! Donate! Volunteer! #TheResistance (@SocialPowerOne1) October 24, 2020
These are the reasons that we need the @FBoversight Here we are days out. They refused to change their political ad model by monitoring disinfo so who else will do it?
— Shireen, Harlem's Shuri, In Political Mecca! (@digitalsista) October 24, 2020
Facebook tries to block tool aimed at promoting transparency around political ads https://t.co/GN4ds6YWLC pic.twitter.com/AjnfX350sz
Facebook tries to block tool aimed at promoting transparency around political ads
— Khashoggi’s Ghost (@UROCKlive1) October 25, 2020
Because of course.
The NYU tool allows researchers to see how campaigns and other groups are crafting messages to voters based on race, age, location or other criteria.https://t.co/UKhLM8hwCm