• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

Most fake accounts on Facebook set up “not with political intent,” but “with commercial intent”: Facebook’s EMEA vice president for public policy

by The Online Citizen
01/12/2018
in Current Affairs, International, Tech
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0

Noting that most fake accounts are created “not with political intent,” but “with commercial intent,” which entail creating fake accounts to sell such accounts and even followers of such accounts, Facebook’s vice president for public policy for Europe, Middle East and Africa Richard Allan explained that “there will be a three-month period” where “hundreds of millions of such accounts” are removed from the platform, with most being taken down “within minutes of account creation”.

Speaking in the House of Commons in Parliament in London on Tuesday (27 Nov), Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC Member of Parliament and one of the members of Singapore’s Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods Sun Xueling posed a question to Mr Allan regarding how Facebook is “policing the setting up of fake accounts, the shutting down of these fake accounts and their networks”, to which Mr Allan responded by saying that “shutting down fake accounts is an ongoing battle that we have”.

“The best way I’ve found to describe this is that it’s a bit like a “robot war” – that there are people who’ve created programmes on computers that create fake accounts, not just on Facebook, but other networks … millions of them – they’re blasting away – and we have artificial intelligence systems that try and understand what a fake account looks like, and shut them down as soon as they come up,” said Mr Allan.

However, he lamented that the real challenge lies in busting fake accounts that are set up in a convincing, realistic manner to mimic legitimate individuals.

“There are people who are very careful, who create one or two accounts, and they act as though they are normal Facebook users … the issue that we saw in the United States with this internet research agency was often accounts like that, where it wasn’t this mass creation [of spam accounts], but very carefully curated [ones] so they look real, even though they weren’t real,” highlighted Mr Allan.

When asked by Ms Sun if Facebook’s removal of Russian-linked fake accounts as recently as August to October this year following Russian state interference is “reactive” and “perhaps insufficient”, Mr Allan stated that research has shown that “low-quality information has decreased by 50 per cent across the Facebook platform due to a number of measures that we have taken”.

“Those are independent studies by academics, and by Les Décodeurs which is the fact-checking arm of “Le Monde” from France,” he added.

Mr Allan added that while “the battle is not over,” he believes that Facebook is “starting to make inroads.”

He added that determining what constitutes a fake account is one of “the hardest things to do”.

“They can use technology, they can use a VPN [Virtual Private Network] to appear as though they are coming from a different country, they would get hold of photos that will look very legitimate … That stuff is hard, and that’s frankly where we need a lot of cooperation often with law enforcement agencies so we can understand what’s going on and try to deal with those people,” stressed Mr Allan.

When asked if it is possible for future elections to be “interfered with” by unprecedented methods via Facebook, Mr Allan said: “I think it is the case that we will continue to discover groups of people who are doing things that they shouldn’t be doing at election time. Our job is to minimise that as far as we can, but I think it’s unrealistic … As long as we have an internet, there will be … any kinds of attempt to interfere. Technology does give people very strong tools.”

When probed by Ms Sun on how Facebook prioritises credible content and de-prioritising falsehood when it continues to push contents that readers want to see, and “potentially creating online echo chambers and amplifying falsehoods”, Mr Allan noted that one of the major changes rolled out by Facebook is “something called “Meaningful Social Interactions”, which advertises content that typically comes from users’ family and friends.

“That kind of content tends to be less controversial than some of the contents that’s coming in from some of these other sources,” he reasoned.

Ms Sun interjected, pointing out that such algorithms could “potentially create online echo chambers” because “people are sharing information that they want to see amongst groups of people that they are close to, self-selected individuals”.

Countering her suggestion, Mr Allan responded: “There is some good research that shows if you have a reasonably broad family and friend group, you would actually get more diverse content from your group of family and friends – that is from my experience on Facebook – than you would if you’re simply going to the same restaurants and bars where you normally go and only do [so] with one group of people.”

When asked if he agreed that more would be achieved if Facebook works with development authorities to take down false information online and shut down fake accounts, Mr Allan agreed, noting that Singapore parliamentarians are currently “looking at a piece of legislation” in relation to such joint efforts.

“We do think it’s important that there is a judicial process in place … I know France has just passed a law … Similarly if someone claims that a politician is corrupt, and that’s false, [if] we don’t take it down … That’s a problem. If it’s true, and we do take it down, that’s equally a problem, because it stops somebody from shedding light on the genuine harm.

“The best person to make a decision about whether that claim is true or false is not Facebook or a Facebook employee, it is the relevant judicial authority in any country,” said Mr Allan.

When further prompted by Ms Sun if Facebook is open to “adopting a regulatory approach”, which may include “voluntary reporting and independent audits”, Mr Allan agreed, adding that Facebook is “keen to see a properly regulated structure”.

However, he qualified his statement, saying that this does not mean the social media giant will necessarily agree to everything suggested by governments.

“What we’re trying to do in the process of working with the French government,” he cited as an example, “is to understand how we can work together with regulators.”

Parliamentarians from other countries including Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Ireland, and Latvia, as well as members of the UK’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee were also present at the inquiry on disinformation and fake news on Tuesday.

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

Why is Gautam Adani’s Indian empire in turmoil?
AFP

Adani shares dive again as Indian opposition stages demos

06/02/2023
Josephine Teo defends SPH Media Trust in Parliament on its circulation scandal; Commitment of S$900 million funding will still be made available
Singapore

Josephine Teo defends SPH Media Trust in Parliament on its circulation scandal; Commitment of S$900 million funding will still be made available

06/02/2023
Japanese-Canadian junior high school girl breaks national record with 3km in 9:02 mins
Japan

“I want my normal life back,” Sherry Drury withdraws from National Junior High School Tournament due to overheated public attention

06/02/2023
FY2023 Budget Statement to be delivered by Lawrence Wong on 14 Feb, 3.30pm
Singapore

FY2023 Budget Statement to be delivered by Lawrence Wong on 14 Feb, 3.30pm

06/02/2023
AFP

Scholar, lawmakers and journalist among Hong Kongers on trial

06/02/2023
Netizens urge HDB to investigate another “unoccupied” flat listed for sale
Housing

Netizens urge HDB to investigate another “unoccupied” flat listed for sale

06/02/2023
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

Why is Gautam Adani’s Indian empire in turmoil?

Adani shares dive again as Indian opposition stages demos

06/02/2023
Josephine Teo defends SPH Media Trust in Parliament on its circulation scandal; Commitment of S$900 million funding will still be made available

Josephine Teo defends SPH Media Trust in Parliament on its circulation scandal; Commitment of S$900 million funding will still be made available

06/02/2023
Japanese-Canadian junior high school girl breaks national record with 3km in 9:02 mins

“I want my normal life back,” Sherry Drury withdraws from National Junior High School Tournament due to overheated public attention

06/02/2023
FY2023 Budget Statement to be delivered by Lawrence Wong on 14 Feb, 3.30pm

FY2023 Budget Statement to be delivered by Lawrence Wong on 14 Feb, 3.30pm

06/02/2023

Scholar, lawmakers and journalist among Hong Kongers on trial

06/02/2023
Netizens urge HDB to investigate another “unoccupied” flat listed for sale

Netizens urge HDB to investigate another “unoccupied” flat listed for sale

06/02/2023

Keppel condones and retains senior executives involved in bribery to get contracts

06/02/2023
7.8-magnitude quake hits southern Turkey: USGS

7.8-magnitude quake hits southern Turkey: USGS

06/02/2023

Trending posts

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

by Yee Loon
30/01/2023
25

...

Cognizant India transfers staff to work in Singapore as recently as this year

Local IT grads can’t find jobs while engineers constantly transferred from India to work in SG under CECA

by Correspondent
05/02/2023
66

...

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

by Augustine Low
01/02/2023
47

...

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

by Correspondent
03/02/2023
26

...

Excessively charging for an essential need, and calling it affordable because people still can pay for it?

by Terry Xu
31/01/2023
40

...

Singapore Law Watch removes commentary on CPIB’s decision to not prosecute former Keppel executives

Singapore Law Watch removes commentary on CPIB’s decision to not prosecute former Keppel executives

by The Online Citizen
02/02/2023
19

...

December 2018
M T W T F S S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  
« Nov   Jan »

The Online Citizen is a regional online publication based in Taiwan and formerly Singapore’s longest-running independent online media platform.

Navigation

  • Editorial
  • Commentaries
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Community

Support

  • Contact Us
  • Letter submission
  • Membership subscription

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Fact Checking Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

wpDiscuz