Zuckerberg Russian big time and Putin under Europeans takes advantage of it? Anti Meta Report
A report by AI Forensics reports Meta to the EU Commission. Here because
According to Paul Bouchaud of AI Forensics, a European non-profit organization that investigates the damage caused by the algorithms of major technology platforms, “Meta's systemic failure to moderate political ads is deeply worrying, especially with elections on the horizon.”
THE ACCUSATION OF AI FORENSICS
According to AI Forensics, pro-Russian propaganda is exploiting Meta's lack of commitment to moderating political interventions, especially propaganda ones, on its social networks in Europe, causing a "serious alarm" about the integrity of the June elections. “Despite repeated warnings, the company acknowledged the problem, claiming significant investments in security, but neglected to address it effectively, raising questions about its commitment to democratic integrity,” Bouchaud said.
The study by AI Forensics – which examined Meta's Ads Library in 16 EU countries, including Italy since August 2023 – claims that the surveillance networks are excessively broad: less than 10% of political ads are undeclared would be moderated by Meta. Furthermore, 60% of the ads moderated by the platform do not comply with Mark Zuckerberg's company's moderation guidelines for political ads.
As for the search for "coordinated campaigns" – that is, cases in which multiple advertisers publish the same content on multiple pages – AI Forensics' research uncovered a network of 3,826 pages spreading pro-Russian propaganda. Yet there are constraints: according to Meta's terms of service, advertisers are allowed to publish political adverts only in their country of residence, subject to verification of an identity document and accompanied by the "Paid for by" disclaimer.
THE PRO-RUSSIAN CAMPAIGNS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY
The risk is that obscure financiers plot to weaken the EU's pro-Atlantic policies, especially under European ones. In France and Germany these campaigns reached 38 million users between August 2023 and March 2024, with less than 20% of the political ads moderated by Meta and often only after their content had already been spread on the Web.
For example, it was recorded that after the United States announced 1 billion dollars in aid to Ukraine in September, posts detected by the Ai Forensics study germinated (reaching over 130,000 French accounts) in which it was stated that the United States was fanning the flames of war to increase arms sales. When Germany increased military aid to Kiev in November, 463 posts criticized the German government's support for Ukraine, reaching 1.6 million accounts.
THE NGO CALLS ON THE EU TO ACT AGAINST META
Fortunately, at least on the community side, something seems to have moved. “The new transparency requirements for platforms in the EU are proving to be effective: without those rules, which Meta has diligently implemented, we would not have had access to the data that allowed us to highlight this operation,” explained Marc Faddoul , director of AI Forensics.
The NGO therefore appealed to the European Commission "to initiate an infringement procedure against Meta for its inaction against coordinated Russian political operations" as well as to Meta itself to "act immediately against these networks and proactively monitor similar operations during elections, as well as to strengthen the moderation of political advertising".
WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT DOES TO FORENSICS
AI Forensics is a European non-profit organization which, it writes about itself, “investigates influential and opaque algorithms. We hold major technology platforms accountable by conducting high-profile, independent technical investigations to uncover and expose the harm caused by their algorithms.”
They include : Riccardo Angius, Claudio Agosti, Ulrik A. Halmoy, Natalie Kerby, Salvatore Romano (head of research), Miazia Schueler, Sonia Tabti, Katya Viadziorchyk, the aforementioned Paul Bouchaud, Raziye Buse Cetin, Alvaro De Frutos.
Among the organisation's partners are the foundations Limelight, Open Society, Luminate, Sidnfonds, Civitates, the Digital Freedom Fund, NGI and Mozzilla.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/zuckerberg-russa-della-grossa-e-putin-sotto-europee-ne-approfitta-report-anti-meta/ on Wed, 17 Apr 2024 13:03:10 +0000.