The US Federal Trade Commission claimed that Facebook’s reason for banning third-party researchers was inaccurate. Facebook’s defense of its actions is breaking down.
When Facebook this week banned the personal accounts of scientists researching advertising transparency and false information on its platform, it justified its decision with the “yes” part. Facebook bans third-party researchers.
I follow the FTC rules. However, according to the Washington Post, the FTC stated that it was “inaccurate,” and its rules did not require such actions. Facebook claims to have locked accounts “to prevent unauthorized crawling and to protect people’s online privacy through our privacy program following FTC instructions.”
The order came into effect after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. It stated that Facebook must first obtain the user’s “confirmed and explicit consent” before it can disclose its information to third parties (called a “consent order”) and “support the plan.”
Prohibiting third-party researchers
“The wording of Facebook’s order regarding the number of FTC orders to take action is controversial, but the agency is not satisfied with its allegations.” If you fulfill the obligation to contact us in advance, we will notice the consent statement Levin wrote: “Facebook is not prohibited from creating exceptions for honest research in the public interest.”
Facebook corrected this article. I am disappointed with your company’s performance in this matter.
Facebook’s justification for banning third-party researchers ‘inaccurate,’ says FTC https://t.co/n9aFn5QKym #facebook #socialmedia
— Fedica (@FedicaHQ) August 6, 2021
Decided to ban Facebook, not FTC. In a subsequent interview with Wired magazine, Facebook spokesperson Joe Osborne admitted that FTC’s consent order not forced this hand. Still, because Facebook supports the terms of a “comprehensive privacy plan,” the company said that the plan came from the rape of investigators.
Allowances in its privacy program
If Facebook wants to, it may compromise its privacy plans for such investigations. The research itself is based on a browser plug-in called Ad Observer. In which Facebook users can install to collect information about which policy. Researchers collect this information and use it to learn more about political advertising.
This work helps track who is funding political campaigns and helps track false information on Facebook instead of political ads. The Ad Observer plug-in is still valid and effective, but Facebook has banned pages that promote the project on social networks.
Facebook has also stated that they have blocked the plug-ins because it violates user privacy by collecting information about users who perform this operation.
No, installed, but Mozilla’s independent review of the plug-in code found that this statement is also incorrect. Marshall Erwin of Mozilla wrote in his blog (emphasis mine): “We decided to recommend Ad Observer because our reviews convinced us that it respects user privacy and increases transparency.
Collect advertisements, targeting options, and advertisement-related metadata.
It does not collect private messages or information about your friends. It does not compile user configuration files on its server. We ask Facebook to post a comment and will update it.
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