# Where Countries Are Tinderboxes and Facebook Is a Match **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 22, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882 "2018-04-22T00:13:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/1 "2018-04-22T00:13:09Z")
> [@](#): > > We came to this house to try to understand the forces of social disruption that have followed Facebook’s rapid expansion in the developing world, whose markets represent the company’s financial future. For months, we had been tracking riots and lynchings around the world linked to misinformation and hate speech on Facebook, which pushes whatever content keeps users on the site longest — a potentially damaging practice in countries with weak institutions. > > Time and again, communal hatreds overrun the newsfeed — the primary portal for news and information for many users — unchecked as local media are displaced by Facebook and governments find themselves with little leverage over the company. Some users, energized by hate speech and misinformation, plot real-world attacks. > > A reconstruction of Sri Lanka’s descent into violence, based on interviews with officials, victims and ordinary users caught up in online anger, found that Facebook’s newsfeed played a central role in nearly every step from rumor to killing. Facebook officials, they say, ignored repeated warnings of the potential for violence, resisting pressure to hire moderators or establish emergency points of contact. > **[Where Countries Are Tinderboxes and Facebook Is a Match (Published 2018)](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/21/world/asia/facebook-sri-lanka-riots.html)** > > False rumors set Buddhist against Muslim in Sri Lanka, the most recent in a global spate of violence fanned by social media. Hopefully these countries will ban Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/2 "2018-04-22T06:26:10Z")
The article itself said that Sri Lanka blocked Facebook but it didn’t matter — people just used VPNs to access it. It is the same in China, where Facebook has been blocked for many years. And, honestly, I think that blocking access to it is not a good thing. What should be done is to hold the “higher-ups” in Facebook and their ilk accountable. From the moment that Facebook has algorithms to “select” what it presents to it’s readers, in my opinion they have a measure of responsibility regarding the real-world effects of their platform. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/3 "2018-04-22T06:50:46Z")
Yeah, frankly doubt people in California give two fucks either way what happens if some people in a country whose name they can’t even pronounce get riled up. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/4 "2018-04-23T14:00:49Z")
I think it would be a good thing if every country banned Facebook. They’ve given a platform for lies and hatred to go viral and has led to many deaths and quite likely elections that should have gone the other way had Facebook not been there to give a soapbox to the darker side of humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/5 "2018-04-23T14:14:54Z")
In the end, it’s up to people what they want to read, hear, and believe, whether it be via Facebook or some other platform. I occasionally get public items from the extreme left and the extreme right. I immediately see them for what they are, and I immediately choose the “hide this post and all other posts from …” option. End of story. There have been radical web sites for years and well before Facebook. Before that, it was radical radio/TV/literature. This kind of thing has always been with us. The answer is educating people, not shutting down communication between people. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/6 "2018-04-23T14:38:08Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Yeah, frankly doubt people in California give two fucks either way what happens if some people in a country whose name they can’t even pronounce get riled up. Right? How does one even pronounce “Usa” anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delicious)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/7 "2018-04-23T14:58:50Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think it would be a good thing if every country banned Facebook. They’ve given a platform for lies and hatred to go viral and has led to many deaths and quite likely elections that should have gone the other way had Facebook not been there to give a soapbox to the darker side of humanity. But then how would people know what I had for breakfast? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/8 "2018-04-23T15:18:10Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > In the end, it’s up to people what they want to read, hear, and believe, whether it be via Facebook or some other platform. I occasionally get public items from the extreme left and the extreme right. I immediately see them for what they are, and I immediately choose the “hide this post and all other posts from …” option. End of story. Not everybody is that intelligent and/or educated. There are people whose main source of news is Facebook memes. They think that the Congress stole $X Trillion from Social Security, they think that the US spends $900 billion per year on “illegals”. They believe all kinds of stupid shit and they vote on these appeals to their gullibility, ignorance, and bigotry. Either we tame this beast or democracy dies. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/9 "2018-04-23T16:11:16Z")
Facebook or sites like it are not going anywhere. There is NO WAY. There is a better chance of Gwyneth Paltrow blowing me tonight, than Facebook or other virtually-identical concepts, going away or being banned. Please, let’s not even have that conversation. It is not going to happen. The “beast” can be tamed. It just requires politicians and public figures who are savvy enough to do it. The old generation of legacy politicians and their legacy media, are not up to the challenge. But new blood is coming. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/10 "2018-04-23T16:36:37Z")
I’ll believe to my dying day that Facebook got the UK out of the EU and put Dumb Donald in the White House. Politicians and public figures are not going to rein it in when the ones in power are the ones that benefitted from the misinformation that spreads like wildfire on Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/11 "2018-04-23T16:39:45Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’ll believe to my dying day that Facebook got the UK out of the EU and put Dumb Donald in the White House. Politicians and public figures are not going to rein it in when the ones in power are the ones that benefitted from the misinformation that spreads like wildfire on Facebook. Yep. The only way to stem it appears to be bombing ourselves back to the stone age. Or a sudden surge in the popularity of critical thinking. So…bombs. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/12 "2018-04-23T16:45:00Z")
I don’t know if you guys are serious or what, but I think this attitude is BS. Facebook gives guys like Colin Kaepernick, Sean King, Bernie Sanders, a platform just as much as Donald Trump and Alex Jones. Social media is our new reality. Embrace and harness it, or fail. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/13 "2018-04-23T17:17:47Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’ll believe to my dying day that Facebook got the UK out of the EU and put Dumb Donald in the White House. Politicians and public figures are not going to rein it in when the ones in power are the ones that benefitted from the misinformation that spreads like wildfire on Facebook. Don’t be silly. Twitter shares part of the blame. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/14 "2018-04-24T05:19:39Z")
Isn’t the whole point of a tinderbox so that you don’t need a match in order to get a fire started? ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/15 "2018-04-24T07:59:13Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > In the end, it’s up to people what they want to read, hear, and believe, whether it be via Facebook or some other platform. I occasionally get public items from the extreme left and the extreme right. I immediately see them for what they are, and I immediately choose the “hide this post and all other posts from …” option. End of story. > > There have been radical web sites for years and well before Facebook. Before that, it was radical radio/TV/literature. This kind of thing has always been with us. The answer is educating people, not shutting down communication between people. It is in fact not up to users of Facebook what they read. They read what Facebook chooses. Shutting down Facebook doesn’t equal shutting down communication, it equals shutting down Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/16 "2018-04-24T08:32:58Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > It is in fact not up to users of Facebook what they read. They read what Facebook chooses. Shutting down Facebook doesn’t equal shutting down communication, it equals shutting down Facebook. And how long will it be until another platform takes over the gap? There’s no point shutting down Facebook if there isn’t any regulation over a replacement, or things’ll just be back in the same situation with Bookface or whatever people get behind to share stories and photos and political opinions next. Maybe the next company will even have a firm political agenda itself, rather than really just allowing groups to amplify their own agenda disproportionately. People aren’t just going to sit back en masse and decide that OK, this thing they’ve been using to stay in touch with friends and family they don’t see often has gone, so why not read a book instead? You’d need to remove internet access. Or try and work with social media to find a compromise in how they push stories. And if you’re going to try and regulate, it’s probably a lot easier to deal with a few bigger established companies to come to a new standard than it is to try and shut them down and regulate whatever pops up in their place. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/17 "2018-04-24T09:29:58Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Isn’t the whole point of a tinderbox so that you don’t need a match in order to get a fire started? :smack: I blame Billy Joel. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/18 "2018-04-24T09:38:32Z")
You can’t put the technological genie back in the bottle - you never can. As much as I hate social media, we’re stuck with it, and it will never go away until it finally evolves until some sort of global hive mind. Human society will just have to adapt. Fortunately, we’re good at adapting… eventually. Which is little consolation to the millions killed along the way. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/19 "2018-04-24T09:59:22Z")
I also think it’s morbidly funny that after spending a century bemoaning the fact that people were getting all of their information from relatively centralized mass media, we’re now terrified about what happens when people get all their information from each other. Hell is indeed other people. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882/20 "2018-04-24T12:10:25Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I also think it’s morbidly funny that after spending a century bemoaning the fact that people were getting all of their information from relatively centralized mass media, we’re now terrified about what happens when people get all their information from each other. Hell is indeed other people. It would be ok if people got information from each other. What they’re getting is misinformation and voting based on the lies that are repeated endlessly to them. Now instead of intelligent discourse, what we’re getting are shameless appeals to the lowest tribal urges among us. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-countries-are-tinderboxes-and-facebook-is-a-match/812882.md?page=2)