Skip to main content

Why senator's confused 'finsta' rant is a gift to Facebook executives

By

Sen. Richard Blumenthal doesn't understand what a finsta is. Facebook should be delighted.

The senator from Connecticut displayed his ignorance of the slang term during a Thursday hearing designed to hold Facebook officials to account after the Wall Street Journal published a bombshell series of articles based on leaked internal company documents. Sen. Blumenthal's misunderstanding of the word, which has since gone viral on Twitter, paints a picture of an out-of-touch elected official trying to regulate tech platforms — and in the process serves as a likely welcome distraction for Facebook officials.

After all, why should the public focus on the real harms documented by Facebook's own internal researchers when we can instead all gawk at the old man misusing internet slang?

For the blissfully unaware, the term finsta is meant to designate a secondary Instagram account, often made under a fake name. The slang is used by the likes of teens, adults, and even former president Barack Obama, and has bled into the mainstream.

No one apparently told Sen. Blumenthal, however, as on Thursday he attempted to get Antigone Davis, Facebook's global head of safety, to end finstas as if they were an official service from the company.

"Will you commit to ending Finsta?" asked the senator.

"Senator, again let me explain," replied Davis. "We don't actually, we don't actually do finsta. What finsta refers to is young people setting up accounts where they want to have more privacy [...]."

Sen. Blumenthal wasn't convinced.

"Finsta is one of your products or services," he pressed. "We're not talking about Google or Apple, it's Facebook, correct?"

"Finsta is slang for a type of account," reiterated Davis. "It's not a product."

"OK, will you end that type of account?" followed up Sen. Blumenthal.

"We, I'm not sure I understand exactly what you're asking," replied Davis.

Indeed, it appears that neither Davis nor Sen. Blumenthal understood exactly what the senator was asking — a fact that many were quick to point out (and mock).

And sure, when it comes to laughing at Sen. Blumenthal's dumb question while understanding the scope of harm caused by Facebook, the public, media, and Facebook critics can walk and chew gum at the same time.

SEE ALSO: The 6 best VPNs to help keep you anonymous on the internet

But it must be a relief for Facebook when the gum becomes extra distracting.



from Mashable https://ift.tt/2Y6lcfC
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Instagram accidentally reinstated Pornhub’s banned account

By
After years of on-and-off temporary suspensions, Instagram permanently banned Pornhub’s account in September. Then, for a short period of time this weekend, the account was reinstated. By Tuesday, it was permanently banned again. “This was done in error,” an Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch. “As we’ve said previously, we permanently disabled this Instagram account for repeatedly violating our policies.” Instagram’s content guidelines prohibit  nudity and sexual solicitation . A Pornhub spokesperson told TechCrunch, though, that they believe the adult streaming platform’s account did not violate any guidelines. Instagram has not commented on the exact reasoning for the ban, or which policies the account violated. It’s worrying from a moderation perspective if a permanently banned Instagram account can accidentally get switched back on. Pornhub told TechCrunch that its account even received a notice from Instagram, stating that its ban had been a mistake (that message itse...
Post a Comment
Read more

California Gov. Newsom vetoes bill SB 1047 that aims to prevent AI disasters

By
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed bill SB 1047, which aims to prevent bad actors from using AI to cause "critical harm" to humans. The California state assembly passed the legislation by a margin of 41-9 on August 28, but several organizations including the Chamber of Commerce had urged Newsom to veto the bill . In his veto message on Sept. 29, Newsom said the bill is "well-intentioned" but "does not take into account whether an Al system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data. Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions - so long as a large system deploys it."  SB 1047 would have made the developers of AI models liable for adopting safety protocols that would stop catastrophic uses of their technology. That includes preventive measures such as testing and outside risk assessment, as well as an "emergency stop" that would completely shut down...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch Aidy Bryant *completely* lose it as 'SNL' roasts political pundits

By
On Saturday Night Live , there are breaks and then there's whatever happened here. The Season 45 premiere featured a sketch that was meant to expose the empty noisemaking of political punditry on TV. But part of the joke involved a series of quick costume changes, and some weirdness during one of those switches led to a complete and total breakdown. Aidy Bryant, the segment's host, couldn't take it. She manages to keep it together until what appears to be an accidental wide shot exposes some of the magic as we see a woman who's probably a member of the SNL wardrobe crew fiddling with Aidy's costume. Read more... More about Saturday Night Live , Aidy Bryant , Entertainment , and Movies Tv Shows from Mashable https://ift.tt/2okrAOq via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more