The news mod team has asked to no longer be a part of the project until we have a composite tool that polls multiple sources for a more balanced view.
It will take a few hours, but FOR NOW there won’t be a bot giving reviews of the source.
The goal was simple: make it easier to show biased sources. This was to give you and the mods a better view of what we were looking at.
The mod team is in agreement: one source of truth isn’t enough. We are working on a tool to give a composite score, from multiple sources, all open source.
Rule 1 Ban Count: 5
- LagrangePoint@lemmy.world (Permaban)
- aniki@lemmings.world (15 day ban)
- catloaf@lemm.ee (15 day ban)
- DoctorButts@kbin.melroy.org (Permaban)
- stormesp@lemm.ee (15 day ban)
Not a good look, mods.
https://a.lemmy.world/lemmy.world/modlog/view?target=4123405
Comment that caused the ban is in the logs
https://a.lemmy.world/lemmy.world/u/stormesp@lemm.ee
No comments removed, but running theme was attacking mods (well, me). Yes, we’re mods, and I don’t take action against people arguing with me, but the other mods will enforce the rules evenly.
https://a.lemmy.world/lemmy.world/modlog/view?target=6038477
Reason is in the logs, and aligns with community rules
https://a.lemmy.world/lemmy.world/u/aniki@lemmings.world
Reasons aren’t noted, but ready to see when you read their last few comments in news
https://a.lemmy.world/lemmy.world/modlog/view?target=3325340
Reason given, and valid, in the logs.
What I discovered: people got pissed at the mods for wanting something, and our reasons be damned.
What I’m making isn’t a bot, but an API, but everybody got pissed I wanted ANYTHING that would help detect false news.
I even got rid of MBFC, but that’s not enough. I get shit on for making an open source tool, unrelated to the bot.
You think that’s all legit? I don’t see permaban levels of rule breaking at all there. More admin and moderator boneheadedness causing mild irritation with users. You’re asking for feedback, then ignore most of that feedback, and now ban disagreement because they’re understandably frustrated with your responses.
What I’m making isn’t a bot, but an API, but everybody got pissed I wanted ANYTHING that would help detect false news.
That’s not really clear from your opening post. I don’t mean that to be critical, just saying the opening post sounded very much like the pending release of bot v2.
I’m absolutely for the bot and I know I’m not alone. I like having it and I find it useful. I don’t know why other people think it’s “a source of truth” like I’m some mindless sheep who can’t think on my own. I can and do take its rating with a grain of salt.
I don’t like sports but you don’t see me asking admins to remove those subs. It’s selfish of people to ask for it to take it down for everyone. A good aspect of using Lemmy is being able to customize your experience–so do that. If you don’t like bots, hide them all in the settings or block them individually. It’s that simple.
Now that I think of it, maybe Lemmy should ask new users how they want to experience the site when creating their accounts.
Because a lot of people don’t spend effort researching the sources. When the mods present MBFC ratings on each post without any explanation or context, it’s an endorsement of MBFC and their opinion, and presents it as a reliable source.
If people want to do the research to evaluate a source, they can do that on their own. Presenting a biased source like MBFC is counterproductive to that goal.
Because a lot of people don’t spend effort researching the sources
I don’t think that’s fair or true, especially on Lemmy. We don’t need babysitting. And even if it is an endorsement, what examples of reviews do you have that call MBFC into question? I say we don’t bog down ourselves with whether they labeled something center-left that may be center-right or whatnot. What matters is the facts. Everyone can have a say in how they interpret whatever slant they find. Nobody takes it as the ultimate judge. We don’t need it to be impeccably accurate and perfect, either.
In my case, I pay little attention to the rating on sources I already trust. Instead, I use it to hold obvious propagandists to face the quality of their posts. I have many instances of that happening. There’s value in this.
If people want to do the research to evaluate a source, they can do that on their own.
This is one way to get started doing that. It’s a convenient shortcut for the search I was going to do anyway. I’m surprised you preach about source evaluation and push back on this in a post about allowing for multiple sources.
I liked it. Even a biased MBFC that is consistent in it’s bias has value, as you can take the bias into perspective on interpreting the rating.
Honestly; I think the “Negative” reactions to the bot are overblown and only done by a vocal minority who are sockpuppeting followed by a few people who are irrationally angry that the bot can be, GASP! Dare I SAY IT???!!11, Wrong.
Personally I don’t find the bot problematic at all; and I think it could easily be blocked or ignored by people who find it too inaccurate. So I find it extremely disappointing that the mods are listening to the vocal minority about this.
That being said; I do understand why Mods want to make the bot more accurate. It’s assessments and information can easily make obvious extremists and trolls more obvious to the naked eye; and can help people consume media with some grains of salt. More sources of data are good for accuracy.
We do. Admins found dozens of downvote alts and nuked them at the same time. Seems folks aren’t content to just state their opinion and leave it at that, and instead they feel compelled to overwhelm the system to give the illusion of uniformity.
Props to the LW admin who uncovered and banned the vote manipulation ring. Its existence is troubling.
I did a vote audit of the Soliciting Feedback from the Mods thread, and none of the sock accounts that were banned three days ago voted on the post or the most highly upvoted or downvoted comments. If you don’t believe me, I suggest asking an admin you trust to repeat the audit.
The outrage about the bot seems extremely organic, and any sockpuppetting going on is small compared to the overwhelming number of legitimate accounts casting votes that are apparent from the logs. The uniformity of the consensus does not appear to be artificial at all.
These people were specifically trying to get the bot removed? Must have hit quite a nerve. I know it was biased in favor of Israel, but it must have been even worse. That bot sucks so bad people make mass sockpuppet accounts just to tell you they want it gone
What point does a “bias” bot serve if it can be incorrect? And if it can be incorrect then why should we trust it at all?
You may as well write a bot that posts “remember, don’t trust everything you read online and use critical thinking when you’re doing your own research” to every post.
The question is how much is it incorrect? Because the bot isn’t AI or anything. MBFC’s database is used in research and has been compared with other independent sources and deemed reputable enough.
Honestly, the bias piece was never the important piece for us. It was the credibility piece.
Just trying to give some insight into why we used it in this community.
So if it’s still showing up what does that mean?
the admin who manages the bot hasn’t had a chance to disable it for our community yet.
