Social Media

Engadget reports: Facebook is cracking down on events in an effort to prevent its users from organizing violence ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration. The social network says it will block all events in areas around Washington D.C. and state capitals through next week’s inauguration. “We are blocking the creation of any new Facebook events happening in close proximity to locations …

Axios reports: The Trump campaign and digital team relied on Snapchat as a key platform to reach younger audiences before the company started limiting its reach in June. The majority of Snapchat’s users are under 30. “Last week we announced an indefinite suspension of President Trump’s Snapchat account, and have been assessing what long term action is in the best …

The Wall Street Journal reports: YouTube suspended President Trump’s channel on Tuesday night, joining a growing list of tech companies that are ejecting him from their platforms. The Alphabet Inc. video-sharing service said it was locking Mr. Trump’s channel for at least seven days after the company removed videos that it said violated its policies against content it believes could …

NBC News reports: Facebook said Monday that it will begin removing any content that includes the phrase “stop the steal” from its platforms, expanding its efforts to limit the spread of election misinformation. The company two months ago removed the original group of the same name, which fueled voter fraud misinformation after the election. The move is part of the …

Business Insider reports: Parler, the far-right social media service, is suing Amazon over antitrust violations, according to a court filing submitted on Monday. The move comes after Amazon knocked Parler off its cloud-hosting service after it said Parler failed to moderate threats of violence following last week’s deadly siege on the US Capitol. Parler alleges that Amazon’s decision was politically …

Yahoo News reports: The conservative social network Parler was forced offline Monday, tracking websites showed, after Amazon warned the company would lose access to its servers for its failure to properly police violent content. The site’s popularity soared in recent weeks, becoming the number one free app in Apple’s App Store after the much larger Twitter banned US President Trump …

Deadline reports: Parler CEO John Matze said today that his social media company has been dropped by virtually all of its business alliances after Amazon, Apple and Google ended their agreements with the social media service. “Every vendor from text message services to email providers to our lawyers all ditched us too on the same day,” Matze said. Matze conceded …

The New York Times reports: Over the past several months, Parler has become one of the fastest-growing apps in the United States. Millions of President Trump’s supporters have flocked to it as Facebook and Twitter increasingly cracked down on posts that spread misinformation and incited violence, including muzzling Mr. Trump by removing his accounts this past week. By Saturday morning, …

NBC News reports: Google suspended the social media platform Parler on Friday from its Google Play app store until the “Twitter for conservatives” adopts content moderation policies following the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Donald Trump supporters. “In order to protect user safety on Google Play, our longstanding policies require that apps displaying user-generated content …

CNET reports: YouTube on Friday said it banned the channel of Steve Bannon’s popular War Room podcast, after it repeatedly violated the Google-owned platform’s rules. The ban came hours after the former White House chief strategist had Rudy Guiliani, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, on the program following the violent insurgency at the US Capitol earlier this week. “In accordance …

USA Today reports: Radio host Rush Limbaugh’s Twitter account has been deactivated. Twitter confirmed to USA TODAY that the account wasn’t suspended but “deactivated by the owner.” Limbaugh is considered the leading conservative talk radio host and has been on the airwaves for more than three decades. He has been an adamant supporter of President Donald Trump and his Twitter …

TechCrunch reports: After Twitter took the major step Friday of permanently banning President Trump’s @realdonaldtrump Twitter account, the President aimed to get the last word in through his government account @POTUS which has a fraction of the Twitter followers but still offered the President a megaphone on the service to send out a few last tweets. The tweets were deleted …

Buzzfeed News reports: Apple has given Parler, the social network favored by conservatives and extremists, an ultimatum to implement a full moderation plan of its platform within the next 24 hours or face expulsion from the App store. In an email sent this morning and obtained by BuzzFeed News, Apple wrote to Parler’s executives that there had been complaints that …

The Verge reports: Reddit has banned r/donaldtrump for encouraging and glorifying violence after Wednesday’s mob attack on the US Capitol. Axios reporter Sara Fischer first reported the news, noting that the unofficial pro-Trump forum had been given multiple warnings. A Reddit splash page says the subreddit was “banned due to a violation of Reddit’s rules against inciting violence.” “Reddit’s site-wide …

Via press release from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg: The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden. His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his …

Yahoo News reports: A Delaware computer repair shop owner sued Twitter, alleging the social network defamed him by effectively labeling him a “hacker” after his business was cited as the source for info obtained from a laptop allegedly owned by Hunter Biden that served as the basis for several New York Post articles published in October. In the lawsuit, John …

Agence France-Presse reports: Dutch prosecutors have confirmed that Donald Trump’s Twitter account was hacked in October despite denials from Washington and the company, but said the “ethical hacker” would not face charges. The hacker, named as Victor Gevers, broke into Trump’s account @realDonaldTrump on 16 October by guessing the US president’s password, Dutch media reports said. Gevers, 44, disclosed the …

Buzzfeed News reports: Around 50 accounts on the social network site Parler are posing as fake GOP leaders and claiming to sell CBD oil endorsed by first lady Melania Trump. An account posing as one run by Vice President Pence shared a link to buy a “Commemorative Medallion” on Dec. 5. The same account later shared a message from a …

The Verge reports: Facebook on Tuesday said it would make an exception to its political ad ban to let campaigns and other political organizations run advertising for the upcoming Georgia runoff elections. The Senate races, which will determine which US political party controls that chamber of Congress, take place on January 5th. Facebook says advertisers authorized to run ads on …

The Independent reports: Donald Trump, who currently enjoys certain exemptions from Twitter’s policies due to his status as a world leader, will likely lose the protection after 20 January when Joe Biden takes over as the US president. Mr Trump’s personal account on Twitter could be subject to a ban if he continues to spread conspiracy theories, Twitter has confirmed. …