Social Media

“Everyone thinks they have all the answers when it comes to moderating, but Gab is the one with Congress down our backs and the nation state of Germany threatening us along with the entire mainstream press, activist groups with war chests in the hundreds of millions, and other bad actors attacking us constantly. “Do you want this website to stay …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas is being sued over its new law barring social media platforms from banning users over their political views by two trade associations that represent some of the industry’s biggest online companies. NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which represent Google and Twitter, among other companies in the e-commerce and social media industries, filed …

The Daily Beast reports: During a meeting in Washington, D.C. in 2019, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg agreed to not fact-check political posts if the Trump administration would steer clear of any “heavy-handed regulations,” venture capitalist Peter Thiel told an associate, according to a new book. The associate alleged that at the meeting—which was also attended by Thiel, former President Trump, …

Politico reports: Federal officials warned law enforcement agencies this spring that domestic extremists had used TikTok in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 riots on the Capitol, including by promoting bringing guns to Washington that day, according to an internal government document — highlighting authorities’ growing concern over violent content on the video app. In the April 19 briefing reviewed …

The New York Times reports: The Federal Election Commission has dismissed Republican accusations that Twitter violated election laws in October by blocking people from posting links to an unsubstantiated New York Post article about Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son Hunter Biden, in a decision that is likely to set a precedent for future cases involving social media sites and federal …

The Guardian reports: Pro-choice users on TikTok and Reddit have launched a guerrilla effort to thwart Texas’s extreme new abortion law, flooding an online tip website that encourages people to report violators of the law with false reports, Shrek memes, and porn. Though the site was launched a month ago, the fake reports came flooding in on the eve of …

Input reports: Earlier this afternoon, r/NoNewNormal, an anti-vax subreddit with more than 124,000 users, was banned from Reddit, for “brigading,” the act of one community overwhelming another with a stream of spam and memes, a form of digital invasion designed to drown out the voices of internet foes. CNET reports: Though the admin confirmed there’s been a “pronounced” increase in …

From Twitter’s corporate blog: Unwelcome Tweets and noise can get in the way of conversations on Twitter, so we’re introducing Safety Mode, a new feature that aims to reduce disruptive interactions. Starting today, we’re rolling out this safety feature to a small feedback group on iOS, Android, and Twitter.com, beginning with accounts that have English-language settings enabled. Safety Mode is …

Axios reports: Former President Trump wanted equity in Gettr, the new social media app launched by former Trump aide Jason Miller, sources tell Axios. The former president has yet to join the app, although sources say that conversations about his participation are ongoing. Discussions about equity are likely part of those conversations, and everything is a negotiation point. Miller has …

The Daily Beast reports: Alex Berenson, the former New York Times reporter who became the leading face of COVID-19 disinformation, has been permanently suspended from Twitter. “The account … has been permanently suspended for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation rules,” a Twitter spokesperson told NBC News. Berenson repeatedly used the platform to sow doubt about COVID-19 treatments that have …

Engadget reports: It’s a who’s who of the biggest players on the internet, including Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Snap, Twitch, Telegram and TikTok. On the list are a number of smaller, pro-Trump sites that have sprung up in recent years, including Gab and Parler, as well as known cesspools 4chan and 8kun (formerly 8chan). Specifically, the Select Committee wants …

The New York Times reports: Facebook has approached academics and policy experts about forming a commission to advise it on global election-related matters, said five people with knowledge of the discussions, a move that would allow the social network to shift some of its political decision-making to an advisory body. The proposed commission could decide on matters such as the …

The New York Post reports: Former President Donald Trump on Monday asked a Florida judge to issue a preliminary injunction in his case against YouTube that would compel the company to reinstate his access to the platform. Trump’s lawyers said they plan to make similar requests in his suits against Facebook and Twitter in the coming weeks. The request for …

The Washington Post reports: Facebook said Saturday evening that an article raising concerns that the coronavirus vaccine could lead to death was the top performing link in the United States on its platform from January through March of this year, acknowledging the widespread reach of such material for the first time. It also said another site that pushed covid-19 misinformation …

The Verge reports: Facebook’s head of security policy said the company is putting into place security measures for users in Afghanistan, including hiding “friends” lists and adding a tool to quickly lock down accounts. Nathaniel Gleicher said in a thread on Twitter that Facebook made the changes based on feedback from activists, journalists, and civil society groups. As the Taliban …

Via email from right wing columnist Erick Erickson: Twitter temporarily suspended me from Twitter and I know a lot of you originally came here because of Twitter links. Considering I have doubled down on truth telling, I suspect Twitter will ban me at some point for stating biological truths. This is just a reminder that your subscription to this email …

The Associated Press reports: Facebook already asks for your thoughts. Now it wants your prayers. The social media giant has rolled out a new prayer request feature, a tool embraced by some religious leaders as a cutting-edge way to engage the faithful online. Others are eyeing it warily as they weigh its usefulness against the privacy and security concerns they …

Vice News reports: Scammers are abusing Instagram’s protections against suicide, self-harm, and impersonation to purposefully target and ban Instagram accounts at will, with some people even advertising professionalized ban-as-a-service offerings so anyone can harass or censor others. It appears that in some cases, the same scammers who offer ban-as-a-service also offer or are at least connected to services to restore …

The New York Times reports: Fewer than half of all Americans age 18 to 39 are fully vaccinated, compared with more than two-thirds of those over 50, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And about 58 percent of those age 12 through 17 have yet to receive a shot at all. To reach these young people, the …

Politico reports: Just weeks after its launch, the pro-Trump social network GETTR is inundated with terrorist propaganda spread by supporters of Islamic State, according to a POLITICO review of online activity on the fledgling platform. The social network — started a month ago by members of former President Donald Trump’s inner circle — features reams of jihadi-related material, including graphic …