Social Media

From Facebook’s corporate blog: Today, we are expanding our efforts to remove false claims on Facebook and Instagram about COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccines and vaccines in general during the pandemic. Since December, we’ve removed false claims about COVID-19 vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts. Today, following consultations with leading health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), we …

Bloomberg News reports: Twitter Inc. is building a subscription product as a way to ease its dependence on advertising – a plan the social network has considered for years, and one that has taken on a heightened priority given the pandemic and pressure from activist investors to accelerate growth. At least one idea being considered is related to “tipping,” or …

Fox News reports: Twitter suspended radio host Wayne Allyn Root this weekend. “I am in shock,” Root told Fox News. “It appears to be a permanent ban. Twitter never warned me and never sent any communication saying I’ve been suspended or banned. “I simply tried to tweet yesterday afternoon and could not. But unlike a previous suspension, my followers suddenly …

The Tennessean reports: Timothy Wilks, 20, was shot and killed in the parking lot of Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park around 9:20 p.m. When officers arrived at the scene around five minutes later, 23-year-old David Starnes Jr. admitted to shooting Wilks. Investigators were told that Wilks and a friend approached a group of people, including Starnes, with butcher knives …

Fox News reports: Parler has terminated CEO John Matze, according to a memo Matze sent to staffers that has been obtained by Fox News. “On January 29, 2021, the Parler board controlled by Rebekah Mercer decided to immediately terminate my position as CEO of Parler. I did not participate in this decision,” Matze wrote. “I understand that those who now …

The New York Daily News reports: Twitter has permanently suspended MyPillow’s corporate account after controversial CEO Mike Lindell, who was himself banned just a week ago, apparently used his company’s account to spew lies about the 2020 election. The fervent Donald Trump supporter seems to have hijacked the MyPillow account to circumvent his own ban and taunt Twitter CEO Jack …

Via press release from the Better Business Bureau: You got your COVID-19 inoculation, and you are excited to share the good news and encourage others to do the same. You take a selfie holding your vaccination card and post it to Facebook, Instagram, or another social media platform. Unfortunately, your card has your full name and birthday on it, as …

The Verge reports: After this month’s deadly attack at the Capitol, QAnon has been widely banished from the internet. Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok have all banned Q-related content, and the right’s favored platform, Parler, has been forced offline for weeks. But it hasn’t all disappeared. A new platform called Clapper, a “free-speech” TikTok clone, is becoming a home for QAnon …

CNN Business reports: CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook is considering steps it can take to reduce the amount of political content in the News Feed. “One of the top pieces of feedback that we’re hearing from our community right now is that people don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our services,” Zuckerberg said. Ahead of …

Politico reports: Video sharing giant YouTube extended its suspension of former President Donald Trump’s channel indefinitely on Tuesday and restricted Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani’s ability to make money off the platform. “In light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, the Donald J. Trump channel will remain suspended,” YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi said in a statement. “Our teams are …

Reuters reports: Twitter Inc has permanently suspended the account of MyPillow chief Mike Lindell for repeated violations of the company’s policy on election misinformation, the social media firm said late on Monday. Lindell, a devout supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump, financed post-election protest movements in a bid to overturn the election win of President Joe Biden. Lindell used …

NPR reports: A federal judge is refusing to restore the social media site Parler after Amazon kicked the company off of its web-hosting services over content seen as inciting violence. The decision is a blow to Parler, an upstart that has won over Trump loyalists for its relatively hands-off approach to moderating content. The company sued Amazon over its ban, …

NBC News reports: The head of the House oversight committee asked the FBI on Thursday to conduct a review of the social media platform Parler, which advertises itself as an alternative to more mainstream sites that have banned some far-right extremists. The committee’s chair, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., wrote to FBI Director Chris Wray asking him to look at how …

Politico reports: Facebook said Thursday it will refer its indefinite suspension of former President Donald Trump’s account to its independent oversight board — the highest-profile test to date for the panel, and a move that could lead to Trump either returning to the platform or facing a permanent suspension. The announcement: Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs and …

USA Today reports: It’s official. Not only has Joe Biden been sworn in as America’s 46th president but his presidency has been confirmed on one of the nation‘s largest social media networks. Twitter has transferred the @POTUS and @WhiteHouse accounts from Donald Trump to Biden. Last week, Twitter outlined in a blog post how it would transfer the accounts from …

Mediaite reports: YouTube is extending its ban on outgoing President Donald Trump for another week, the company announced Tuesday. Videos already on the account are still visible, but the Google-owned company has prohibited new videos from being uploaded since Jan. 13. It will also continue to ban users from commenting on the videos. “In light of concerns about the ongoing …

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 …