Social Media

The Verge reports: Twitter is temporarily changing how you retweet ahead of the November 3rd US presidential election, to help prevent abuse and the spread of misinformation. Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to retweet. But until at least the end of election week, it won’t be quite as easy as usual to retweet something to all of your followers. …

NPR reports: TikTok is toughening its stance against the QAnon conspiracy theory, expanding its ban to all content or accounts that promote videos advancing baseless ideas from the far-right online movement. The action hardens the video-sharing app’s previous enforcement against QAnon that targeted specific hashtags on the app that QAnon supporters have used to spread unfounded theories. Now, users that …

CNBC reports: Twitter’s website was down Thursday afternoon, with users who tried to visit the service greeted by an error message. A note on the company’s status website showed that Twitter was investigating an irregularity with its application Programming Interface, or API. “We are currently investigating this issue,” the status website read. “More updates to come.” The company’s mobile app …

The BBC reports: YouTube has pledged to delete misleading claims about coronavirus vaccines as part of a fresh effort to tackle Covid-19 misinformation. It said any videos that contradict expert consensus from local health authorities, such as the NHS or World Health Organization, will be removed. It follows an announcement by Facebook that it would ban ads that discourage people …

The Washington Post reports: An account featuring the image of a Black police officer, President Trump and the words “VOTE REPUBLICAN” had a brief but spectacular run on Twitter. In six days after it became active last week, it tweeted just eight times but garnered 24,000 followers, with its most popular tweet being liked 75,000 times. Then, on Sunday, the …

The Verge reports: On Tuesday, Facebook announced a new policy banning ads that discourage the use of vaccines. Timed to the beginning of flu season, the new policy is also aimed at the ongoing proliferation of anti-vaccine groups on Facebook and growing skepticism about forthcoming vaccines for COVID-19. “Our goal is to help messages about the safety and efficacy of …

CNN Business reports: For years, YouTube has faced challenges over the types of content it removes, from terrorist propaganda and hate speech to misinformation about vaccines. It’s now struggling over what to do about the QAnon conspiracy theory. In an interview with CNN’s Poppy Harlow for the Boss Files podcast, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki stopped short of pledging to ban …

TechCrunch reports: Facebook this morning announced a significant change in how it approaches Holocaust denial content on its social network. For years, the company has been criticized for not taking down this extremely offensive form of content in favor of allowing free speech and distancing itself from taking on the responsibilities of a traditional publisher. Today, it’s reversing that position, …

The Washington Post reports: Twitter will impose new warnings on politicians’ lies, restrict premature declarations of victory and block calls for polling violence or other disruptions, the company announced Friday as it rolled out wide-ranging changes designed to harden the platform against abuse related to the Nov. 3 U.S. election. The moves also will temporarily alter the look and feel …

The Washington Post reports: Facebook said Thursday it will permanently ban from its platform an Arizona-based marketing firm running what experts described as a domestic “troll farm” — in a probe of the deceptive behavior prompted by a Washington Post article last month. The firm, Rally Forge, was “working on behalf of Turning Point USA,” Facebook concluded in an investigation …

Business Insider reports: Twitter said it locked President Donald Trump’s account after he shared the email address of a columnist Monday evening. The president posted a tweet praising and quoting a column in the New York Post by the journalist Miranda Devine that ran on Sunday night. In the column, Devine praised Trump, saying he overcame his battle with the …

CNN Business reports: Facebook on Tuesday removed a post from President Trump in which he falsely claimed that Covid-19 is less deadly than the seasonal flu. Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed the company removed the post for breaking its rules on Covid-19 misinformation. President Trump has, by his own admission, played down the threat of Covid-19. Now, while battling his …

Vice News reports: Twitter told Motherboard that it will suspend people who openly hope for Trump’s death on the platform. Twitter referred to an “abusive behavior” rule that’s been on the books since April. “Content that wishes, hopes or expresses a desire for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against an individual is against our rules,” Twitter said in …

Axios reports: On the eve of the first presidential debate, the Biden campaign is pressing Facebook to remove posts by President Trump — and slamming the social media company as “the nation’s foremost propagator of disinformation about the voting process.” Why it matters: By publicly escalating the conflict, the campaign is pressing Facebook to enforce its policies against misinformation more …

Courthouse News reports: Just over one-fourth of American adults are turning to YouTube to get their news from both big media organizations and independent producers, according to a Pew Research Center study released Monday. Researchers surveyed over 12,600 U.S. adults in January after analyzing 377 popular news-producing YouTube channels. They found that 26% of all respondents said they get news …

CNBC reports: A federal judge has temporarily blocked an order from the Trump administration that would have banned TikTok from being downloaded from U.S. app stores. At the end of the day on Sunday, the U.S. government could have forced app stores run by Apple and Google to remove TikTok. But after a hearing on Sunday, Judge Carl Nichols of …

Fast Company reports: Facebook has said it will reject political ads that spread misinformation about the outcome of the November 3 election, several hours after Fast Company reported that the company’s stated policies would do nothing to prevent a candidate such as Donald Trump from declaring victory before the final results are tabulated. “We will be rejecting political ads that …

The New York Times reports: Facebook has detected limited Chinese operations intended to both help and hurt President Trump’s re-election chances, the company announced on Tuesday, the first public disclosure of Chinese efforts to influence the presidential election in November. The Chinese activity, while modest and not directly attributed to the government in Beijing, could undercut Mr. Trump’s repeated contention …

The Hill reports: President Trump is set to meet with a group of Republican state attorneys general about revising a law that gives tech companies a legal liability shield for content posted by third parties. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act – which also gives platforms the ability to do good faith content moderation – has increasingly come under …

Axios reports: An estimated 2.5 million+ Americans have registered to vote on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, Facebook announced Monday. More than 733,000 Americans have registered to vote so far via Snapchat. Why it matters: The broad reach of social media platforms makes them uniquely effective at engaging voters — especially younger voters who may not know how to register to …