Tag Archives: social media

Popular Information reports: Facebook is allowing a major pro-Trump Super PAC, the Committee to Defend the President, to run ads with lies. The Committee to Defend the President, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, is one of the “two biggest non-party outside spenders of this cycle.” Since Saturday, the Committee to Defend the President is running multiple ads that …

Axios reports: A 1996 law that protects online platforms from liability for material their users post should be “revoked, immediately for Zuckerberg and other platforms,” Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said in a New York Times editorial board interview. Why it matters: Inside the industry, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is seen as a cornerstone of the internet’s …

The BBC reports: Twitter has apologised for allowing adverts to be micro-targeted at certain users such as neo-Nazis, homophobes and other hate groups. The BBC discovered the issue and that prompted the tech firm to act. Our investigation found it possible to target users who had shown an interest in keywords including “transphobic”, “white supremacists” and “anti-gay”. Twitter allows ads …

MarketWatch reports: The Force isn’t strong with Facebook anymore. OG “Star Wars” star Mark Hamill quit the social network on Sunday, accusing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg of turning to the Dark Side of capitalism. The actor who originated the iconic role of Luke Skywalker in the original “Star Wars” trilogy announced his Facebook boycott on Twitter, where he condemned Zuckerberg …

Buzzfeed News reports: President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is wasting little time capitalizing on the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Just three days after the death of the head of Iran’s Quds Force, the president’s reelection campaign began to run hundreds of ads praising Trump for ordering the killing — a decision that had been declined by presidents George …

Wired Magazine reports: Whereas Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube have developed lengthy policies covering hundreds of circumstances, TikTok provided a short list of bullet points addressing only the most extreme content. Amid growing scrutiny over censorship and its Chinese ownership from regulators, the company has pledged that more transparency would be forthcoming. Now, it’s here. On Wednesday, TikTok released a comprehensive …

The Associated Press reports: Facebook says it is banning “deepfake” videos, the false but realistic clips created with artificial intelligence and sophisticated tools, as it steps up efforts to fight online manipulation. The social network said late Monday that it’s beefing up its policies to remove videos edited or synthesized in ways that aren’t apparent to the average person, and …

Axios reports: Former First Lady Michelle Obama is partnering with the digital media company ATTN: to launch a video series on IGTV, Instagram’s video platform. “A Year of Firsts” shows inspiring stories about students navigating their first year through college. Why it matters: The Obamas have maintained a strong media presence through civic media projects on newer tech platforms. The …

The Washington Post reports: Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq early Friday, wasn’t just an infamous terrorist organizer and one of the regime’s most powerful officials — he was also one of President Trump’s social media antagonists. International experts have long known of Soleimani as the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force …

Ad Age reports: Spotify is suspending the sale of political advertising on its platform, the company told Ad Age Friday. Spotify said in a statement that it will pause political advertising in early 2020 across its ad-supported tier—which boasts nearly 130 million users. “At this point in time, we do not yet have the necessary level of robustness in our …

The Washington Post reports: Facebook will remove posts, photos and other content that mislead people about the U.S. census starting next year, aiming to prevent malicious actors from interfering in a critical, once-in-a-decade process that determines political representation, the social media company announced Thursday. The new policies come as civil rights leaders urge Facebook to act more aggressively against content …

Buzzfeed News reports: Facebook will not be removing an ad falsely claiming that Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell endorses the impeachment of Republican President Donald Trump from its platform. The ad was posted and promoted by leftist activist Adriel Hampton, who registered as a California gubernatorial candidate in October and began running bogus political ads in an effort to …

The Associated Press reports: Twitter is bringing back special labels to help users identify accounts and tweets from U.S. political candidates. The company, which first used such labels for the midterms last year, said it is trying to provide users with original sources of information and prevent spoofed and fake accounts from fooling voters. Many political candidates already have blue …

Business Insider reports:  The Federal Trade Commission is mulling whether to file an injunction against the social networking giant that could block it from its plans to stitch together its WhatsApp messaging service with the chat features of Instagram and those of its core Facebook app. The injunction could also block the company from enforcing its rules about how apps …

Politico reports: Social media companies from Facebook to YouTube are failing to stop people from setting up fake accounts, buying false online followers and promoting inauthentic digital content, according to a report published Friday by a NATO-accredited group. The findings — based on analysts purchasing social media manipulation tools and then testing how the companies responded — stand in stark …

Axios reports: Twitter said Wednesday it was putting on hold a plan to delete inactive accounts amid concerns that accounts from deceased users would be swept up in the purge. Why it matters: While it’s great to see Twitter clearing out the accounts of living people who aren’t using them, Twitter also represents an important record of those no longer …

Politico reports: Donald Trump should have been banned from Twitter “a long time ago,” said Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia. Speaking at a media conference in Amsterdam, Wales said the U.S. president and other high-profile users such as entrepreneur Elon Musk were able to get away with statements on the social media platform which others would not. “A lot …

The Associated Press reports: The irony of where Americans get their news about the government, and what sources they rely on to deliver news about the government they can trust, was exposed in a survey published this month by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Opinion Research and USAFacts. It found that 54% of Americans say they get government-related information …

TechCrunch reports: Twitter’s radical “Hide Replies” feature, one of the biggest changes to how Twitter works since the invention of the Retweet, is now available to Twitter’s global user base. The company says the feature will roll out to all Twitter users across platforms by today, with only one slight tweak since earlier tests. Designed to balance the conversation on …

Politico reports: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today hammered Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for attending a previously undisclosed dinner with President Donald Trump at the White House, accusing the tech mogul’s company of cozying up to the administration as it faces mounting pressure over its competitive practices from federal regulators. “Amid antitrust scrutiny, Facebook is going on a charm offensive with …