Tag Archives: social media

NPR reports: Like seriously, if you post something to the ‘gram and not one of your followers hits “like” is it even worth sharing? Beginning next week, some U.S. users of Instagram will be able to test this theory as the social media platform will begin hiding the “likes” counter that appears underneath a posted photo or video. “Right now …

The Associated Press reports: Facebook says it is deleting the name of the person who has been identified in conservative circles as the whistleblower who triggered a congressional impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s actions. The company said Friday that mention of the potential whistleblower’s name violates Facebook’s “coordinating harm policy,” which prohibits material that could identify a “witness, informant, …

Politico reports: False news reports that attack U.S. politicians have been viewed more than 150 million times on Facebook since the beginning of 2019, according to an analysis published Wednesday that points to a growing threat of deception swamping next year’s elections. The analysis, from the activist group Avaaz, highlights how misinformation — often targeting political figures like House Speaker …

Axios reports: More young teenagers use TikTok than Facebook, according to a new report from Morning Consult. Instagram and Snapchat still beat TikTok by wide margins, but the viral Chinese karaoke app has quickly become popular amongst Generation Z. Why it matters: TikTok is following a familiar trajectory, beginning with beating out Facebook as a more popular app for young …

Axios reports: Top Republicans are privately worried about a new threat to President Trump’s campaign: the possibility of Facebook pulling a Twitter and banning political ads. Facebook says it won’t, but future regulatory pressure could change that. If Facebook were to ban — or even limit — ads, it could upend Trump’s fundraising and re-election plan, GOP officials tell Axios. …

CNN reports: A controversial policy allowing politicians to run false ads on Facebook will extend to the United Kingdom as the country prepares to vote in a historic December election, Facebook confirmed to CNN Business. The policy is being championed by Facebook executive Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom who himself once complained about “lies” …

The Verge reports: Twitter is banning all political ads globally, starting November 22nd, according to tweets by the company’s CEO Jack Dorsey on Wednesday. The changes will affect both candidate ads and issue ads, although ads encouraging voter registration will still be allowed, along with other exceptions. Dorsey said a full policy will be made available to the public on …

CNN reports: A San Francisco man is going to extreme lengths to call out Facebook’s controversial policy of allowing politicians to run false ads on its platform. On Monday morning, he registered as a candidate in California’s 2022 gubernatorial election — not with the primary goal of becoming governor, but so he can run false Facebook ads of his own. …

Business Insider reports: Facebook’s handling of news content on the platform has previously proved controversial, but the social media giant is taking steps to prioritize “high quality” journalism in a new tab that launched for some US users on Friday. The news tab allows users to see top stories from across around 200 platforms, which include major publications like The …

The Washington Post reports: Two senior members of Congress, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), asked U.S. intelligence officials late Wednesday to determine whether the Chinese-owned social-networking app TikTok poses “national security risks.” In a letter to Joseph Maguire, the director of national intelligence, the lawmakers questioned TikTok’s data-collection practices and whether the app …

Axios reports: The multi-state antitrust investigation into Facebook, which moved forward Monday as state officials met with experts, now counts 47 attorneys general among its membership. Facebook is facing attacks on all fronts, with antitrust scrutiny of the company’s size and power also taking shape at the Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department and Congress. New York Attorney General Letitia …

The Atlantic reports: While the president spent a too-online Saturday earlier this month unloading on Twitter—launching #IMPEACHMITTROMNEY into the canon of viral Trump taunts—Romney enjoyed a quiet afternoon picking apples with his grandkids in Utah and refusing to take the bait. When I met him in his office a couple of weeks later, I asked if the Twitter insults bothered …

Business Insider reports: In the three days after Trump’s impeachment inquiry was announced on Sep. 24, the Trump campaign spent $1 million on Facebook ads, many of which included false or misleading claims. One of these Trump ads even referred to Joe Biden as a ‘bitch’ — which violated Facebook’s ad policies against profanity and was taken down upon review, …

TechCrunch reports: Twitter said it will restrict how users can interact with tweets from world leaders who break its rules. The social media giant said it will not allow users to like, reply, share or retweet the offending tweets, but instead will let users quote-tweet to allow ordinary users to express their opinions. The company said the move will help …

Politico reports: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been hosting informal talks and small, off-the-record dinners with conservative journalists, commentators and at least one Republican lawmaker in recent months to discuss issues like free speech and discuss partnerships. The dinners, which began in July, are part of Zuckerberg’s broader effort to cultivate friends on the right amid outrage by President Donald …

The Associated Press reports: On Friday, Visa and MasterCard announced their departures from the Libra project, as did e-commerce giant eBay and payments startup Stripe. Last week, PayPal became the first major company to drop out of Libra. The exodus comes amid growing — not to mention stronger-than-anticipated — regulatory pushback against Libra in the U.S. and elsewhere. “It’s a …

Agence France-Presse reports: A Russian court has ruled that two popular LGBT networking sites be blocked for disseminating “anti-family values”, including a major online group with nearly 200,000 members. The court in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday announced the decision against the groups on VK, a Russian platform similar to Facebook. “An inspection showed they contain information available to the public, …

Popular Information reports: Last week, Facebook quietly changed the language of its advertising policies to make it easier for politicians to lie in ads. On Tuesday, the Trump campaign launched a new ad on Facebook, which includes a claim that was ruled false by Facebook-approved third-party fact-checkers. On the surface, such an ad appears to violate Facebook’s rules against false …

Politico reports: YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said today that content by politicians would stay up on the video-sharing website even if it violates the company’s standards, echoing a position staked out by Facebook this week. “When you have a political officer that is making information this is really important for their constituents to see, or for other global leaders to …

Reuters reports: Twitter has continued a crackdown on what it considers improper content by removing more than 10,000 accounts for spreading political misinformation and unrest. According to a company blog post, most of the accounts were engaged in fomenting political dissent through the spread of false information. It said many of the accounts in the UAE, for example, “were often …