Commentary / World May 20, 2019
Time to treat Facebook like big tobacco
by Elaine Ou
Government should scrutinize and publicize the harms of social media — not use antitrust regulation to encourage even more platforms.
NEWSWORTHY
Business May 17, 2019
Facebook busts Israel-based 'fake news' campaign to disrupt elections worldwide
Facebook said Thursday it banned an Israeli company that ran an influence campaign aimed at disrupting elections in various countries and has canceled dozens of accounts engaged in spreading disinformation. Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of cybersecurity policy, told reporters that the tech giant had purged ...
World / Crime & Legal May 17, 2019
Pregnant Chicago teen responding to Facebook ad for clothes slain, with baby cut from her womb
A pregnant woman who had gone to a Chicago home in response to a Facebook offer of free baby clothes was strangled and her baby cut from her womb, police and family members said. The newborn was in grave condition and not expected to survive, ...
Business / Tech May 16, 2019
Facebook, Google, Twitter and other tech companies joined a dozen countries in a global pledge Wednesday to step up efforts to keep internet platforms from being used to spread hate, organize extremist groups and broadcast attacks. World leaders, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, and ...
Business May 16, 2019
China blocks all language editions of Wikipedia ahead of Tiananmen crackdown anniversary
Beijing has broadened its block of online encyclopedia Wikipedia to include all language editions, an internet censorship research group reported just weeks ahead of China's most politically explosive anniversary. According to a report by the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), China started blocking all ...
World May 15, 2019
Facebook restricts Live feature, citing New Zealand shooting
Facebook Inc. said on Tuesday it was tightening rules around its livestreaming feature ahead of a meeting of world leaders aimed at curbing online violence in the aftermath of a massacre in New Zealand. A lone gunman killed 51 people at two mosques in the ...
Commentary / World May 14, 2019
Court case challenges Facebook bans
by Leonid Bershidsky
A Polish group is suing Facebook for "private censorship" in a potentially landmark case.
Asia Pacific May 13, 2019
Sri Lanka blocks social media platforms after attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned shops
Sri Lanka is temporarily blocking some social media networks and messaging apps, including Facebook and WhatsApp, it said Monday following attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned businesses in the worst unrest since Easter bombings by Islamist militants. Several dozen people threw stones at mosques and Muslim-owned ...
Business May 13, 2019
Facebook takes down dodgy Italian accounts ahead of EU election
Facebook said on Sunday it had taken down numerous Italian accounts on its platform that were false or were spreading fake news ahead of a European parliamentary election later this month. The European Union has warned of foreign interference in campaigning for the vote of ...
Business May 10, 2019
Break up Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is too strong, says company's co-founder
One of the co-founders of Facebook called on Thursday for the social media behemoth to be broken up, warning that the company's head, Mark Zuckerberg, had become far too powerful. "It's time to break up Facebook," said Chris Hughes, who along with Zuckerberg founded the ...
Business May 7, 2019
Facebook on Monday said it removed more pages, groups and accounts that originated in Russia and were being deceptive about who was behind them and what they were up to. The takedown at Facebook and its image-centric social network Instagram was described as part of ...
Business May 3, 2019
Facebook bans Alex Jones, Louis Farrakhan and others for hate speech
Facebook has banned Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones and others from its main service and from Instagram, saying they violated the company's ban against hate and violence. The company said Thursday that it has also banned right-wing extremists Paul Nehlen, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson and ...