Here’s a concerning story from India, where the upcoming election is putting the use of social media in the spotlight. While the Indian government is putting Facebook, Google and other companies under pressure to prevent their digital platforms from being used for election manipulation, a journalist has demonstrated just how easy it is to control […]
View More Manipulating an Indian politician’s tweets is worryingly easy to doCategory: digital media
2018 really was more of a dumpster fire for online hate and harassment, ADL study finds
Around 37 percent of Americans were subjected to severe hate and harassment online in 2018, according to a new study by the Anti-Defamation League, up from about 18 percent in 2017. And over half of all Americans experienced some form of harassment according to the ADL study. Facebook users bore the brunt of online harassment […]
View More 2018 really was more of a dumpster fire for online hate and harassment, ADL study findsIs Europe closing in on an antitrust fix for surveillance technologists?
The German Federal Cartel Office’s decision to order Facebook to change how it processes users’ personal data this week is a sign the antitrust tide could at last be turning against platform power. One European Commission source we spoke to, who was commenting in a personal capacity, described it as “clearly pioneering” and “a big deal”, […]
View More Is Europe closing in on an antitrust fix for surveillance technologists?Tech platforms called to support public interest research into mental health impacts
The tech industry has been called on to share data with public sector researchers so the mental health and psychosocial impacts of their service on vulnerable users can be better understood, and also to contribute to funding the necessary independent research over the next ten years. The UK’s chief medical officers have made the call […]
View More Tech platforms called to support public interest research into mental health impactsFacebook removes hundreds of accounts linked to fake news group in Indonesia
Facebook said today it has removed hundreds of Facebook and Instagram counts with links to an organization that peddled fake news. The world’s fourth largest country with a population of over 260 million, Indonesia is in election year alongside Southeast Asia neighbors Thailand and the Philippines. Facebook said this week it has set up an ‘election […]
View More Facebook removes hundreds of accounts linked to fake news group in IndonesiaSocial media should have “duty of care” towards kids, UK MPs urge
Social media platforms are being urged to be far more transparent about how their services operate and to make “anonymised high-level data” available to researchers so the technology’s effects on users — and especially on children and teens — can be better understood. The calls have been made in a report by the UK parliament’s […]
View More Social media should have “duty of care” towards kids, UK MPs urgeAnnouncing TC Sessions: Mobility, a one day event on the future of mobility and transportation
Mobility is changing and the world with it. Technology is upending century-old establishments, creating new lifestyles and routines. Regions across the globe are trying to replicate Silicon Valley, but all the while Silicon Valley has been replicating a different innovative American city: Detroit. Countless companies have sprung up around the Bay Area focused on the […]
View More Announcing TC Sessions: Mobility, a one day event on the future of mobility and transportationTickets are almost sold out for the TechCrunch Winter Party — buy yours before they’re gone
On February 8, less than two weeks from today, the cream of the Bay Area’s early-stage startup community will descend on Galvanize to celebrate everything great and small about tech startups at the 2nd Annual TechCrunch Winter Party. Tickets to this popular Silicon Valley soiree are in big demand and short supply. Lucky for you, […]
View More Tickets are almost sold out for the TechCrunch Winter Party — buy yours before they’re goneZimbabwe’s government faces off against its tech community over internet restrictions
Jake Bright Contributor Jake Bright is a writer and author in New York City. He is co-author of The Next Africa. More posts by this contributor Harley Davidson reveals more about its push into electric vehicles Venture capital, global expansion, blockchain and drones characterize African tech in 2018 After days of intermittent blackouts at the […]
View More Zimbabwe’s government faces off against its tech community over internet restrictionsFacebook is about to start investing in local news
Over the next three years, Facebook intends to donate $300 million to aid journalists and newsrooms in smaller U.S. cities. Read more…More about Facebook, Mashable Video, Digital Media, Newspapers, and Local News
View More Facebook is about to start investing in local newsScooter startup Bird tried to silence a journalist. It did not go well.
Cory Doctorow doesn’t like censorship. He especially doesn’t like his own work being censored. Anyone who knows Doctorow knows his popular tech and culture blog Boing Boing, and anyone who reads Boing Boing knows Doctorow and his cohort of bloggers. The part-blogger, part special advisor at the online rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, has written […]
View More Scooter startup Bird tried to silence a journalist. It did not go well.A simple bug makes it easy to spoof Google search results into spreading misinformation
A bug that anyone can easily exploit in Google makes it easy to kick out manipulated search results that look entirely real. The search manipulation bug was documented by Wietze Beukema, a London-based security specialist, who warned that a malicious user could use this bug to generate misinformation. This is done by splicing together values […]
View More A simple bug makes it easy to spoof Google search results into spreading misinformation