Further details have emerged about when and how much Facebook knew about data-scraping by the disgraced and now defunct Cambridge Analytica political data firm. Last year a major privacy scandal hit Facebook after it emerged CA had paid GSR, a developer with access to Facebook’s platform, to extract personal data on as many as 87M […]
View More Facebook staff raised concerns about Cambridge Analytica in September 2015, per court filingCategory: online disinformation
Facebook will downrank anti-vax content on News Feed and hide it on Instagram
After indicating that it was exploring its options for fighting the potentially deadly rise of anti-vaccination content on its platform last month, Facebook is making a plan of attack. Facebook’s strategy in the effort is to both minimize the spread of vaccination misinformation and to point users away from inaccurate anti-vaccination propaganda and toward “authoritative […]
View More Facebook will downrank anti-vax content on News Feed and hide it on InstagramFacebook refuses to disclose “chuck Chequers” Brexit advertiser to UK parliament
Facebook has refused to provide the British parliament with the names of individuals behind a shadowy network backing an extreme ‘no deal’ Brexit outcome over a government-negotiated compromise. Since the June 2016 EU referendum vote, politics in the UK has been consumed by the question of how to implement a close vote to leave. And […]
View More Facebook refuses to disclose “chuck Chequers” Brexit advertiser to UK parliamentFacebook urged to offer an API for political ad transparency research
Facebook has been called upon to provide good faith researchers with an API to enable them to study how political ads are spreading and being amplified on its platform. A coalition of European academics, technologists and human and digital rights groups, led by Mozilla, has signed an open letter to the company demanding far greater […]
View More Facebook urged to offer an API for political ad transparency researchFacebook, Google and Twitter told to do more to fight fake news ahead of European elections
A first batch of monthly progress reports from tech giants and advertising companies on what they’re doing to help fight online disinformation have been published by the European Commission. Platforms including Facebook, Google and Twitter signed up to a voluntary EU code of practice on the issue last year. The first reports cover measures taken […]
View More Facebook, Google and Twitter told to do more to fight fake news ahead of European electionsEurope dials up pressure on tech giants over election security
The European Union has announced a package of measures intended to step up efforts and pressure on tech giants to combat democracy-denting disinformation ahead of the EU parliament elections next May. The European Commission Action Plan, which was presented at a press briefing earlier today, has four areas of focus: 1) Improving detection of disinformation; 2) […]
View More Europe dials up pressure on tech giants over election security“The problem is Facebook,” lawmakers from nine countries tell Zuckerberg’s accountability stand-in
A grand committee of international parliamentarians empty-chaired Mark Zuckerberg at a hearing earlier today, after the Facebook founder snubbed repeat invitations to face questions about malicious, abusive and improper uses of his social media platform — including the democracy-denting impacts of so-called ‘fake news’. The UK’s DCMS committee has been leading the charge to hold Facebook […]
View More “The problem is Facebook,” lawmakers from nine countries tell Zuckerberg’s accountability stand-inUK parliament seizes cache of internal Facebook documents to further privacy probe
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg may yet regret underestimating a UK parliamentary committee that’s been investigating the democracy-denting impact of online disinformation for the best part of this year — and whose repeat requests for facetime he’s just as repeatedly snubbed. In the latest high gear change, reported in yesterday’s Observer, the committee has used parliamentary powers […]
View More UK parliament seizes cache of internal Facebook documents to further privacy probeFacebook policy VP, Richard Allan, to face the international ‘fake news’ grilling that Zuckerberg won’t
An unprecedented international grand committee comprised of 22 representatives from seven parliaments will meet in London next week to put questions to Facebook about the online fake news crisis and the social network’s own string of data misuse scandals. But Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg won’t be providing any answers. The company has repeatedly refused requests […]
View More Facebook policy VP, Richard Allan, to face the international ‘fake news’ grilling that Zuckerberg won’tNow eight parliaments are demanding Zuckerberg answers for Facebook scandals
Facebook’s founder is facing pressure to accept an invite from eight international parliaments, with lawmakers wanting to question him about negative impacts his social network is having on democratic processes globally. Last week Facebook declined a invitation from five of these parliaments. The elected representatives of Facebook users want Mark Zuckerberg to answer questions in […]
View More Now eight parliaments are demanding Zuckerberg answers for Facebook scandalsFacebook under pressure over Soros smear tactics
Facebook is facing calls to conduct an external investigation into its own lobbying and PR activities by an aide to billionaire George Soros. BuzzFeed reports that Michael Vachon, an advisor to the chairman at Soros Fund Management, made the call in a letter to friends and colleagues. The call follows an explosive investigation, published yesterday […]
View More Facebook under pressure over Soros smear tacticsZuckerberg rejects facetime call for answers from five parliaments
Facebook has declined once again to send its CEO to the UK parliament — this time turning down an invitation to face questions from a grand committee comprised of representatives from five international parliaments. MPs from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Ireland and the UK have joined forces to try to pile pressure on the company’s founder, Mark […]
View More Zuckerberg rejects facetime call for answers from five parliaments