Expect another black eye for Facebook come Sunday. The world’s largest social network has been “disingenuous” with UK lawmakers investigating fake news and Russian propaganda on social media platforms, says a report set for release that day, according to a Saturday story from The New York Times. Prepared by a UK Parliament committee, with help …
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Facebook has deleted or blocked 362 posts over the past six months to comply with Germany’s new law against hate speech. Germany kicked off 2018 with a strict law against online hate speech. The law allows for fines against tech companies, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, of up to $58 million (£44 million, AU$79 million) if they don’t remove offending …
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Facebook Messenger can now fill out your contact list by syncing with Instagram. You can find the “Connect Instagram” option under Messenger’s “People” tab, and use it to sync up your profile with your Instagram contacts. The addition — first noticed by Twitter user @wongmjane and reported by TechCrunch — makes your Instagram username and account visible to others on …
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Facebook allegedly protected the pages of far-right activists from deletion despite their owners engaging in behavior that warranted moderation, a documentary says. Pages are normally deleted if they contain five or more items violating Facebook’s code of conduct, but Channel 4’s Dispatches series reports that popular ones are protected by “shielded review,” according to the Guardian. The documentary Inside Facebook: …
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Facebook is bringing augmented reality (AR) to its ads by letting you “try on” clothes and makeup before you buy. The AR ads appear the same way as any other in News Feed, with a new “Tap to try on” option in the photo. If you do so, Facebook accesses your phone’s camera and allows you see how the item …
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Social media companies work hard to get us addicted to their services, Silicon Valley insiders have reportedly revealed. Features such as infinite scroll and Likes keep people looking at their phones for longer than necessary and feed on their insecurities, they told the BBC’s Panorama for a documentary set to air Tuesday. Aza Raskin, formerly of Mozilla and Jawbone, created infinite …
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Facebook is expanding Messenger Kids, its chat app designed for children under 13, to countries outside of the US, even as the company receives criticism from child advocacy groups. The company on Friday said it’s bringing the service to Peru and Canada. As part of the expansion, Facebook is making the app available in Spanish and French. Messenger Kids, introduced …
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Facebook is ramping up its fight against misinformation. The company announced Thursday that it’s expanding its third-party fact-checking program to 14 countries and plans to grow it even more by the end of 2018. Misinformation, propaganda campaigns, hoaxes and conspiracy theories have thrived on social networks and services like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, recognized fake news …
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Instagram is ready for its closeup. The Facebook-owned photo app on Wednesday unveiled IGTV, a standalone mobile app focused on programming from creators on the platform. Video on the app will be vertical and full-screen, and content will start playing right when a user opens the app. The idea is for creators to post polished videos as they would on …
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Former Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix told British politicians on Wednesday that he’d been the victim of entrapment and that the media had misrepresented the work of his company. A Channel 4 documentary that aired in March showed Nix offering to entrap politicians in compromising positions in order to influence the outcome of elections. He even suggested he had previously …
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