Platform popular with US far right has faced an uncertain future after being essentially forced offline
Parler, the social media platform favored by the US far right, has dismissed its CEO John Matze.
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#Demlootchallenge: Zimbabwean activists sing to protest corruption
Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono’s song denouncing “looting” in Mnangagwa’s regime has inspired a host of follow up versions
Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono has taken his fight against corruption to the ears of thousands around the world via reggae with a new song entitled “Dem Loot”.
The reporter, who has been arrested three times in six months for his work challenging the current government, released a short video on Twitter singing against what he says is an endemic rot in Zimbabwe – and it has sparked a flurry of follow up versions under the hashtag #demlootchallenge.
Continue reading...Prince Harry says social media misinformation is threat to democracies
Duke of Sussex calls for more accountability and accuses platforms of shunning responsibility
Prince Harry has said that “time is running out” for social media companies to address misinformation which he believes is a threat to democracies.
He has called for more accountability for platforms, accusing them of shunning responsibility, and highlighted both the role that they played in the US Capitol riots earlier this month and the treatment of the Rohingya population in Myanmar.
Continue reading...Google threatens to leave Australia – but its poker face is slipping
Analysis: tech firm’s refusal to pay news publishers comes as it agrees to do exactly that in France
The biggest companies in technology love an ultimatum but rarely do they spell out their threats. This week, however, Google has done exactly that, telling an Australian parliamentary hearing that a proposed law forcing the company to pay news publishers for the right to link to their content “would give us no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia”.
The threat, from the company’s Australian managing director, Mel Silva, is the latest escalation in a war of words over the proposal, which seeks to undo some of the damage online business models have dealt to the country’s publishing industry.
Continue reading...Google threatens to shut down search in Australia if digital news code goes ahead
Google and Facebook are fighting legislation that would force them to enter into negotiations with news media companies for payment for content
Google has threatened to remove its search engine from Australia and Facebook has threatened to remove news from its feed for all Australian users if a code forcing the companies to negotiate payments to news media companies goes ahead.
The move would mean the 19 million Australians who use Google every month would no longer be able to use Google Search, and 17 million Australians who log into Facebook every month would not be able to see or post any news articles on the social media site.
Continue reading...Revealed: Tory MPs and commentators who joined banned app Parler
Nadine Dorries, James Cleverly and Michael Gove joined the platform favoured by Trump supporters
At least 14 Conservative MPs, including several ministers, cabinet minister Michael Gove and a number of prominent Tory commentators joined Parler, the social media platform favoured by the far right that was forced offline last week for hosting threats of violence and racist slurs.
Parler was taken offline after Amazon Web Services pulled the plug last Sunday, saying violent posts and racist threats connected to the recent attack on the US Capitol violated its terms.
Continue reading...The true story behind the viral TikTok sea shanty hit
Rediscovered song, which has a ‘cheerful energy’, was likely written by a teenage sailor or shore whaler in New Zealand in the 1830s
Even from “the back of nowhere, far from any city” – not to mention the sea – John Archer caught wind of the sea shanty revival before anyone else.
From his home in landlocked Ōhakune, Archer had noticed a sharp uptick in visitors to the New Zealand Folk Song website he set up in 1998. One 19th-century seafaring epic was of particular interest: Soon May The Wellerman Come.
Continue reading...Poland plans to make censoring of social media accounts illegal
Following Trump’s Twitter ban, Polish government wants to protect posts that do not break nation’s laws
Polish government officials have denounced the deactivation of Donald Trump’s social media accounts, and said a draft law being readied in Poland will make it illegal for tech companies to take similar actions there.
“Algorithms or the owners of corporate giants should not decide which views are right and which are not,” wrote the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, on Facebook earlier this week, without directly mentioning Trump. “There can be no consent to censorship.”
Continue reading...Armie Hammer drops out of Jennifer Lopez film amid social media controversy
Hammer was due to appear opposite Lopez in the action comedy Shotgun Wedding but has requested to step away
Armie Hammer has dropped out of an upcoming film with Jennifer Lopez after messages allegedly sent by the actor were leaked online. Hammer has described the messages and social media response to them as an online attack, calling them vicious and spurious.
Hammer, star of movies including The Social Network and Call Me By Your Name, had been set to appear opposite Lopez in action comedy Shotgun Wedding. However, he will no longer take the role.
Continue reading...Opinion divided over Trump’s ban from social media
Actions spark debate on free speech and whether chief executives of tech firms are fit to act as judge and jury
As rioters were gathering around the US Capitol last Wednesday, a familiar question began to echo around the offices of the large social networks: what should they do about Donald Trump and his provocative posts?
The answer has been emphatic: ban him.
Continue reading...Twitter removes China US embassy post saying Uighur women no longer ‘baby-making machines’
Post claimed women in Xinjiang had been ‘emancipated’ as a result of China’s claimed efforts to eradicate extremism
Twitter has removed a post by China’s US embassy claiming that Uighur women have been “emancipated” from extremism and were no longer “baby-making machines”. The post linked to an article denying allegations of forced sterilisation in Xinjiang.
Twitter said the post had “violated the Twitter rules” but did not provide further details.
Continue reading...Trump Twitter: Republicans and Democrats split over freedom of speech
- Allies of president claim company restricted free speech
- Opponents say suspension was long overdue
- Woman killed in Capitol riot was devoted conspiracy theorist
Twitter’s decision to permanently suspend Donald Trump’s account in the wake of the storming of Capitol Hill on Wednesday continues to stoke fierce debate, supporters and critics split on partisan lines as they contest what the suspension means for a cherished American tradition: freedom of speech.
Related: Insurrection Day: when white supremacist terror came to the US Capitol
Continue reading...Trump has lost Twitter, his biggest political megaphone. Now what?
Trump’s banishment is likely to further enrage an already volatile president, but many hailed the move as a long overdue milestone
From his first executive tweet on the morning of inauguration day 2017 to his final tweet on Friday, announcing that he would not attend his successor’s inauguration, Donald Trump’s personal Twitter account has served as the president’s official platform.
For four years, the @realDonaldTrump Twitter feed was both public square and personal dialogue, a place where he made policy announcements and taunted political enemies; threatened military reprisal and boasted about his TV ratings. But it was also, perhaps most dangerously, a place where he sought to bend reality to his will, unleashing a combustible, near-daily stream of misinformation, lies and outrage to his more than 87 million followers.
Continue reading...Guardian readers: the 10 funniest things (on the internet) this past year – according to you!
We asked Guardian readers what kept you giggling through a year unlike any other. Here’s what you told us
Todrick Hall’s Covid cover of his own song, Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels comes front of mind. – ChrisR22
Continue reading...Light brigade: the Christmas holdouts keeping their decorations up
English Heritage and Church of England back extending traditional January deadline to brighten gloom of lockdown
In other years, the threat of bad luck if you fail to take your Christmas decorations down by Twelfth Night might have meant something.
In 2021, the idea that things could get any worse seems blackly comic. And so it is that for some people, baubles, lights, and trees are staying in place this year.
Continue reading...Inside the hyper-local world of Facebook’s ‘buy nothing’ groups
In an age when people rarely know their neighbours, a ‘buy nothing’ group is one way to acquaint yourself with those living on your street
We all have things we don’t need. For Canberra resident Zoe Bowman, it is melon ballers.
“Someone asked for a melon baller to make some melon balls for a kid’s party, and I looked in the drawer and I had three,” she says. “I don’t need three melon ballers!”
Continue reading...Texts, tweets and posts have replaced letters. Is our history becoming transitory?
In this remarkable year, our stories are at risk of being locked away on phones and floating, forgotten, in the digital ether
In the process of removing the final vestiges of my things from my parents’ house this year I find a letter from my nana – Big Nana (because she was tall), not Little Nana (who wasn’t) – written in her familiar curly script.
“Last Sunday I went to D’s 80th birthday luncheon – an exciting collection of old has-beens! One old lady said how dreadful she looked these days standing in front of the bathroom mirror (naked). Nearly all of us joined in with tales of horror – including some of the men! Surprising what a few sherrys [sic] can do.”
Continue reading...Trolls and social media platforms face huge fines in Australia for failing to remove abuse material
Proposed legislation would also give government power to unmask identities of anonymous accounts
Australian internet service providers, social media companies and other online platforms will need to remove severely harmful, abusive or bullying content within 24 hours or risk being blocked and fined $555,000 under the federal government’s proposed online safety legislation.
Currently, takedown notices for image-based abuse, cyber-abuse, cyberbullying, and seriously harmful online content needs to be actioned within 48 hours.
Continue reading...Facebook’s attempt to vilify Apple tastes like sour grapes
Analysis: Facebook says objections to Apple feature that affects apps are bid to defend small businesses – but do we believe it?
Never afraid of a challenge, Facebook appears to have embarked on a campaign to convince the world to hate Apple, love targeted advertising, and believe the social network when it says it is doing it all out of a desire to defend small businesses.
On Wednesday, the company launched a series of full-page newspaper adverts and a press conference where the company put forward small businesses who said they relied on app-tracking to find customers. It also announced it would be siding with the Fortnite developer Epic Games in the latter’s lawsuit over control of the iOS App Store.
Continue reading...Online incest porn is ‘normalising child abuse’, say charities
Experts voice concern over growth of ‘deviant’ videos, including foster-child abuse fantasies, on Pornhub and other mainstream sites
Groups working on the frontline in the fight against child abuse in the UK have warned that an increase in abuse-themed pornography is “normalising” child abuse.
Children’s charity Barnado’s said it is working with vulnerable children who are being put at risk by “deviant” pornography that fetishises fantasies of sex with children.
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