At annual F8 developer conference, CEO focuses on ‘sense of intimacy’ and unveils plans for payments tools
Even Mark Zuckerberg couldn’t keep a straight face.
The Facebook founder and chief executive repeatedly broke out in laughter as he announced a product roadmap for his company’s new “privacy-focused social platform” at its annual developer conference, F8, in San Jose on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Health district responsible for hospital that employs Dr Christopher Kwan Chen Lee says it takes ‘professional misconduct’ seriously
The health district responsible for the hospital which employs an emergency doctor who said “some women deserve to be raped” has ordered the doctor be stood down while they investigate.
Earlier in April Dr Christopher Kwan Chen Lee was suspended by the Tasmanian health practitioners tribunal for six weeks after he admitted to posting a series of sexist and racist remarks online. While Lee previously worked in Tasmania, in 2018 he began work at Box Hill hospital in Victoria as an emergency doctor, and the suspension bars him from working anywhere in Australia.
Continue reading...The video, widely shared on China’s Twitter-like Weibo, shows the parked EV emit smoke and burst into flames seconds later
Tesla has sent a team to investigate a video on Chinese social media which showed a parked Tesla Model S car exploding, the latest in a string of fire incidents involving the company’s cars.
The video, time stamped Sunday evening and widely shared on China’s Twitter-like Weibo, shows the parked EV emit smoke and burst into flames seconds later. A video purportedly of the aftermath showed a line of three cars completely destroyed.
Continue reading...Features that make Facebook so useful for spreading information have also made it potentially dangerous
The Sri Lankan government’s decision to block all social media sites in the wake of Sunday’s deadly attacks is emblematic of just how much US-based technology companies’ failure to rein in misinformation, extremism and incitement to violence has come to outweigh the claimed benefits of social media.
Sri Lanka’s government moved to block Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram – all owned by Facebook – on Sunday out of concern that “false news reports … spreading through social media” could lead to violence. The services will be suspended until investigations into the blasts that killed more than 200 people are concluded, the government said. Non-Facebook social media services including YouTube and Viber have also been suspended, but Facebook and WhatsApp are the dominant platforms in the country.
Continue reading...President Sisi is playing cat and mouse with us, shutting down our websites and blocking our social media but we won’t give in
As the world watches the peaceful revolution that is changing Sudan in awe and amazement, it is clear that in Egypt, Sudan’s neighbour to the north, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi is getting nervous. On the same day as the protests in Khartoum reached a head, several of us who oppose Sisi’s autocratic rule launched an online petition to declare any result from Tuesday’s referendum on proposed constitutional amendments “void”.
Among the amendments Sisi is trying to force on the Egyptian people is a provision that could allow him to remain in power until 2030. The amendments would also increase the control of the military, which would be given powers to police the political sphere in Egypt. They would also give Sisi control over the appointment of judges and the public prosecutor.
Continue reading...Thousands having difficulty accessing social networks, says tracking site
Facebook was inaccessible to some users on Sunday, according to Downdetector, a website that monitors outages.
The site showed there had been more than 7,700 incidents of people reporting issues with Facebook at its peak.
Continue reading...Danilo Gentili, a conservative known for his aggressive attacks on the left, was tried over a 2017 clip he shared on social media
A row over free speech has erupted in Brazil after a foul-mouthed conservative comedian was given a six-month jail sentence for abusing a leftwing politician.
Known for his aggressive attacks on the Brazilian left, Danilo Gentili, 39, was sentenced by a judge in São Paulo on Tuesday for his comments about Maria do Rosário, a congresswoman for the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. He remains free pending appeal.
Continue reading...Algorithmic features have sent suggestions to wish happy birthday to those who’ve died
Facebook has promised to use artificial intelligence to stop suggesting users invite their dead friends to parties.
The site’s freshly emotionally intelligent AI is part of a rash of changes to how Facebook handles “memorialised” accounts – pages whose owner has been reported deceased, but that are kept on the social network in their memory.
Continue reading...Not responding to notification could cost companies 4% of their revenue under EU law
Internet companies will be fined up to 4% of their revenue if they fail to remove terrorist content within one hour of being notified by authorities, under legislation approved by MEPs.
The civil liberties committee approved the move by 35 to one, with abstentions, but removed an obligation on companies to monitor uploaded content or use automated tools.
Continue reading...Firms are not doing enough to combat potential interference, minister said after report found foreign meddling is ‘very likely’
The world’s major social media companies are not doing enough to help Canada combat potential foreign meddling in this October’s elections and the government might have to regulate them, the cabinet minister in charge of ensuring a fair vote has said.
The democratic institutions minister, Karina Gould, spoke shortly after Canada’s electronic signals spy agency said it was very likely that foreign actors will try to meddle in the election.
Continue reading...It feels urgent, with elections approaching in several democracies, to focus on lessons from 2016, when the Brexit referendum and the US presidential election were both marred in ways still coming to light. Among several valuable reports, a recent study for the European parliament’s Panel for the Future of Science and Technology usefully encapsulates the challenges without unremitting alarmism and pessimism. It is clear-eyed about both the benefits and dangers to democracies of technologies that are in the handheld devices of most voters.
Against a backdrop of increasing polarisation, “new digital technologies have taken centre stage in political processes – both as a source of information and a campaigning platform”, says the study, Polarisation and the use of technology in political campaigns and communication. “Such new and relatively unregulated platforms create new opportunities for nefarious actors to deliberately push false content and distort information flows for political gain.” But artificial intelligence will also offer new opportunities for better accountability and transparency.
Continue reading...In her latest Instagram live, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez takes questions from followers while assembling furniture in her chair-less Washington DC apartment. Covering topics from popcorn flavours to staying focused on the issues that matter, Ocasio-Cortez demonstates her ability to use social media in an authentic way that engages potential young voters
Continue reading...Labor supports legislation in response to Christchurch shooting that threatens jail for executives, despite media companies’ concerns
The Australian parliament has passed legislation to crack down on violent videos on social media, despite furious reaction from the tech industry, media companies and legal experts.
The Labor opposition combined with the ruling Liberal-National Coalition to pass the law on Thursday, despite warning it won’t allow prosecution of social media executives as promised by the government. Tech giants expressed the opposite concern that it may criminalise anyone in their companies for a failure to remove violent material.
Continue reading...How my heart leapt when the US college admissions scandal drew in a sitcom star and her Insta-famous daughter
What’s happening with Olivia Jade, the Instagram influencer who was named and shamed in the US college admissions scandal?
Dawn, London
I’m back! As some of you (well, my mother) may have noticed, I have been away for a few weeks. Booking time off is always exciting, isn’t it? Until that time off comes around and you realise you are now missing the most exciting news story ever. What, Brexit? The Mueller report? I guess they have their newsy appeal. But, no. I am referring to the US college admissions scandal, a story that involves privileged American kids, the actor Felicity Huffman and a cast member from Full House! The only way this story could appeal to me more is if it was filmed by John Hughes and renamed Hadley Freeman’s Day Off.
Continue reading...Anti-sorcery post by evangelical Catholic group widely mocked on Facebook
Catholic priests in Poland have burned books that they say promote sorcery, including one of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels, in a ceremony they photographed and posted on Facebook.
Three priests in the northern city of Koszalin were pictured carrying the books in a large basket from inside a church to a stone area outside. The books were set alight as prayers were said and a small group of people watched on. A mask, various trinkets and a Hello Kitty umbrella were also visible in the pictures of the makeshift bonfire.
Continue reading...The 14-year-old publicly criticised Paltrow for oversharing, reflecting unease in an entire generation
Gwyneth Paltrow’s teenage daughter has criticised her mother for posting a picture of her online without her consent, a reaction one expert says will become more common as a generation that has been snapped since their birth grows up.
Paltrow posted a photo to Instagram earlier in the week of herself with Apple Martin, her 14-year-old daughter with Coldplay singer Chris Martin, at a ski field. Apple’s face is largely covered by ski goggles.
Continue reading...Devin Nunes’ Cow has a herd of 498,000 followers on Wednesday night, surpassing the California congressman’s 396,000
A parody Twitter account that mocks Devin Nunes now has more followers than the California congressman does – all because of media attention brought by a defamation lawsuit Nunes brought against Twitter and users who make fun of him on the platform.
Devin Nunes’ Cow had more than 498,000 followers on Wednesday evening. Nunes’ own Twitter account had 396,000.Another account cited in the suit, “Devin Nunes’ mom” has since been suspended.
Continue reading...Dozens of posts containing disinformation spread, with fears people may not trust results of a legitimate election
The spread of fake news and disinformation has spiked in Indonesia in recent months, weeks before millions are scheduled to vote in the country’s elections.
Data released in a new report from Mafindo, an organisation focused on combating fake news and improving digital literacy, shows that political fake news and disinformation shot up by 61% between December 2018 and January this year.
Continue reading...After Christchurch many are asking what role the ‘darkest reaches of the internet’ play in radicalisation
No depth goes unplumbed on the far-right forum 8chan. Its threads reveal a seething, toxic mass of rabid antisemitism, neo-Nazism, Islamophobia, gratuitous violence, coded inside jokes and conspiratorial ravings published by anonymous users.
Nothing has changed in the days after the Australian alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant, 28, came to 8chan boasting of the imminent massacre in Christchurch. Posts have since praised Tarrant as a “hero” and called for copycat attacks, or, alternatively, denounced him as a pawn in a false flag conspiracy.
Continue reading...The platform briefly blocked some of Warren’s ads attacking it. Her response: ‘Curious why I think FB has too much power?’
Elizabeth Warren could not have asked for a better illustration for her point.
The US senator and Democratic candidate for president took aim at Facebook on Monday evening after the social network briefly blocked her campaign from running advertisements that just happened to call for breaking up Facebook.
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