Experts say use of groups to warn others about dangerous men is indictment on governments’ failure to keep women safe
“Any info on Chris* please? Thanks.” The words in a Facebook post, above three pictures of a man. In the comments, a woman replies: “He was also posted a few days ago by someone.”
Further down, a second woman replies: “I’m shaking, I’m his fiancee.”
Continue reading...London mayor calls for stricter laws on harmful online content and takes aim at Elon Musk
The west must face up to a century-defining battle against a resurgent far right that is on the march across the developed world, Sadiq Khan warns today, as he calls on ministers to take on extremism ahead of Donald Trump’s second inauguration as US president.
In the most strident rallying call of any senior British politician against the march of the right in the US, France and Germany, the London mayor warns of a “resurgent fascism” online and says that stricter laws on harmful content will be needed to stem the tide.
Continue reading...For middle-aged users, it will be ‘even harder to discern the truth’ among extremist content, expert says
Experts fear the decision by Meta to drop professional factcheckers from Facebook will exacerbate so-called boomer radicalisation in the UK.
Even before what Keir Starmer described as “far-right riots” in England last summer, alarm bells were ringing amid fears older people were even more susceptible to misinformation and radicalisation than younger “digital natives”.
Continue reading...Child safety experts say similar move in Britain would penalise young people for the failings of tech companies
Child safety experts have warned the UK government against enacting an Australian-style social media ban for children under 16, which they called a “retrograde step” that would “do more harm than good”.
On Thursday, Australia became the first country in the world to ban under-16s from using social media platforms. The move was supported by a large majority of the Australian public – but academics, politicians and child rights groups said it could backfire, driving teenagers to the dark web, or make them feel more isolated.
Continue reading...Company beats financial predictions but does not increase daily users as much as Wall Street thought it might
Meta’s blowout year continues after the company reported another stellar financial quarter on Wednesday. Shares fell in after-hours trading.
Wall Street analysts had high expectations for the Instagram and WhatsApp parent company, projecting an 18% jump in sales year over year. The company reported $40.6bn in sales, a 19% increase year over year that outpaced investor expectations of $40.19bn. Meta, which saw a 25% jump in its share price over the past two months, reported $6.03 in earnings per share (EPS), surpassing Wall Street’s expectations of an EPS of $5.29.
Continue reading...Meta’s global affairs chief points to ‘behavioural issue’ around child safety tools on the social media platforms
Parents do not use parental controls on Facebook and Instagram, according to Meta’s Nick Clegg, with adults failing to embrace the 50 child safety tools the company has introduced in recent years.
Meta’s global affairs chief said there was a “behavioural issue” around using the tools, after admitting they were being ignored by parents. Regulatory pressure is building on tech companies to protect children from harmful content, with the Australian government announcing plans this week to ban younger teenagers from accessing social media.
Continue reading...Stock price grew around 5%, which revealed the company outperformed analysts’ expectations for its second quarter
Meta’s shares rose in after-hours trading on Wednesday off the back of a strong earnings report that comes as the company is spending heavily on AI tools.
The company’s stock price grew around 5% following the report, which revealed the company outperformed analysts’ expectations for its second quarter.
Continue reading...Meta says it would remove content ‘attacking “Zionists” when it is not explicitly about the political movement’
Meta Platforms said on Tuesday it would start taking down more posts that target “Zionists” when the term is used to refer to Jewish people and Israelis rather than representing supporters of the political movement.
The Facebook and Instagram parent said in a blog post it would remove content “attacking ‘Zionists’ when it is not explicitly about the political movement” and uses antisemitic stereotypes or threatens harm through intimidation or violence directed against Jews or Israelis.
Continue reading...The Australian mining magnate can try to prove that Meta was negligent in allowing scam ads on Facebook, judge says
A US judge has rejected Meta Platforms’ bid to dismiss a lawsuit by billionaire Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest over scam Facebook advertisements that use his likeness to promote fake cryptocurrency and other fraudulent investments.
In a decision on Monday, US district judge Casey Pitts in San Jose, California, said Forrest could try to prove that Meta’s negligence in allowing the ads breached its duty to operate in a commercially reasonable manner.
Continue reading...Starmer’s party was quicker out of the digital gate, with slicker, more engaging content than the Tory offering
The video opens with an old clip of Cilla Black singing her classic ‘Surprise, Surprise!’. The caption reads “POV: Rishi Sunak turns up at your 18th birthday to send you to war.”
This appeared on Labour’s TikTok account the day after the Conservatives launched their national service policy. It fitted perfectly with TikTok’s meme-heavy, wry and sarcastic culture and has been watched 4.5 million times. The video racked up almost 700,000 likes, more than double the likes on all the Tories’ TikToks put together.
Continue reading...Action against Facebook owner comes amid concerns about how it is dealing with fake news
Fears that Vladimir Putin is trying to fill the European parliament with more pro-Russia MEPs were behind the EU’s blunt message to the Silicon Valley owner of Facebook on Tuesday.
It gave Meta just five days to explain how it will root out fake news, fake websites and stop adverts funded by the Kremlin or face severe measures.
Continue reading...Brussels to act later this week against Facebook and Instagram owner over policies on deceptive advertising and political content, reports say
The EU is set to launch formal proceedings against Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, amid concerns it is not doing enough to counter Russian disinformation before the EU elections in June, according to reports.
It is also expected to express concerns about the lack of effective monitoring of election content and a potentially inadequate mechanism for flagging illegal content.
Continue reading...Investigation finds groups hosting Islamophobic attacks on London mayor Sadiq Khan, white supremacist slogans and antisemitic conspiracy theories
Conservative party staff and activists are secretly operating a network of Facebook groups that have become a hotbed of racism, misinformation and support for criminal damage.
An investigation has identified 36 groups that appear to be separate grassroots movements opposing the expansion of ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) schemes to reduce air pollution. They do not say they were set up by the Conservatives as part of a coordinated political campaign.
Continue reading...The Australian billionaire’s criminal case against Meta in WA was discontinued on Friday by the commonwealth prosecutor
The Australian billionaire and philanthropist Andrew Forrest has accused Facebook’s parent company of “blatantly refusing” to take action against scam ads on its platform, as a criminal case he brought against Meta in WA was discontinued.
On Friday, the commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions filed a discontinuance motion in the criminal case brought by Forrest in the Western Australia district court over scam cryptocurrency ads bearing his likeness on Facebook.
Continue reading...Court documents and interviews detail the products’ role in alleged exploitation – and how some payments go undetected
When police in Pennsylvania arrested 29-year-old Jennifer Louise Whelan in November 2022, they charged her with dozens of counts of serious crimes, including sex trafficking and indecent assault of three young children.
One month earlier, police said they had discovered Whelan was using three children as young as six, all in her care, to produce child sex abuse material. She was allegedly selling and sending videos and photos to a customer over Facebook Messenger. She pleaded not guilty.
Continue reading...Move involving companies such as Google, Facebook and X comes after evidence of Russian online interference in polls
The EU is calling on eight major tech companies including Google, Facebook and X to detail how they identify and tackle deepfake material amid concerns about the use of the technology to influence elections.
In a world first, they will be using new laws on artificial intelligence to force companies to root out fake video, imagery and audio.
Continue reading...Ayatollah Ali Khamenei supported Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel, which Meta said violated its policies
Meta has removed Instagram and Facebook accounts run on behalf of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, following criticism over his support for Hamas after the group’s 7 October attack on Israel that sparked the months-long war still raging in the Gaza Strip, the company confirmed on Friday.
Meta, based in Menlo Park, California, offered no specifics about its reasoning. However, it said it removed the accounts “for repeatedly violating our Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy”.
Continue reading...Rights group says Facebook and Instagram routinely engage in ‘six key patterns of undue censorship’ of content supporting Palestine
Meta has engaged in a “systemic and global” censorship of pro-Palestinian content since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war on 7 October, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW).
In a scathing 51-page report, the organization documented and reviewed more than a thousand reported instances of Meta removing content and suspending or permanently banning accounts on Facebook and Instagram. The company exhibited “six key patterns of undue censorship” of content in support of Palestine and Palestinians, including the taking down of posts, stories and comments; disabling accounts; restricting users’ ability to interact with others’ posts; and “shadow banning”, where the visibility and reach of a person’s material is significantly reduced, according to HRW.
Continue reading...Facebook and Instagram ‘enabled adults to find, message and groom minors’ for sexual exploitation, alleges state of New Mexico legal filing
Meta has allowed its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, to become marketplaces for child predators, the state of New Mexico alleges in a lawsuit filed against the company and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.
The lawsuit claims that Meta “proactively served and directed [children] to egregious, sexually explicit images through recommended users and posts – even where the child has expressed no interest in this content”. It claims Meta “enabled adults to find, message and groom minors, soliciting them to sell pictures or participate in pornographic videos”. The company is also accused of fostering unmoderated user groups devoted to facilitating and selling child sexual exploitation content.
Continue reading...Businessman warns people to ‘never ever’ purchase from advertisers on Facebook and Instagram after ‘totally fraudulent’ video appears
Australian businessman Dick Smith has urged people to stop buying anything from Facebook or Instagram after a deepfake video of him spruiking an investment opportunity was circulated by scammers online.
Smith posted a message on his personal website on Monday afternoon about the video, which was designed to appear like a segment on A Current Affair, featuring host Ally Langdon apparently interviewing him, Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest.
Continue reading...