Category Archives: Meta

TikTok removes 284 accounts linked to Chinese disinformation group

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Action by social media company comes after Facebook parent company Meta shut down 9,000 accounts tied to political spam network

TikTok has removed 284 accounts associated with a Chinese disinformation campaign after Guardian Australia raised questions about several accounts uncovered by the company’s rival Meta.

On Wednesday, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram reported it had shut down close to 9,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts, groups and pages associated with a Chinese political spam network that had targeted users in Australia and other parts of the world.

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Meta closes nearly 9,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to Chinese ‘Spamouflage’ foreign influence campaign

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Company says users targeted in Australia, UK, US and elsewhere by political spam network across more than 50 platforms

Meta shut down close to 9,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts, groups and pages associated with a Chinese political spam network that had targeted users in Australia and other parts of the world, the company has revealed.

Meta began investigating in 2019 and its research aligned with several research groups, including the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (Aspi), who coined the term Spamouflage.

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Facebook suspends RMIT FactLab after voice no campaigners criticise factchecker

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Meta spokesperson says suspension was decided after voice opponents raised criticism and apparent lapse in accreditation

Facebook has suspended a key factchecker which monitors and debunks online claims after repeated criticisms from Indigenous voice no campaign leaders and some conservative media outlets about the factchecker’s work.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has temporarily suspended RMIT FactLab as one of the partner organisations for its factchecking program, which can slap warning or information labels on dubious content.

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Meta launches web version of flagging Threads app

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‘Twitter killer’ social media platform experienced initial boom in sign-ups when it launched in July

Meta has launched a web version of its “Twitter killer” social media platform Threads that can be used without an app, as it attempts to revive itself after a recent drop in usage.

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp launched the microblogging site in July, widely understood as an alternative for users disillusioned with Elon Musk-owned Twitter, which has since rebranded as X.

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Yellowknife wildfire: communication issues and Facebook news ban hamper evacuation efforts

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Canada’s ongoing fight with social media company Meta and the resulting ban has led to difficulties with staying on top of information

Communication issues, fast-spreading rumours and a Facebook news ban have all disrupted evacuation efforts by residents of Yellowknife, in Canada’s Northwest Territories, as they race to leave the city before an out-of-control wildfire hits in the coming day or so.

On Wednesday night, officials told the city’s 20,000 residents they had to be out by Friday at noon (1900 BST) before a massive wildfire gets any closer.

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CEO regrets her firm took on Facebook moderation work after staff ‘traumatised’

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Outsourcer Sama facing legal cases brought by Kenya-based employees alleging exposure to graphic content

The chief executive of a company contracted to moderate Facebook posts in east Africa has said she regretted taking on the work, after its staff said they were left traumatised by graphic content on the social media platform.

The US outsourcing firm Sama is facing a number of legal cases brought by Kenya-based employees, who alleged being exposed to graphic and traumatic content such as videos of beheadings, suicide and other material at a moderation hub.

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Threads app usage plummets despite initial promise as refuge from Twitter

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Social media app, launched in the wake of Twitter chaos, recorded 576,000 active users in August, down 79% from 2.3 million in July

The daily usage of Threads, Meta’s answer to Twitter, continues to slump after a strong start in its first weeks of existence.

Engagement with the social media app is down 79% from a high of 2.3m active users in early July to 576,000 as of 7 August, according to Similarweb, a digital intelligence platform.

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Musk says proposed Zuckerberg cage fight to be held at ‘epic location’ in Italy

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X owner in talks with government over historic site for event – though Colosseum and Rome ruled out

Elon Musk is in talks with Italy’s government about hosting his proposed cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg at a historic site in the country, but the Colosseum has been ruled out as a venue.

The owner of X Corp and the chief executive of Facebook-owner Meta first raised the idea of a one-on-one scrap in a series of social media posts back in June. The challenge came as Zuckerberg prepared to launch Threads, a rival microblogging site to Musk’s now rebranded Twitter platform.

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Canada publishers urge Ottawa to stop Meta from blocking users’ news access

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Dust-up began after law passed requiring social media companies to compensate news publishers for posting their content

A group of Canadian news publishers and broadcasters has called on the country’s competition regulator to stop Meta from blocking access to news as the federal government and technology companies clash over revenue and content sharing.

News Media Canada, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and CBC/Radio‐Canada warned on Tuesday that Meta’s decision to bar Canadians from viewing news on Facebook and Instagram amounted to “anticompetitive conduct” and violates a provision of a federal law.

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Norway to fine Meta $98,500 a day over user privacy breach from 14 August

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Country’s data protection regulator said firm cannot harvest user information such as physical locations for showing targeted ads

Facebook owner Meta Platforms will be fined 1m crowns ($98,500) a day over privacy breaches from 14 August, Norway’s data protection authority told Reuters on Monday, a decision that could have wider European implications.

The regulator, Datatilsynet, had said on 17 July that the company would be fined if it did not address privacy breaches the regulator had identified.

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‘Disaster’: warning for democracy as experts condemn Meta over Canada news ban

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Retaliatory move against Online News Act is ‘epic miscalculation’ that will promote spread of misinformation, analysts say

Social media giant Meta’s ban on news access on its platforms in Canada is an “epic miscalculation” that could damage journalism and promote the spread of misinformation and fake news, experts are warning.

The company announced the move on Tuesday, saying they had begun the process to end access to news on Facebook and Instagram for users in Canada.

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Meta, Google and YouTube ‘profiting’ off posts for bogus women’s health cures in Kenya

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Tech firms permit ads for potentially harmful products including vaginal ‘cleanse’ balls and useless herbs for infertility, according to an investigation

Meta, YouTube and Google are profiting from posts promoting harmful and useless health products to women in Kenya, according to an investigation.

Researchers from the media collective Fumbua have accused big tech firms of amplifying content that promises unproven cures for infertility and herbs that can stave off cancers on their networks.

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Meta to ask EU users’ permission to show targeted advertising

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Facebook and Instagram’s parent company will stop harvesting audience data to create profiles for advertisers after regulatory rulings

Facebook and Instagram are to ask EU users for permission to show them personalised adverts, in a concession that challenges the platforms’ core money-making strategy.

The social media networks’ parent company, Meta, announced the change after a series of regulatory rulings struck down the company’s legal justification for harvesting audience data to create user profiles that can be targeted by advertisers.

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Meta to end news access in Canada over publisher payment law

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Move comes in response to Canadian legislation requiring internet giants to pay news publishers

Meta has begun the process to end access to news on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada, the company said on Tuesday.

The move comes in response to legislation in the country requiring internet giants to pay news publishers.

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Changing Meta’s algorithms did not help US political polarization, study finds

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Study of Facebook and Instagram data from 2020 election shows chronological lists had no measurable impact on polarization

The powerful algorithms used by Facebook and Instagram have increasingly been blamed for amplifying misinformation and political polarization. But a series of groundbreaking studies published on Thursday suggest addressing these challenges will require more than just tweaking the platforms’ software.

The four research papers, published in Science and Nature also reveal the extent of political echo chambers on Facebook, where conservatives and liberals rely on divergent sources of information, interact with opposing groups and consume distinctly different amounts of misinformation.

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Meta stock surges after company reports 11% rise in revenue

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Revenue grew to $32bn, marking company’s most profitable quarter since 2021, as news sends stocks surging by 7%

Meta stock rallied as the company reported an 11% rise in revenue on Wednesday, beating Wall Street expectations.

Revenue grew to $32bn in the quarter ending in June, compared to analysts’ average estimate of $31.12bn, marking Meta’s most profitable quarter since 2021. The news sent stocks surging by 7% in after-market trading.

More details soon …

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TikTok received more requests to remove child bullying posts than any other social platform in Australia

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eSafety commissioner received 795 requests to remove alleged bullying of children from various social media platforms in past 18 months, with 309 from TikTok

TikTok received more requests from Australia’s eSafety commissioner to remove posts that bullied children in the last 18 months than any other social media platform.

Reddit received the most reports of people’s images being shared without their consent.

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Twitter investor writes down stake by 47% as analyst claims Threads user fall

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Elon Musk has said advertising has plunged on his social media platform and it is cashflow negative

An investor in Elon Musk’s Twitter has written down their stake in the business by 47% as advertisers rein in their spending on the social media platform.

The move by ARK Investment Management came as an analysis firm claimed that usage of the “Twitter killer” Threads app has fallen by half since its launch by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta.

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Republicans attack FTC chair and big tech critic Lina Khan at House hearing

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Khan accused of giving herself ‘unchecked power’ by taking aggressive steps to regulate Twitter, Meta and Google

Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, faced a grueling four hours of questioning during a House judiciary committee oversight hearing on Thursday.

Republicans criticized Khan – an outspoken critic of big tech – for “mismanagement” and for “politicizing” legal action against large companies such as Twitter and Google as head of the powerful antitrust agency.

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Meta vows to crack down on abuse and misinformation surrounding voice to parliament referendum

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Exclusive: Parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Threads says it will ensure content on its platforms is ‘contributing to democracy’

Facebook and Instagram want to be “contributing to democracy” and not exacerbating harms surrounding the Indigenous voice referendum, the company’s Australian policy head has said, as the social media giant beefs up protections on misinformation, abuse and mental health before the national vote.

Meta, the parent company of the two apps, on Monday announced it would boost funding to factcheckers monitoring misinformation, activate global teams to locate and respond to potential “threats” to the referendum – including coordinated inauthentic behaviour – and form a partnership with ReachOut for mental health support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The company will also maintain transparency tools such as its ad library that tracks political spending.

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