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...The Guardian and Le Monde among latest outlets blocked, following on from BBC and VOA last week
Authorities in Burkina Faso have suspended further foreign media over their reporting of an alleged massacre of hundreds of civilians by the Burkinabe army.
The decision was announced in a statement over the weekend, days after the military government suspended the BBC, Voice of America and the international watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW), halting broadcasts and blocking websites, after the latter’s scathing report on Thursday.
Continue reading...Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin face at least two years’ jail on ‘extremism’ charges, which they deny, amid continuing crackdown on dissent
Two Russian journalists have been arrested on “extremism” charges and ordered by courts there to remain in custody pending investigation and trial on accusations of working for a group founded by the late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin both denied the charges for which they will be detained for a minimum of two months before any trials begin. Each faces a minimum of two years in prison and a maximum of six years for alleged “participation in an extremist organisation”, according to Russian courts.
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...International affairs editor became unwell while presenting News at Ten on Friday
The ITV News presenter Rageh Omaar is receiving medical care after becoming “unwell” live on-air, ITV has said.
The ITV News international affairs editor was presenting the News at Ten on Friday evening when he appeared shaky and to be having difficulty reading the news bulletins.
Continue reading...Media regulator says no clear consensus among British public to ban politicians presenting on news channels
Nigel Farage will be allowed to present his nightly GB News programme throughout the general election campaign, Ofcom has confirmed, after the media regulator said there was no clear consensus among the British public to stop politicians presenting shows on news channels.
The founder of the Reform UK party, which has the backing of 10% of voters in opinion polls, will be allowed to keep broadcasting until polling day providing he does not stand as a parliamentary candidate.
Continue reading...In court submissions, Ten’s lawyers argue Lehrmann should indemnify the network for its legal costs, estimated at $8m
Bruce Lehrmann should pay all Network Ten’s legal costs because suing The Project for defamation was “deliberately wicked and calculated” and an abuse of process, Ten has told the federal court.
The former Liberal staffer lost the defamation case he brought against Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, with Justice Michael Lee finding that on the balance of probabilities Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins on a minister’s couch in Parliament House in 2019.
Continue reading...App feature could be suspended unless child safety concerns addressed, in first use of sweeping new digital powers
The EU has said it will ban a new service launched by TikTok in Europe that it believes could be “as addictive as cigarettes” unless the company offers “compelling” fresh evidence that children are safeguarded.
If the ban goes ahead, it would be the first time the EU has used sweeping new powers to impose sanctions on social media companies since its landmark Digital Service Act (DSA) came into force last August.
Continue reading...Former chief Middle East correspondent was longest-held western hostage of Shia Muslim groups during crisis
Terry Anderson, a US journalist who was held captive by Islamist militants for almost seven years in Lebanon and came to symbolise the plight of western hostages during the country’s 1975-90 civil war, has died aged 76, his daughter said.
The former chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press, who was the longest-held hostage of the scores of westerners abducted in Lebanon, died on Sunday at his home in Greenwood Lake, New York, said Sulome Anderson, who was born three months after her father was seized. No cause of death was given.
Continue reading...Owner of X has used social media platform to bash judge in charge of investigations into former president
Thousands of diehard supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro have hit the streets of Rio to champion their embattled leader and celebrate the new hero of their far-right movement: Elon Musk.
The tech billionaire has spent recent weeks using his social network X to bash Bolsonaro’s arch-enemy, the supreme court judge Alexandre de Moraes. Moraes is responsible for several investigations into Bolsonaro that could land the ex-president in jail, including one examining the alleged coup plot that preceded the rightwing insurrection in Brasília on 8 January 2023.
Continue reading...Outcry over cancellation of Antonio Scurati’s Rai talkshow appearance as note says move was taken ‘for editorial reasons’
A high-profile Italian author has accused Rai of censorship after his antifascist monologue was abruptly stopped from being aired, in what he called the “definitive demonstration” of alleged attempts by Giorgia Meloni’s government to wield its power over the state broadcaster.
Antonio Scurati was due to read the monologue marking the 25 April national holiday, which celebrates Italy’s liberation from fascism, on the Rai 3 talkshow Chesarà on Saturday night.
Continue reading...Images from Gaza, Ukraine, Madagascar and the US border chosen by global jury from more than 60,000 entries
• World Press Photo winners 2024 – in pictures
Photographs documenting the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, migration, family and dementia have topped this year’s World Press Photo awards – one of the world’s most prestigious photography competitions.
Mohammed Salem, Lee-Ann Olwage, Alejandro Cegarra, and Julia Kochetova have been announced as the winners of this year’s competition, which is run by the World Press Photo Foundation – an independent, not-for-profit organisation that celebrates the importance of press and documentary photography.
Continue reading...Media executive’s exit comes as broadcaster faces a number of controversies
James Warburton, the chief executive and managing director of Seven West Media, left the company on Thursday, amid a tumultuous period for the broadcaster.
The prominent media executive was due to step down before the end of the financial year, according to executive changes first announced late last year.
Continue reading...Uri Berliner exits days after publication of an essay saying news organization no longer has an ‘open-minded spirit’
An editor at National Public Radio who publicly accused the news organization of having a liberal bias and a growing absence of “viewpoint diversity” has resigned, days after being suspended without pay.
On Wednesday, Uri Berliner posted a screenshot of his resignation letter to NPR’s CEO, Katherine Maher, in which he wrote: “I am resigning from NPR, a great American institution where I have worked for 25 years.
Continue reading...Correspondents in Port-au-Prince face danger as they play a vital role in chronicling city’s state of siege
Each day, Makenson Rémy wakes in the hush of the night to tell the story of his shattered home town, Port-au-Prince. Each day, he fears he might die. “I am very worried for the city. I am worried for my family. I am worried for myself too, because at any moment I could go out and never come back,” said the Haitian journalist who is responsible for the crack-of-dawn radio broadcasts that help the capital’s jittery residents stay alive.
Rémy uses a motorbike to move around the city, which a gang rebellion six weeks ago has almost entirely cut off from the outside world, gathering information on where is and isn’t safe to tread. As he slaloms through barricaded streets under the cover of darkness, he has witnessed spine-chilling scenes.
Continue reading...Newshub owner Warner Bros Discovery strikes deal with Stuff to provide bulletins amid concerns over the country’s shrinking media market
New Zealand news outlet Newshub, which is set to shut down due to economic woes, has been thrown a lifeline by local media organisation Stuff that will save its bulletins and website, in new formats.
Last week, Warner Bros Discovery confirmed it would close down its New Zealand newsroom, Newshub, including its website, the morning television show and the 6pm news bulletin, resulting in the loss of roughly 300 jobs and prompting alarm over the state of New Zealand’s media industry. The same day, state-owned television network TVNZ announced its own set of programme cuts and job losses.
Continue reading...Justice Lee finds Ten’s defence of truth successful after Lehrmann sued the network and journalist Lisa Wilkinson in the federal court of Australia for defamation. Follow the latest news and updates from the judgment today
Bruce Lehrmann and Lisa Wilkinson have both arrived into courtroom one on the 21st level of the federal court building in central Sydney.
Lehrmann is sitting at the bench, alongside his legal team, while Wilkinson is sitting on the other side of the courtroom in the front row of the gallery, in a row of red reserved seats.
Continue reading...Llewellyn confirmed his resignation which comes after Lehrmann defamation trial heard about tactics allegedly used to secure interview, claims he and the network deny
Spotlight executive producer Mark Llewellyn has confirmed his resignation from Channel Seven, which comes after allegations made during a defamation trial that the network reimbursed Bruce Lehrmann for money spent on cocaine and sex workers.
Both Seven and Llewllyn have denied those allegations.
Continue reading...Justice Michael Lee finds former Liberal staffer was not defamed by Lisa Wilkinson and Ten in interview with Brittany Higgins in February 2021
Bruce Lehrmann has lost his defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, bringing to an end a sprawling legal saga which has gripped the nation.
In a live oral summary that took two and a half hours, Justice Michael Lee said the former Liberal staffer was not defamed by Wilkinson and Ten when The Project broadcast an interview with Brittany Higgins on Monday 15 February 2021 in which she alleged she was raped in Parliament House.
Continue reading...