Google and Facebook urged by EU to label AI-generated content

Posted on June 5, 2023 by Admin

Call comes amid moves to combat disinformation from Russia, while Twitter is warned to comply with new digital content laws

Social media companies including Google and Facebook have been urged by the EU to “immediately” start labelling content and images generated by artificial intelligence as part of a package of moves to combat fake news and disinformation from Russia.

At the same time, the EU has warned Twitter that it faces “swift” sanctions if it does not comply with new digital content laws that come into effect across the bloc on 25 August.

Meta threatens to pull news content in California if law to pay publishers passes

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Admin

Proposed bill would require ‘online platforms’ to pay a fee to state news providers whose work appears on their services

Meta is threatening to remove news content from its platforms in its home state of California if the state government moves forward with legislation that would force tech companies to pay publishers.

The proposed bill would require “online platforms” like Google and Meta to pay a “journalism usage fee” to California news providers whose work appears on their services.

NHS data breach: trusts shared patient details with Facebook without consent

Posted on May 27, 2023 by Admin

Observer investigation reveals Meta Pixel tool passed on private details of web browsing on medical sites

NHS trusts are sharing intimate details about patients’ medical conditions, appointments and treatments with Facebook without consent and despite promising never to do so.

An Observer investigation has uncovered a covert tracking tool in the websites of 20 NHS trusts which has for years collected browsing information and shared it with the tech giant in a major breach of privacy.

Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly says Facebook must act against ‘tidal wave’ of racist trolls

Posted on May 25, 2023 by Admin

Indigenous body says it has blocked about 300 people in the past week who used racist slurs

Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly has called on Facebook to act against the “tidal wave” of racist online trolls that it says have targeted its work.

But Facebook’s parent company Meta has defended its record of addressing online abuse, saying it was a problem all tech companies needed to confront.

Facebook owner Meta fined €1.2bn for mishandling user information

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Admin

Penalty from Ireland’s privacy regulator is a record for breach of EU data protection regulation

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Facebook’s owner, Meta, has been fined a record €1.2bn (£1bn) and ordered to suspend the transfer of user data from the EU to the US.

The fine – equivalent to $1.3bn – imposed by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), which regulates Meta across the EU, is a record for a breach of the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Crime agencies condemn Facebook and Instagram encryption plans

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Admin

Global alliance including NCA and FBI says Meta’s decision to encrypt direct messages could harm children

An alliance of the world’s most powerful law enforcement agencies including the FBI, Interpol and Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) have condemned Meta’s plans to encrypt direct messages on Facebook Messenger and Instagram, saying that doing so will weaken the ability to keep child users safe.

The Virtual Global Taskforce, made up of 15 agencies, is chaired by the NCA and also includes Europol and the Australian federal police among its membership. The VGT has spoken out, it says, owing to the “impending design choices” by Meta, which it says could cause serious harm.

Zuckerberg’s Meta to lay off another 10,000 employees

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Admin

Restructuring, as part of the company’s ‘Year of Efficiency’, also sees 5,000 unfulfilled job adverts closed without hiring

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is laying off another 10,000 people and instituting a further hiring freeze as part of the company’s “Year of Efficiency”, the chief executive announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

The restructuring, which also sees a further 5,000 unfilled job adverts closed without hiring, comes less than six months after the company announced another wave of 11,000 redundancies. At its peak in 2022, Meta had grown to 87,000 employees globally, with a substantial portion of that hiring occurring in the middle of the Covid pandemic.

Meta-funded online tool lets people remove their explicit images from the internet

Posted on February 27, 2023 by Admin

Take It Down allows anyone to anonymously generate a digital fingerprint of the image they want deleted, without uploading it

“Once you send that photo, you can’t take it back,” goes the warning to teenagers, often ignoring the reality that many teens send explicit images of themselves under duress, or without understanding the consequences.

A new online tool aims to give some control back to teens, or people who were once teens, and take down explicit images and videos of themselves from the internet.

Child abuse image offences in UK have soared, NSPCC report shows

Posted on February 21, 2023 by Admin

Charity says police recording has improved but online grooming has risen and tech firms are failing to act

Police have recorded a surge in child abuse image offences in the UK, with more than 30,000 reported in the most recent year, according to a report from the NSPCC.

That is an increase of more than 66% on figures from five years ago, when police forces across the country recorded 18,574 such offences.

Facebook and Instagram to get paid verification as Twitter charges for two-factor SMS authentication

Posted on February 19, 2023 by Admin

Mark Zuckerberg follows Elon Musk’s lead in introducing fee for blue ticks, as Twitter gets set to charge for 2FA via SMS

Facebook and Instagram users will soon need to pay to be verified on the social media platforms, as Meta follows in the footsteps of rival platform Twitter.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, announced in a Facebook post on Sunday that the service would first roll out in Australia and New Zealand later this week.

High-profile lawsuit against Meta can be heard in Kenya, Nairobi court rules

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Admin

Decision on case of ex-Facebook moderator, who claims the work left him with PTSD, hailed as win for accountability of big tech in Africa

A Kenyan court has ruled that a case brought against Facebook by a former content moderator can go ahead.

Daniel Motaung, who was hired as a Facebook content moderator by the tech firm’s subcontractor Sama in 2019, filed a suit against the two companies last year, alleging that he had been exposed to graphic and traumatic content at work, without adequate prior knowledge or proper psychosocial support – which he says left him with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Australian losses to online marketplace fraud increase as scams become increasingly sophisticated

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Admin

Consumer groups say online platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree need to do more to keep customers safe

Wayne Draper and his wife wanted a puppy. When they came across pictures of a new bulldog on Facebook, they instantly fell in love.

The Facebook page it was advertised on had been operating since January 2021, and had seemed to cycle for several litters of puppies. They promised their pups were ANKC (Australian National Kennel Council)-registered, wormed and had a full veterinary health check.

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Trump’s return to Facebook will ‘fan the flames of hatred’, say experts and politicians

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Admin

Democrats and liberal groups deplored decision to revoke ban on former president who incited insurrection but ACLU defends move

Politicians and civil rights advocates have weighed in on Meta’s decision to allow former president Donald Trump to return to Facebook and Instagram, stating that his presence on the platforms will “fan the flames of hatred and division”.

The social media firm has lifted a ban imposed on Trump after the January 6 Capitol attack and will allow him to post again in the coming weeks. Experts in online hate speech say there is no reason to believe Trump will not return to spreading dangerous misinformation and hate speech upon his return.

Biden vows to veto Republican plans that threaten economic ‘chaos’ – as it happened

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Admin

‘I will not let that happen – not on my watch’, president says
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The US economy expanded at a 2.9% annual pace from October through December, ending 2022 with momentum despite the pressure of high interest rates and widespread fears of a looming recession, the Associated Press reports.

Thursday’s estimate from the Commerce Department showed that the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP)— the broadest gauge of economic output — decelerated last quarter from the 3.2% annual growth rate it had posted from July through September.

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Category Archives: Facebook

Meta threatens to pull news content in California if law to pay publishers passes

Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly says Facebook must act against ‘tidal wave’ of racist trolls

Zuckerberg’s Meta to lay off another 10,000 employees

Meta-funded online tool lets people remove their explicit images from the internet

Australian losses to online marketplace fraud increase as scams become increasingly sophisticated

Trump’s return to Facebook will ‘fan the flames of hatred’, say experts and politicians