EFF special consultant/blogger/science fiction writer Cory Doctorow warns in Locus magazine about the dangers of what Bruce Schneier calls “feudal security”: Here in the 21st century, we are beset by all manner of digital bandits, from identity thieves, to stalkers, to corporate and government spies, to harassers… To be safe, then, you have to ally yourself with a warlord. Apple, Google,…
Tag: Disinformation
Will America’s Next President Break Up Facebook?
With 25 days until Joe Biden becomes America’s next president, Politico writes that throughout the US government, “From lawmakers on Capitol Hill to antitrust enforcers at the Federal Trade Commission, Washington is training its sights on the world’s largest social network like never before.” Biden’s antitrust enforcers will take ownership of a lawsuit the FTC filed this month threatening to dismantle…
Trump Fires Election Security Director Who Corrected Voter Fraud Disinformation
phalse phace shares a report from NPR: Christopher Krebs, the Department of Homeland Security director who had spearheaded a campaign to counter rumors about voter fraud, has been fired, President Trump tweeted on Tuesday. Trump, in two misleading tweets about the security of the U.S. election, said Krebs’ termination was “effective immediately.” The CISA campaign, led by Krebs, was originally intended…
Will Parler Spread Misinformation – or Just Segregate It Onto a Single App?
“The rising popularity of alternative social media app Parler is raising concerns over the spread of misinformation and potential for radicalizing users on a platform that’s taken a hands-off approach to regulating content,” reports The Hill’s reporter on technology policy: The app has been boosted by conservatives, surging since Election Day, as Republicans amp up allegations of anti-conservative bias from social…
Steve Bannon Caught Running a Network of Misinformation Pages On Facebook
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: Steve Bannon has been outed for his involvement in running a network of misinformation pages on Facebook. Who could have possibly seen this coming. Facebook has talked a big game about monitoring election misinformation, and yet the independent activist network Avaaz said it had to alert the company to the pages before it…
Election-Related Misinformation on Social Media Still ‘Readily Viewable’ – If It’s In Spanish
NBC reports that social media crackdowns on disinformation have been less consistent if the content isn’t in English. One example? “Facebook and YouTube have taken steps to remove QAnon content in English from their platforms, but experts warn there is still a vast amount in Spanish.” The misleading, false and conspiratorial claims that are circulating in Spanish about the outcome of…
How Ex-Facebook Data Experts Spent $75 Million On Targeted Anti-Trump Ads
The night before America’s election, Fast Company reported: On the internet, we’re subject to hidden A/B tests all the time, but this one was also part of a political weapon: a multimillion-dollar tool kit built by a team of Facebook vets, data nerds, and computational social scientists determined to defeat Donald Trump. The goal is to use microtargeted ads, follow-up surveys,…
Facebook Can’t Seem To Do Anything About ‘Stop the Steal’ Groups
An anonymous reader quotes a report from VICE: On Thursday night, Facebook announced it had activated “break glass” measures to try to quell the spread of disinformation, which has been supercharged by the lies being spread by President Donald Trump and his allies. The unprecedented move may have been triggered by Facebook’s decision hours earlier to shut down a viral group…
Internet Archive Adds Fact Checks To Explain Web Page Takedowns
AmiMoJo writes: Fact checking is increasingly a mainstay of the modern internet, and that now includes “dead” web pages. The Internet Archive has started adding fact checks and context to Wayback Machine pages to explain just why they were removed. If a page was part of a disinformation campaign or pulled due to a policy violation, a conspicuous yellow banner will…
Patreon Is Banning QAnon, Joining Facebook, YouTube and Others
Patreon is the latest tech company to take action on the QAnon conspiracy theory, announcing in a blog post Thursday morning that creators promoting the movement would be banned from the platform. Business Insider reports: Patreon, a membership platform that lets fans support creators and celebrities financially through subscriptions, previously hosted 14 QAnon influencers on the platform, according to a recent…