Facebook will ban anti-vaccine ads in an effort to combat misinformation and support public health experts, the social media platform announced in a statement on Tuesday. Axios reports: The company now says it doesn’t want these ads on its platform, but the policy does not apply to influencers who experts say drive a significant amount of organic misinformation about vaccines. “Our…
Tag: misinformation
Facebook Bans Holocaust Denial On its Platform
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Monday that the tech giant would be expanding its hate speech policies to ban any content that “denies or distorts the Holocaust.” From a report: Zuckerberg was caught flat-footed in a 2018 interview with Kara Swisher, then host of the Recode Decode podcast, when he said that he didn’t believe Facebook should take down Holocaust denial…
Google Halts Its Curated News Plan in Australia, Calling Government’s Rules ‘Unworkable’
Google “has decided to freeze plans to launch its curated News Showcase in Australia over claims the draft News Media Bargaining Code is ‘unworkable’,” reports Engadget:
Google still objected to what it called a “must include, must pay” approach in the code where it not only has to pay news outlets it links to, but is obligated to carry those outlets for…
Twitter Will Turn Off Some Features To Fight Election Misinformation
Twitter, risking the ire of its best-known user, President Trump, said on Friday that it would turn off several of its routine features in an attempt to control the spread of misinformation in the final weeks before the presidential election. From a report: The first notable change, Twitter said, will essentially give users a timeout before they can hit the button…
Facebook Widens Ban On Political Ads As Alarm Rises Over Election
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: On Wednesday, Facebook said it would take more preventive measures to keep political candidates from using it to manipulate the election’s outcome and its aftermath. The company now plans to prohibit all political and issue-based advertising after the polls close on Nov. 3 for an undetermined length of time. And…
Facebook may never get a grip of its fake news problem
Facebook has long promised to tackle misinformation on its platform, but its attempts so far have been poor, says Donna Lu Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24833032-900-facebook-may-never-get-a-grip-of-its-fake-news-problem/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Facebook Removes Trump Post Falsely Saying Flu is More Lethal Than Covid
Facebook on Tuesday removed a post from President Trump in which he falsely claimed that Covid-19 is less deadly than the seasonal flu. From a report: Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed the company removed the post for breaking its rules on Covid-19 misinformation. President Trump has, by his own admission, played down the threat of Covid-19. Now, while battling his own…
Twitter Is Building ‘Birdwatch,’ a System To Fight Misinformation By Adding More Context To Tweets
Twitter is developing a new product called “Birdwatch,” which the company confirms is an attempt at addressing misinformation across its platform by providing more context for tweets, in the form of notes. TechCrunch reports: Tweets can be added to “Birdwatch” — meaning flagged for moderation — from the tweet’s drop-down menu, where other blocking and reporting tools are found today. A…
Facebook Rebuts Netflix Documentary ‘The Social Dilemma’
Facebook on Friday offered a rebuttal to the hit Netflix documentary-drama, “The Social Dilemma.” The movie revealed, perhaps for the first time to some viewers, how social networks use algorithms to keep people coming back. It also addressed how tech companies have influenced elections, ethnic violence and rates of depression and suicide. Some viewers said they were deleting Facebook and Instagram…
Biden Campaign Blasts Facebook for ‘Regression’
On the eve of the first presidential debate, the Biden campaign is pressing Facebook to remove posts by President Trump — and slamming the social media company as “the nation’s foremost propagator of disinformation about the voting process.” From a report: By publicly escalating the conflict, the campaign is pressing Facebook to enforce its policies against misinformation more aggressively. “Rather than…