How Facebook Silenced an Enemy of Turkey To Prevent a Hit To the Company’s Business

Long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 shares this report from ProPublica: As Turkey launched a military offensive against Kurdish minorities in neighboring Syria in early 2018, Facebook’s top executives faced a political dilemma. Turkey was demanding the social media giant block Facebook posts from the People’s Protection Units, a mostly Kurdish militia group the Turkish government had targeted. Should Facebook ignore the request,…

US Says Saudi Prince Approved Journalist Khashoggi Killing

A US intelligence report has found that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the murder of exiled journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. BBC: The declassified report released by the Biden administration says the prince approved a plan to either capture or kill the US-based Saudi exile. It is the first time America has publicly named the crown prince, who denies…

Americans Are Consuming More Foreign Content than Ever

Content from abroad is boosting its share of the American entertainment diet, thanks in large part to streaming, the pandemic and the creator economy. From a report: “As ‘American exceptionalism’ has become less of a truth geopolitically, the same goes for entertainment,” says Brad Grossman, founder and CEO of ZEITGUIDE. The U.S. demand share for non-U.S. content was higher each quarter…

Puppy prints and wall illusions found in 1,500-year-old house in Turkey

Archaeologists have discovered a fantastical-looking, 1,500-year-old house in Turkey that was decorated with illusory wall paintings and terracotta tiles on the floor with puppy prints and possible chicken decorations pressed into them. Source: https://www.livescience.com/ancient-house-turkey-puppy-prints.html

Turkey Slaps Ad Ban on Twitter Under New Social Media Law

Ankara has imposed advertising bans on Twitter, Periscope and Pinterest after they failed to appoint local representatives in Turkey under a new social media law, according to decisions published on Tuesday. From a report: Under the law, which critics say stifles dissent, social media companies that do not appoint such representatives are liable for a series of penalties, including the latest…

Turkey Probes Facebook’s Move To Collect WhatsApp Data

The Turkish Competition Board said on Monday it launched an investigation into WhatsApp and its owner Facebook after the messaging app asked users to agree to let Facebook collect user data including phone numbers and locations. From a report: In a written statement, the Competition Board said it ruled the data-collection requirement should be suspended until the probe is complete. “The…