Category: misinformation

Facebook removes Trump post for ‘harmful COVID misinformation’

[ad_1] It marks the first time Facebook has removed one of Trump’s posts under the policy. The company has previously taken down Trump campaign ads for breaking its rules around “organized hate” and misleading information about the US census.  The video was also shared on Twitter, where it remains up. On Facebook, the video was […]

TikTok bans deepfakes to fight misinformation and election meddling

[ad_1] The deepfake ban is part of a broader set of policy changes meant to fight misinformation and election meddling. The new rules also make the company’s policy barring coordinated inauthentic activities “unambiguous.” TikTok also says it’s expanding its work with outside fact-checkers ahead of the 2020 election, and that it will allow users to […]

Facebook blocks Brazil president’s allies after court order

[ad_1] Facebook has been eager to fight misinformation on its platform, but it’s concerned Brazil might have taken things a step too far. BBC News reports that Facebook has blocked the accounts of a dozen allies of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro after the country’s Supreme Court ordered them blocked worldwide in May. The group, which […]

TikTok blocks QAnon hashtags amid larger crackdown

[ad_1] The company isn’t removing the videos using the hashtags, however. Followers will still see the affected clips in their feeds, and they could theoretically appear in the For You feed of suggested videos. We’ve asked TikTok if it can comment further on its decision. The approach isn’t as strict as with rivals that completely […]

Twitter bans thousands of QAnon accounts

[ad_1] We will permanently suspend accounts Tweeting about these topics that we know are engaged in violations of our multi-account policy, coordinating abuse around individual victims, or are attempting to evade a previous suspension — something we’ve seen more of in recent weeks. — Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) July 22, 2020 “We will permanently suspend accounts […]

Disney said to have ‘dramatically’ cut ad spending on Facebook amid boycott

[ad_1] If this is tied to the boycott, it could represent the largest financial blow yet to Facebook over claims its hate speech and misinformation policies are inadequate. Pathmatics estimated that Disney was Facebook’s top US advertiser in the first half of 2020, according to the WSJ. While it won’t necessarily cause significant hardship for […]

Google will ban coronavirus conspiracy ads to fight misinformation

[ad_1] Google is amping up its fight against coronavirus—related misinformation by banning ads that “[contradict] authoritative scientific consensus” about the pandemic. That means websites and apps can no longer make money from running advertisements promoting debunked conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Those include claims that the virus was created in a Chinese lab, that the pandemic […]

Facebook will debunk coronavirus rumors in its COVID-19 info center

[ad_1] Though Facebook has taken a number of steps to combat misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, such as sending alerts to people who share or interact with posts that are later debunked and removed. But some experts have criticized this approach, saying the alerts are not specific enough because they don’t let users know which […]

Pinterest’s moderation doesn’t catch some abusive and false material

[ad_1] A spokesperson acknowledged to OneZero that policy-violating material would “sometimes appear” in results, even after it asked to have the content removed entirely. The company stuck to its emphasis on blocking search results, though, and said it “encourage[s]” people to content in addition to taking advice from “outside experts.” The representative added that it […]

Twitter will fix its overly aggressive ‘5G corona’ fact-checking

[ad_1] Twitter knows its system for automatically fact-checking posts mentioning 5G and the coronavirus is more than a little overzealous, and it’s hoping to tone things down. The social network has promised to “improve” the precision of its labeling system and fact-check fewer tweets that merely happen to include certain keywords. The company is developing […]