[ad_1] To flag false content, users will click the three-dot menu at the top right corner of an Instagram post, select “it’s inappropriate” and choose “false information.” If a post is indeed incorrect, it won’t be deleted, but it will be “downplayed” on the Explore tab and hashtag pages. The post creator won’t be notified […]
Category: misinformation
Facebook fact-checker says more work is needed to curb fake news
[ad_1] The organization published 96 fact checks during this period. Of these, 59 were found to be false, 19 were a mix of truth and lies, seven were found to be opinion and six were judged as satire. Just five of the posts — flagged by users concerned about their veracity — were marked as […]
Trump’s ‘Social Media Summit’ was a celebration of conspiracy theorists
[ad_1] “A big subject today at the White House Social Media Summit will be the tremendous dishonesty, bias, discrimination and suppression practiced by certain companies,” Trump tweeted. “We will not let them get away with it much longer.” While Trump didn’t mention Facebook and Twitter by name, it’s not hard to figure out who he […]
Facebook built a tool to track misinformation about itself
[ad_1] Developed in 2016, Stormtracker has been used to follow viral posts about the company. It’s tracked everything from rumors that Facebook listens to users, to a prank that told users if they didn’t copy and paste a status Facebook would share their private information, jokes about Mark Zuckerberg looking like an alien and more. […]
Facebook will fight misinformation linked to the 2020 US census
[ad_1] The audit also signals changes in other areas, including how it studies civil rights issues once the audit is over. The civil rights task force created in December will be formalized and take on additional “expertise” across a range of issues, including voting rights experts who’ll recognize trends in voter suppression. Every senior leader […]
Twitter removes nearly 4,800 accounts linked to Iranian government
[ad_1] The Iranian accounts were divided into three categories depending on their activities. More than 1,600 accounts were tweeting global news content that supported the Iranian state. A total of 248 accounts were engaged specifically in discussion about Israel. Finally, a total of 2,865 accounts were banned due to taking on a false persona which […]
Twitter will direct vaccine-related searches to ‘a credible’ source
[ad_1] “We’re committed to protecting the health of the public conversation on Twitter — ensuring individuals can find information from authoritative sources is a key part of that mission,” the company said. Twitter will also block auto-suggestions for queries that might lead to anti-vax commentary and information. For now, the new search prompt can be […]
Facebook opens ‘war room’ to fight meddling in EU election
[ad_1] The team has already been running for a short while, and caught “hundreds” of instances of suspicious behavior linked to political topics, Facebook’s Lexi Sturdy told the Financial Times. Some of those were voter suppression efforts that have since been removed. The company has also learned from its past experiences and has “fine-tuned” its […]
Researchers find Twitter is good for amplifying lies
[ad_1] New @mmfa study: Major media outlets fail to debunk President Trump’s false or misleading statements in their tweets 65% of the time, amplifying his misinformation an average of 19 times per day. https://t.co/8OV2FGddbn — Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) May 3, 2019 The study analyzed more than 2,000 tweets posted by 32 major US news outlets […]
Sri Lanka lifts social media ban nine days after terrorist bombings
[ad_1] Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Viber were reportedly among the platforms blocked. Nine days later, it’s unclear if the restrictions helped curb violence or limit the spread of misinformation. Sri Lanka isn’t the only country to block social media in an attempt to squash unrest. It joins the likes of the Democratic Republic of Congo, […]