Facebook’s plans to encrypt its messenger service will be a “disaster” for child safety and law enforcement, a senior National Crime Agency (NCA) director has said. In 2019, Facebook confirmed it was forging ahead with plans to bring end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to its Messenger platform, despite calls from governments that it will make it easier for … Read more
Facebook has said it will direct users on where and how to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as it also announces a ban on misleading information about vaccines in general. The social network claims it has connected over two billion people from 189 countries to information about the disease through its ‘Covid-19 Information Center’ [sic]. Starting … Read more
Facebook is facing what may be its greatest legal battle yet, with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and nearly every US state separately filing antitrust lawsuits against the company. The competition watchdog has accused Facebook of engaging in a “bury or buy” strategy to eliminate competition, including by purchasing growing rivals Instagram (acquired in 2012 … Read more
Facebook’s independent Oversight Board has announced the first cases on which it will deliberate, following the opening of user appeals in October. First announced in 2018, the Board will have the final word on what content is permitted on Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram. It was created in response to criticism from various groups, particularly … Read more
Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency could finally launch in January, the Financial Times (FT) has reported citing three sources involved in the project. The social network originally announced the project last year, with tentative plans to launch in 2020 as a way to encourage people to make more financial transactions online. The payment method revolves around a digital … Read more
Instagram’s owner Facebook has agreed to make it more difficult for users to post advertising content to its photo-sharing platform without clearly labelling it as such. Popular users often sign deals to advertise a product or service on their feed, but the distinction between paid-for content and standard posted content is not always clear. Clear labelling … Read more
During a US Senate Commerce Committee hearing, CEOs of Google, Facebook, and Twitter defended a law that shields them from liability for questionable content on their platforms. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act 1996, which protects companies from liability over content posted by users on their platforms (declaring that the company is not a … Read more
Facebook has announced the start of its independent Oversight Board on content moderation decisions. Facebook users can now appeal content-moderation decisions directly with its independent oversight board. The social media giant said users could go through this system once they had “exhausted the company’s appeal process”. The Board has the ability to overrule Facebook’s verdict … Read more
Facebook users are less likely to press the ‘Like’ button on content they learn is part of a foreign propaganda campaign, a report in the US has found. Researchers have said that Russia is using political memes to polarise Americans, particularly those at the extreme ends of the political spectrum who typically like and share … Read more
Instagram’s owner Facebook has agreed to make it more difficult for users to post advertising content to its photo-sharing platform without clearly labelling it as such. Popular users often sign deals to advertise a product or service on their feed, but the distinction between paid-for content and standard posted content is not always clear. Clear labelling … Read more