The Intercept: Facebook Allowed Advertisers To Target Users Interested In “White Genocide” — Even In Wake Of Pittsburgh Massacre. “APPARENTLY FUELED BY anti-Semitism and the bogus narrative that outside forces are scheming to exterminate the white race, Robert Bowers murdered 11 Jewish congregants as they gathered inside their Pittsburgh synagogue, federal prosecutors allege. But despite long-running international efforts to debunk the idea of a ‘white genocide,’ Facebook was still selling advertisers the ability to market to those with an interest in that myth just days after the bloodshed.”
racism
New York Times: On Social Media, No Answers for Hate
New York Times: On Social Media, No Answers for Hate. “Over the last 10 years, Silicon Valley’s social media companies have expanded their reach and influence to the furthest corners of the world. But it has become glaringly apparent that the companies never quite understood the negative consequences of that influence nor what to do about it — and that they cannot put the genie back in the bottle.”
BuzzFeed News: The Conspiratorial Hate We See Online Is Increasingly Appearing In Real Life
BuzzFeed News: The Conspiratorial Hate We See Online Is Increasingly Appearing In Real Life. “Connecting the online footprints to tragedies in the physical world also reveals an undeniable truth: that the dichotomy between an online world and ‘real life’ is (and has always been) a false one. The hatred, trolling, harassment, and conspiracy theorizing of the internet’s underbelly cannot be dismissed as empty, nihilistic performance. It may be a game, but it’s a game with consequences. And it’s spilling into the physical world with greater, more alarming frequency.”
The Verge: Bing and Yahoo are suggesting offensive searches
The Verge: Bing and Yahoo are suggesting offensive searches. “Bing and Yahoo, which is powered by Bing, are both suggesting offensive content within their search features. How-To Geek spotted that Bing’s image search is serving up suggestions for related topics that contain racist terms, the sexualization of minors, and otherwise offensive content. The Verge then found that this problem extends to Yahoo: its homepage search box includes an autocomplete feature that populates racist phrases, and the results often prioritize the company’s Yahoo Answers posts that contain offensive material.” As you might imagine, the article contains / links to a lot of offensive content.
France 24: A social media network mobilizing blacks ahead of Brazil elections
France 24: A social media network mobilizing blacks ahead of Brazil elections. “As Brazil’s general elections approach, a new social network is gaining traction aimed at giving greater visibility to black candidates while highlighting anti-racism initiatives in the country tainted by racial prejudice. Black & Black, which has 100,000 users — in a population of more than 200 million — aims to ‘connect the demands and narratives of the world’s black population’ and to ensure that ‘black people get the prominence they deserve.'”
Motherboard: Facebook Is Reviewing its Policy on White Nationalism After Motherboard Investigation, Civil Rights Backlash
Motherboard: Facebook Is Reviewing its Policy on White Nationalism After Motherboard Investigation, Civil Rights Backlash. “Facebook told Motherboard it’s currently reviewing its policies on white supremacy, white nationalism, and white separatism after a series of meetings with civil rights leaders, reporting by Motherboard on these policies, and a forceful letter from a civil rights group formed under the direction of President John F. Kennedy.”
Washington Post: Racism and anti-Semitism surged in corners of the Web after Trump’s election, analysis shows
Washington Post: Racism and anti-Semitism surged in corners of the Web after Trump’s election, analysis shows. “Racist and anti-Semitic content has surged on shadowy social media platforms — spiking around President Trump’s Inauguration Day and the ‘Unite the Right Rally’ in Charlottesville — spreading hate speech and extremist views to mainstream audiences, according to an analysis published this week. The findings, from a newly formed group of scientists named the Network Contagion Research Institute who studied hundreds of millions of social media messages, bolster a growing body of evidence about how extremist speech online can be fueled by real-world events.”
