ABS-CBN News: New military chief eyes ‘regulating’ social media to combat radicalization. “The new head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said he was eyeing to ‘regulate’ social media, which he claims had become a platform used by terrorists in radicalizing and recruiting future members.”
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ABC News (Australia): UNSW under fire for deleting social media posts critical of China over Hong Kong
ABC News (Australia): UNSW under fire for deleting social media posts critical of China over Hong Kong. “The official [University of New South Wales] account on Friday tweeted an article that quoted Human Rights Watch’s Australia director and adjunct law lecturer Elaine Pearson as saying: ‘Now is a pivotal moment to bring attention to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Hong Kong’. Several hours later, a further tweet was posted by UNSW reading: ‘The opinions expressed by our academics do not always represent the views of UNSW.'”
EurekAlert: Survey finds Americans social media habits changing as national tensions rise
EurekAlert: Survey finds Americans social media habits changing as national tensions rise. “As national tensions rise, a new national survey of 2,000 people commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center finds more Americans are adjusting how they use social media platforms. Many participants cited stress from the global COVID-19 pandemic, along with the movement to end racial inequality and other divisive political issues in our country as reasons for taking a social media break.”
Rantt Media: Some 2020 Candidates Struggle To Get Verified On Twitter
Rantt Media: Some 2020 Candidates Struggle To Get Verified On Twitter . “On the matter of blue checkmarks, one of the most powerful Twitter initiatives to ensure election integrity is its candidate verification program. But complaints from candidates and their campaigns suggest that execution of Twitter’s candidate verification program needs some improvement. A blue checkmark, denoting verification on candidates’ profiles, has been elusive. A number of candidates who are on the ballot for Congress in November were frustrated by long delays in getting Twitter to verify their accounts. Others who are on the ballot in the general election still don’t have their accounts verified, as of this writing.”
US officials: Russia behind spread of virus disinformation (AP)
AP: US officials: Russia behind spread of virus disinformation. “Russian intelligence services are using a trio of English-language websites to spread disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, seeking to exploit a crisis that America is struggling to contain ahead of the presidential election in November, U.S. officials said Tuesday.”
Middle East Monitor: Egypt releases social media influencer jailed for ‘immoral videos’
Middle East Monitor: Egypt releases social media influencer jailed for ‘immoral videos’. “TikTok influencer Manar Samy has been released from Egyptian jail on a bail of 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,253) after being arrested earlier this month for posting ‘immoral videos’. Samy was sentenced to three years imprisonment earlier this month on charges of “inciting debauchery, immorality and stirring up instincts” through her online videos, according to a prosecution statement.”
Slate: Confederate Groups Are Thriving on Facebook. What Does That Mean for the Platform?
Slate: Confederate Groups Are Thriving on Facebook. What Does That Mean for the Platform?. “In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests, demands for Facebook to address hate speech have escalated, coinciding with a nationwide movement to remove Confederate statues and flags from cities, states, and institutions long imbued with Confederate symbolism…. These movements, intertwined and mutually reinforcing, pose a particular threat to those who consider themselves present-day Confederates. From their perspective, Facebook has become more essential than ever to amplifying their message at a critical moment in history—just as Facebook has shown a new willingness to police their speech.”
Wired: How to stop Facebook from tracking everything you do (sort of)
Wired: How to stop Facebook from tracking everything you do (sort of). “The most complete understanding of what Facebook can and can’t do with your data comes from the company’s privacy policy. However, including all subheadings, caveats and links, that’s 4,500 words long and probably not light reading for everyone. So instead, here’s our take on the most important parts of Facebook’s tracking operation, why it collects this data and what you can do about it.”
Mashable: Facebook sued by news media outlet over ‘Russia state-controlled’ label
Mashable: Facebook sued by news media outlet over ‘Russia state-controlled’ label. “Maffick LLC has filed a lawsuit against Facebook over the foreign-controlled label that the social media giant puts on all of its pages and posts. Maffick runs popular Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts for online news media outlets such as In the NOW, Waste-Ed, and Soapbox. You’ve probably come across Maffick’s Facebook page for ‘In the NOW.’ With nearly 5 million followers on the social media platform, In the NOW’s video content is regularly shared on Facebook.”
New York Times: Fighting False News in Ukraine, Facebook Fact Checkers Tread a Blurry Line
New York Times: Fighting False News in Ukraine, Facebook Fact Checkers Tread a Blurry Line. “StopFake, like all of Facebook’s outside fact checkers, signed a pledge to be nonpartisan and not to focus its checks ‘on any one side.’ But in recent weeks, StopFake has been battling accusations of ties to the Ukrainian far right and of bias in its fact-checking. The episode has raised thorny questions for Facebook over whom it allows to separate truth from lies — and who is considered a neutral fact checker in a country at war.”
MIT Technology Review: It’s too late to stop QAnon with fact checks and account bans
MIT Technology Review: It’s too late to stop QAnon with fact checks and account bans. “Researchers have known for years that different platforms play different roles in coordinated campaigns. People will coordinate in a chat app, message board, or private Facebook group, target their messages (including harassment and abuse) on Twitter, and host videos about the entire thing on YouTube. In this information ecosystem, Twitter functions more like a marketing campaign for QAnon: content is created to be seen and interacted with by outsiders. Meanwhile, Facebook is a powerhouse for coordination, especially in closed groups.”
CNN: A baseless US conspiracy theory found a foothold in Europe. New research shows how
CNN: A baseless US conspiracy theory found a foothold in Europe. New research shows how. “A baseless claim about a child sex-trafficking ring, a Washington, DC pizzeria, and Hillary Clinton has been passed around among conspiracy theorists for more than three years. No evidence has emerged to support any part of the story. But last month, British pop star Robbie Williams used his voice to argue that the claims deserved more attention.”
London School of Economics and Political Science: Facebook, language and the difficulty of moderating hate speech
London School of Economics and Political Science: Facebook, language and the difficulty of moderating hate speech. “In March 2018, the Sri Lankan government blocked access to Facebook, citing the spread of hate speech on the platform and tying it to the incidents of mob violence in Digana, Kandy. In this post by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, a senior researcher at Asia Pacific think-tank LIRNEasia, the difficulties of responding to hate speech are unpacked based on research that his Data, Algorithms and Policy team recently completed.”
NPR: Classical Music Tries To Reckon With Racism — On Social Media
NPR: Classical Music Tries To Reckon With Racism — On Social Media. “Two controversies broke out this week regarding accusations of anti-Black racism in classical music. One involved two high-profile international soloists, pianist Yuja Wang and violinist Leonidas Kavakos. The other features less prominent individuals — a group of academics — but it also points to the slowness of the classical music community to take up difficult conversations about race and representation. But in both cases, the accusations and the rebuttals have played out speedily on social media — within a community that still relies heavily on hierarchical prestige and institutional power.”
Phys .org: COVID-19: Social media users more likely to believe false information
Phys .org: COVID-19: Social media users more likely to believe false information. “A new study led by researchers at McGill University finds that people who get their news from social media are more likely to have misperceptions about COVID-19. Those that consume more traditional news media have fewer misperceptions and are more likely to follow public health recommendations like social distancing.”
