August 3, 2023

The Conversation: Conspiracy theories: how social media can help them spread and even spark violence

The Conversation: Conspiracy theories: how social media can help them spread and even spark violence. “In our recent study, we set out to understand exactly why and how conspiracy theories persist and persevere over time on social media. We found that social media can help breed a shared identity toward conspiracy theory radicalisation by acting as an echo chamber for such beliefs. The core characteristics of social media play a critical role in building and reinforcing identity echo chambers.”

Research & Opinion 0
September 14, 2022

USA Today: Livestreamed violence compounds America’s horror and inspires copycats, experts say. When will it stop?

USA Today: Livestreamed violence compounds America’s horror and inspires copycats, experts say. When will it stop?. “The violence across Tennessee’s second-largest city that left four dead and three injured is the latest example of why advocates have been pushing tech companies since the 2019 mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, to draft policies against livestreamed attacks and quickly scrub the videos from their platforms.”

Research & Opinion 0
August 13, 2022

CNN: Account bearing Ohio FBI standoff suspect’s name encouraged violence against the agency in posts on Trump social media platform

CNN: Account bearing Ohio FBI standoff suspect’s name encouraged violence against the agency in posts on Trump social media platform. “An account bearing the name of Ricky Shiffer, the man authorities say they killed after he tried Thursday to breach an FBI field office in Cincinnati, made posts on the social media platform founded by Donald Trump referencing the attempt to storm the office and encouraging others online to prepare for a revolutionary-type war.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
February 21, 2022

Offline Versus Online Radicalisation: Which is the Bigger Threat? (Global Network on Extremism & Technology)

Global Network on Extremism & Technology: Offline Versus Online Radicalisation: Which is the Bigger Threat?. “Governments, social media companies and the general public are becoming increasingly concerned about the threat of those who are radicalised online and turn to violent extremism. However, the evidence base for this concern is not fully formed. For instance, it is not yet clear if those who are being radicalised offline are still the greater threat. It is particularly important to explore this issue empirically, as large amounts of material resources from both the public and the private sectors may be redirected from offline to online initiatives. This report seeks to explore the differences in outcomes for those who have been primarily radicalised offline versus those radicalised online.”

Research & Opinion 0
December 9, 2021

Wired: An ‘Alt-Jihad’ Is Rising On Social Media

Wired: An ‘Alt-Jihad’ Is Rising On Social Media . “Unlike their predecessors, the post-September 11 generation of young internet jihadists is no longer simply defined by their ideological affinities. This is a generation that was born into a global war on terror, came of age during the rise of the Islamic State, and witnessed the Taliban taking back control of Afghanistan. A generation that no longer trusts its self-appointed leaders, others within its communities, or mainstream religious mores. A generation that seems outwardly conflicted, borrowing from those that hate what it represents but seemingly compelled by that very same hate. A generation as fluent in Hadith to support wanton violence as in the hatred of minorities and the latest DaBaby track.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
October 24, 2021

Washington Post: Inside Facebook, Jan. 6 violence fueled anger, regret over missed warning signs

Washington Post: Inside Facebook, Jan. 6 violence fueled anger, regret over missed warning signs. “Facebook has never publicly disclosed what it knows about how its platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp, helped fuel that day’s mayhem. The company rejected its own Oversight Board’s recommendation that it study how its policies contributed to the violence and has yet to fully comply with requests for data from the congressional commission investigating the events. But thousands of pages of internal company documents disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission by the whistleblower Frances Haugen offer important new evidence of Facebook’s role in the events.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
August 21, 2021

The Verge: Roblox is struggling to moderate re-creations of mass shootings

The Verge: Roblox is struggling to moderate re-creations of mass shootings. “For over a year, Anti-Defamation League researcher Daniel Kelley has been finding re-creations of a horrific mass shooting on Roblox — and every time he looks, he says he finds more. Kelley told The Verge it’s happened three times: first in January 2020, then again in May 2021. The most recent incident came on August 13th, as he was preparing a presentation on how to report offending content.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
August 11, 2021

Prio: Burden of Pandemic May Motivate Violent Protest and Antigovernment Sentiment

Prio: Burden of Pandemic May Motivate Violent Protest and Antigovernment Sentiment. “The sometimes-violent antigovernment demonstrations that erupted during 2020 and 2021 were fueled in part by the spread of extremist ideologies, conspiratorial thinking, and political polarization. New research published in the journal Psychological Science also puts some of the blame for civil unrest and political violence on the psychological burden of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

COVID-19 0
June 23, 2021

Courthouse News Service: Ninth Circuit Revives Suit Against Social Media Giants Over Nightclub Terror Attack

Courthouse News Service: Ninth Circuit Revives Suit Against Social Media Giants Over Nightclub Terror Attack. “A Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday largely answered the question of whether social media networks can be held liable for terror attacks around the world: they can’t. Unless the families of victims can show — as they may have in one case — that the tech giants knowingly allow terrorist groups to create and maintain public accounts and turning a deaf ear to complaints. But the panel also said it’s time for either the executive or legislative branches to do something about unregulated social media networks and the broad immunity provided them under the Communications Decency Act of 1996.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
January 31, 2021

CNET: Facebook is working on how to keep ads away from crime and tragedy news topics

CNET: Facebook is working on how to keep ads away from crime and tragedy news topics. “Facebook has announced it’s working on “topic exclusion controls” with a group of advertisers to ensure ads don’t appear on the News Feed next to certain topics. Facebook said Friday that while developing these tools, it will also build in ‘safeguards to protect people’s privacy.’”

Tweaks & Updates 0
January 7, 2021

New York Times: Twitter and Facebook Lock Trump’s Accounts After Violence on Capitol Hill

New York Times: Twitter and Facebook Lock Trump’s Accounts After Violence on Capitol Hill. “Twitter and Facebook on Wednesday locked the accounts of President Trump, which prevents him from posting messages to his more than 88 million followers on Twitter and 35 million followers on Facebook, after he published a string of inaccurate and inflammatory messages on a day of violence in the nation’s capital.”

Tweaks & Updates 0
November 23, 2020

BuzzFeed News: Facebook Has A Rule To Stop Calls To Arms. Moderators Didn’t Enforce It Ahead Of The Kenosha Shootings.

BuzzFeed News: Facebook Has A Rule To Stop Calls To Arms. Moderators Didn’t Enforce It Ahead Of The Kenosha Shootings.. “In August, following a Facebook event at which two protesters were shot and killed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Mark Zuckerberg called the company’s failure to take down the event page asking militant attendees to bring weapons ‘an operational mistake.’ There had been a new policy established earlier that month ‘to restrict’ the ability of right-wing militants to post or organize in groups, Facebook’s CEO said, and under that rule, the event page should have been removed. BuzzFeed News has learned, however, that Facebook also failed to enforce a separate year-old call to arms policy that specifically prohibited event pages from encouraging people to bring weapons to intimidate and harass vulnerable individuals.”

COVID-19 0

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