Social media worsened a migrant crisis on the border of Belarus and Poland and helped smugglers profit off desperate people trying to reach Europe.
How Fake News on Facebook Helped Fuel a Border Crisis in Europe
Category Archives: Government & Policy
Facebook Wrestles With the Features It Used to Define Social Networking
In 2019, Facebook researchers began a new study of one of the social network’s foundational features: the Like button.
With Coercion and Black Boxes, Russia Installs a Digital Iron Curtain
Russia’s boldest moves to censor the internet began in the most mundane of ways — with a series of bureaucratic emails and forms.
The messages, sent by Russia’s powerful internet regulator, demanded technical details — like traffic numbers, equipment specifications and connection speeds — from companies that provide internet and telecommunications services across the country. Then the black boxes arrived.
To continue reading this New York Times report, go to:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/22/technology/russia-internet-censorship-putin.html
US Lawmakers See Path to Rein In Tech, but It Isn’t Smooth
“Facebook and Big Tech are facing a Big Tobacco moment,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, said this week when a whistle-blower testified about how the social media company’s products harmed teenagers.
Facebook harms children and weakens democracy: ex-employee
A former Facebook employee has told US lawmakers that the company’s sites and apps “harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy”.
Singapore passes foreign interference law allowing authorities to block internet content
Singapore’s parliament has passed a law aimed at preventing foreign interference in domestic politics, which the opposition and activists have criticised as a tool to crush dissent.
Facebook Is Weaker Than We Knew
A trove of leaked documents, published by The Wall Street Journal, hints at a company whose best days are behind it.
An Experiment to Stop Online Abuse Falls Short in Germany
Despite having one of the world’s toughest laws against online hate speech and harassment, Germany has struggled to contain toxic content ahead of its Sept. 26 election.
NEW REPORT: Global Battle over Internet Regulation Has Major Implications for Human Rights
Freedom on the Net 2021 finds that while some democratic governments have made good-faith attempts to regulate the technology industry, state intervention in the digital sphere worldwide has contributed to the 11th consecutive year of global decline in internet freedom.
Bolsonaro’s Ban on Removing Social Media Posts Is Overturned in Brazil
President Jair Bolsonaro had issued rules forbidding social networks from removing many posts that the sites considered misinformation. On Tuesday, Brazil’s Senate and top court killed the policy.