Privacy regulators ‘concerned’ by Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency August 5, 2019 The UK information commissioner has joined global regulators in worries over Facebook’s plans to launch its own cryptocurrency. Elizabeth Denham said she was “concerned” over the lack of detail on how Facebook and its partners will handle personal information. Read more: Facebook’s libra cryptocurrency ‘poses global currency threat’ The social network’s role is considered particularly [...]
MPs call on Facebook to explain ‘contradictory’ Cambridge Analytica evidence August 1, 2019 MPs have ramped up the pressure on Facebook to explain alleged contradictions in its testimony about the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. Facebook executives told a parliamentary committee they had learned that user data had been misused for political advertising following a Guardian report in December 2015. Read more: ITV used Facebook to find Jeremy Kyle [...]
Facebook fact checkers stumped by satire amid crackdown on harmful content July 30, 2019 Third-party fact checkers tasked with flagging misinformation on Facebook have been forced to reconsider how they handle humorous posts due to the number of people misinterpreting satire as fact. Full Fact, which carries out fact checking services on Facebook in the UK, has urged the social media firm to introduce a new rating for humorous [...]
Trump’s tweets do bitcoin and Facebook a favour July 23, 2019 Donald Trump’s recent tweet about bitcoin and that Facebook’s new quasi-crypto the “libra” would get the full force of the US regulators if they “want to become a bank” has put the crypto kitty amongst the pigeons. Why now? Surely Trump doesn’t care about bitcoin? Well, it was timed just before Facebook had to testify [...]
Israeli security firm NSO denies Whatsapp spyware can hack data from Google Cloud, iCloud and Facebook July 19, 2019 Israeli cyber security company NSO has denied telling customers that its Whatsapp-hacking spyware is capable of hacking people’s data from the servers of Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft. NSO’s smartphone malware, named Pegasus, has been used by governments for a number of years to spy on specific individuals and how they use their smartphones, [...]
Facebook launches crackdown on scam ads following Martin Lewis lawsuit July 16, 2019 Facebook has launched a new tool to fight fake adverts on its platform following a lawsuit filed by money saving guru Martin Lewis. Lewis, who founded personal finance website Money Saving Expert, sued the social media platform last year over fake Facebook adverts that used his name and image. Read more: Facebook to be slapped [...]
UK ploughs ahead with digital services tax despite US backlash July 11, 2019 The UK has vowed to plough ahead with a digital services tax on large tech companies, just hours after the US launched a probe into France for a similar levy. The government today published draft legislation for its next finance bill, which includes a new tax aimed tech giants such as Facebook, Amazon and Google. [...]
France passes digital services tax despite US investigation July 11, 2019 France has given final approval to a new digital services tax on tech giants, despite protests from the US that the move unfairly targets American companies. The three per cent levy will apply to digital revenue earned in France by multinational tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Amazon. Read more: France will tax Amazon [...]
Plans for internet regulation ‘could lead to censorship’ July 9, 2019 Government plans to crack down on internet firms over online harms could lead to the UK having the highest level of online censorship of all major democracies, a City law firm has warned. In its response to a recent government white paper, RPC said plans to hold businesses accountable for material posted to their platforms [...]
Wework poaches Facebook executive as it gears up for stock market float July 9, 2019 Wework has poached senior Facebook executive Martin Ott as the firm looks to beef up its management team ahead of its highly-anticipated stock market debut. Ott, who previously served as Facebook’s managing director for central Europe, will join the flexible workspace firm as managing director for EMEA, City A.M. can reveal. Read more: EMA to [...]