Anti-social media: Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark on social media harm after the Christchurch terror attacks April 8, 2019 I Interrupt the former leader of my native New Zealand, Helen Clark, in the middle of a Twitter and Facebook purge. “Social media management” she says, dictating a response to one of the provocateurs or well-wishers. It’s all part of overseeing a social media following of more than 200,000, I’m sure, but especially fitting since [...]
US blocks Amazon’s attempts to ban shareholder vote on facial recognition software April 5, 2019 US authorities have blocked an effort by Amazon to prevent its investors from voting on two proposals about the sale of the company’s facial recognition service. Investors had put forward proposals for a potential audit of its facial recognition software, known as Rekognition, over concerns about breaches of privacy and civil rights. Read more: Millions [...]
Google scraps AI ethics board after just a week amid controversy over board member April 5, 2019 Google has scrapped its AI ethics board only a week after forming it following a controversy over its choice of board members. The tech giant last week unveiled its newly-formed Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC) to oversee the ethical development and use of its AI research and products. Read more: Here's how much Google [...]
Government set to hold social media firms responsible for harmful content April 5, 2019 Bosses of social media giants such as Facebook could be held responsible for rampant harmful content on their platforms, the government is set to warn next week. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will legislate for a new statutory duty of care which will be funded through a levy on media companies, according to a [...]
Snapchat set to shed users to Instagram after controversial 2017 redesign April 4, 2019 Snapchat will see a decline in users from this year as an ill-fated redesign pushes people to rival social media platforms, a new report has stated. This year 14.5m people in the UK will use Snapchat, down 2.3 per cent on last year, according to a forecast published by Emarketer. Read more: Fraudsters use Facebook [...]
Advertising watchdog used ‘child avatars’ to catch irresponsible gambling ads April 4, 2019 The advertising watchdog has revealed it used so-called child avatars to catch gambling firms targeting children with their adverts. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it rolled out the technology, which creates profiles that simulate children’s browsing activity, over a two-week period last year. Read more: New standards rolled out to protect children from gambling [...]
Facebook hit by major data breach that left millions of user records on Amazon public software April 3, 2019 Millions of Facebook users have been affected in a major data oversight that left a trove of records publicly available on Amazon cloud-computing servers. Researchers at cybersecurity firm Upguard found that in one example, media firm Cultura Colectiva had posted 540m user records in a public database that included information such as account names, Facebook [...]
Pop stars Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande placed on Singapore’s ‘offensive lyrics’ list April 2, 2019 Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande were included on a list of "offensive" lyrics circulated among Singapore's members of parliament this week. Read more: Music industry revenue grows 10 per cent The list is part of the home minister's aim to crack down on hate speech efforts to "maintain racial and religious harmony" in the conservative city-state. [...]
Digital advertising firm Teads posts revenue rise as it looks to fend off tech giants April 2, 2019 Digital advertising firm Teads has posted a 30 per cent jump in revenues for the full-year as it looks to win back market share from Facebook and Google. The media platform pulled in revenues of €365m (£314m) last year after extending its reach to 1.4bn global monthly users and more than 90 per cent of [...]
DCMS Committee launches new body to fight fake news as pressure on tech giants builds April 2, 2019 The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee today said it has launched a dedicated division to tackle the ongoing threat of disinformation to democracy. The new sub-committee follows the DCMS Committee’s report into disinformation and fake news, which called for a new regulator to monitor tech giants such as Facebook and Google. Read more: [...]