DEBATE: Could Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook omnipotence be coming to an end? May 7, 2019 Could Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook omnipotence be coming to an end? Greg Consiglio, chief operating officer at Connectt, says YES. Facebook was originally set up to connect friends who share interests, primarily through a news feed that users controlled. Now, algorithms dictate the user experience, and with feeds more crammed than ever, what once was fun and informative [...]
Facebook ditches blue design as CEO Mark Zuckerberg throws focus on privacy May 1, 2019 Facebook has ditched its trademark blue banner as it re-centres its tools around privacy following a year dogged by data scandals. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg last night revealed plans to up his social network's focus on private messaging and groups, with a raft of redesigned features to pivot the platform towards a more private experience. [...]
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos tops list of Silicon Valley’s best performing tech CEOs April 30, 2019 Amazon’s share price has risen by 83 per cent year-on-year, making boss Jeff Bezos the US’s best performing tech chief executive. The online shopping platform’s share price has jumped $69.53 on average per year during Bezos’ 22-year reign as Amazon’s chief executive. Read more: Investigator accuses Saudi Arabia of hacking Jeff Bezos's phone In 1997, which [...]
Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp down across Europe for more than three hours April 14, 2019 Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp left users frustrated today after going offline across the UK and Europe for more than three hours. The three social network giants, which are owned by Facebook, went down at about 11am, according to monitoring website Down Detector. Facebook is having issues since 6:36 AM EDT. https://t.co/BLSiYCF9KL RT if it's down [...]
Facebook and the tech giants are welcoming government regulation – that’s a panic signal for all of us April 9, 2019 Last year, I met someone who had previously worked for a big tech firm in its “free speech” unit. What had happened to make him come and slum it among us mortals in the (badly paid) policy world? Answer: the unit had been shut down. It’s in this context that you should see the milquetoast [...]
Social Media: Who watches the watchers? April 8, 2019 Social media, and especially its archetype, Facebook, has had a difficult run of publicity over the past few years. The 2016 US presidential election and the rise of “fake news” certainly did it no favours, and the Cambridge Analytica scandal which came in its wake made things worse still. Facebook’s origins as a benign thread [...]
The government must pause for thought before pushing ahead with “online harms” regulations April 8, 2019 A common view of the world goes thus – individuals and businesses do whatever they can to pursue their own self-interest, and must be kept in check by governments. As certain companies get bigger and bigger, greater regulations are required. While not entirely without merit, this dichotomous standpoint is excessively blunt and can result in [...]
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 [...]
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: [...]
Zuckerberg: Governments must help Facebook and other web giants regulate harmful content March 31, 2019 Mark Zuckerberg has called on regulators and governments to take a “more active role” in controlling content on the internet. Writing in the Washington Post, Facebook’s founder said firms like his could not be expected to shoulder all the responsibility for moderating harmful content. Read more: Access to Facebook Live to be restricted in wake [...]