San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook on Thursday banned controversial black activist leader Louis Farrakhan, far-right icon Alex Jones and several others in a heightened crackdown on hate content at the leading social network. “We’ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology,” Facebook said …
Read More »In revamp, Facebook bets on small-scale connections, and romance
San José, United States | AFP | Got a crush on another Facebook user? The social network will help you connect, as part of a revamp unveiled Tuesday that aims to foster real-world relationships and make the platform a more intimate place for small groups of friends. Changes coming to the …
Read More »Facebook’s call for global internet regulation sparks debate
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg’s call for “globally harmonized” online regulation raises questions about how internet platforms can deal with concerns about misinformation and abusive content while remaining open to free speech. Here are key questions about the latest proposal from Facebook: What is Facebook …
Read More »Drama as police detective reads out Stella Nyanzi poem in court
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The presentation of a poem that prosecution says is loutish and allegedly written to insult the person of the president, received mixed reactions as the trial of researcher Dr Stella Nyanzi kicked off at Buganda Road Court Wednesday. The poem was posted on Stella …
Read More »A day not to ‘like’ for Facebook after it is hit by outage, criminal probe
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook grappled with challenges on two fronts Wednesday, an hours-long outage and intensified scrutiny from investigators reportedly probing data deals struck by the world’s largest social network. As the outage continued, gripes flooded rival Twitter as well as a comments section on downdetector.com, …
Read More »Zuckerberg sees Facebook future in private, small-scale messaging
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook is moving away from being a “digital town square” to meet growing demands for secure, private messaging on a smaller scale, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday as he outlined a broad vision for transforming the world’s biggest social network. Zuckerberg’s announcement signals a strategic shift for …
Read More »Apps send intimate user data to Facebook: report
San Francisco, United States | AFP | A news report Friday said many smartphone apps were sending highly personal information such as menstrual cycles and body weight to Facebook, without notifying users. The Wall Street Journal report based on its own in-house tests showed that intimate data could be shared with …
Read More »Twitter hammered as user losses overshadow improving finances
Washington, United States | AFP | Twitter shares took a pounding Thursday as an unsettling update on its global user base offset upbeat figures on revenues and profits in the past quarter. Shares skidded 9.8 percent to close at $30.80 following Twitter’s fourth quarter update, which showed a consistent profit trend …
Read More »Facebook restructures kids team in quest for youth
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook on Thursday announced it had restructured its team devoted to products or features designed to increase the social network’s appeal to younger generations. Nascent projects such as a “LOL” platform for funny memes were taken off the board at the “youth team,” which …
Read More »Zuckerberg sees ‘positive’ force of Facebook despite firestorm
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Mark Zuckerberg said Monday he sees Facebook as a largely “positive” force for society as the embattled social network marked its 15th anniversary. Even as Facebook is facing a wave of criticism over issues of manipulation, misinformation, abuse and other social ills, Zuckerberg said it would be a …
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