Twitter may slow down users’ ability to ‘like’ tweets containing misinformation

Twitter may slow down users’ ability to ‘like’ tweets containing misinformation

Twitter is working to expand the use of its “misinformation” labels on misleading tweets. The company has developed a new feature, not yet live, that would pop up a “misleading information” label when a user tries to “Like” a tweet that’s been labeled as misinformation. The feature was discovered by reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong in […]

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Steve Bannon’s show pulled off Twitter and YouTube over calls for violence

Steve Bannon’s show pulled off Twitter and YouTube over calls for violence

Former presidential advisor and right-wing pundit Steve Bannon had his show suspended from Twitter and an episode removed by YouTube after calling for violence against FBI director Christopher Wray and the government’s leading pandemic expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Bannon, speaking with co-host Jack Maxey, was discussing what Trump should do in a hypothetical second term. […]

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Facebook takes down ‘Stop the Steal 2020’ group organizing around false claims of election chicanery

Facebook takes down ‘Stop the Steal 2020’ group organizing around false claims of election chicanery

Facebook has taken down a group that had amassed more than 300,000 members and was sharing misinformation and organizing around false allegations of impropriety during the 2020 elections. The group, called “Stop the Steal 2020,” was organizing protests targeting the election officials currently counting ballots cast in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Phoenix and Las Vegas. “In line […]

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TikTok takes down some hashtags related to election misinformation, ignores others

TikTok takes down some hashtags related to election misinformation, ignores others

As social media platforms struggle to get U.S. election misinformation under control with varying degrees of success, TikTok has taken new actions to stop people from searching and browsing select hashtags associated with misinformation and conspiracies related to the U.S. election results. The video app has redirected some hashtags — including #RiggedElection, #SharpieGate and others […]

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TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is reportedly looking for $2B before its Hong Kong public offering

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is reportedly looking for $2B before its Hong Kong public offering

ByteDance, the company behind the social media sensation TikTok, is in talks to raise another $2 billion before the initial public offering of a large chunk of its international businesses on the Hong Kong StockExchange, according to a Bloomberg report. The new financing would give the Chinese tech powerhouse a valuation of $180 billion, according […]

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Facebook and Instagram notifications warn US users there’s no winner yet in presidential election

Facebook and Instagram notifications warn US users there’s no winner yet in presidential election

Facebook and Instagram are running notifications in their respective apps informing U.S. users that the winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election has not yet been determined. In large pop-ups appearing at the top of the Facebook and Instagram News Feeds, the notification states that “Votes Are Being Counted” and directs users to other in-app […]

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Twitter hides Trump tweet attacking Supreme Court’s decision on Pennsylvania ballots

Twitter hides Trump tweet attacking Supreme Court’s decision on Pennsylvania ballots

In an election eve preview of what to expect in the coming days, President Trump pushed the limits on Twitter’s election-specific policies Monday night. In a tweet, Trump railed against the Supreme Court’s decision to allow Pennsylvania officials to count ballots postmarked by Election Day. The Republican Party has waged a brazen legal onslaught against […]

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Instagram extends time limits on live streams to 4 hours, will soon support archiving

Instagram extends time limits on live streams to 4 hours, will soon support archiving

Instagram is adapting to the way creators have been using its service during the coronavirus pandemic. With individuals and businesses now limited from hosting in-person events — like concerts, classes, meetups, and more — users have turned to Instagram to live stream instead. Today, the company says it’s significantly expanding the time limit for these […]

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Former Facebook and Pinterest exec Tim Kendall traces “extractive business models” to VCs

Former Facebook and Pinterest exec Tim Kendall traces “extractive business models” to VCs

Last month, former Facebook and Pinterest executive Tim Kendall told Congress during a House hearing on the dangers of social media that Facebook made its products so addictive because its ad-driven business model relies on people paying attention to its product longer every day. He said much the same in the Netflix documentary “The Social […]

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