The Facebook news thread

[Rewind]

And the bad news for Facebook just keeps on coming!

Facebook is used to promote tobacco despite policies against it, study finds
CBS News, Apr 5 2018 5:02 PM

New research finds tobacco products are being marketed and sold through unpaid content on Facebook despite policies from the social media company restricting or prohibiting the promotion of these items. In many of these instances, there is no safeguard in place to prevent access to minors.

"Facebook has a portfolio of policies with the laudable intent of keeping tobacco promotion and sales out of the Facebook platform," said lead study author Robert Jackler, MD, principal investigator of Stanford Research Into The Impact Of Tobacco Advertising. "These policies are voluntary and they're a sign of Facebook's commitment to social responsibility. Unfortunately, these policies are inconsistently enforced and a large volume of tobacco promotion exists on Facebook."

Facebook bars paid tobacco advertisements and images of tobacco and related products, as well as links to sites where such items can be purchased. However, the new research finds many tobacco companies are getting around these restrictions through unpaid posts, mainly on their brand-sponsored Facebook pages.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/faceboo...n-sales-study/

[Rewind]

Sandberg says advertisers are "asking the same questions that other people are asking. They want to make sure they can use data and use it safely." Hey, Sheryl, did you ever think we might not want advertisers using our data?

'A few' advertisers have stepped back from Facebook, COO Sheryl Sandberg says

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...405-story.html

[Rewind]

As I said above, the bad news for Facebook just keeps on coming -- and this latest scandal is really alarming. See, in 1996 Congress passed a little act known as HIPAA.......

Report: Facebook asked hospitals for patient info to match with its user data

http://www.slashgear.com/report-face...data-05526295/

[Rewind]

The "new policy" is intended to prevent election meddling by Russian trolls. The policy should have been instituted in 2004 when Facebook was founded.

Facebook's new policy: Advertisers pushing political issues must verify their identities and location

http://www.latimes.com/business/tech...406-story.html

[Rewind]

I could write a song about Facebook: "What a diff'rence the scandals make." Facebook closed at 193.09 February 1. Today it is 157.20.

Facebook suspends another data analytics firm
CBS News, Apr 7 2018 12:41 AM

Canadian analytics firm AggregateIQ, which worked for the victorious Vote Leave campaign in the Brexit vote, has been suspended from Facebook, the company said Friday. AggregateIQ has been linked to the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, the data firm that has been accused of improperly accessing data from 87 million Facebook users. Facebook said in a statement to CBS News that in light of reports that AggregateIQ may have received improperly received data, the firm has been suspended pending an investigation.

AggregateIQ worked with four different campaigns associated with the campaign to leave the European Union in the June 2016 Brexit referendum: Vote Leave, BeLeave, Veterans For Britain and the DUP. The firm also worked for President Trump's newly appointed national security adviser John Bolton and GOP Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Cruz.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/aggrega...dge-analytica/

[Rewind]

Several social media sites contain ads for opioids. Yes, Facebook and Instagram have been contributing to the so-called "opioid crisis" but no longer. Is Facebook suddenly making positive changes solely in an effort to offset all the recent bad publicity? Or am I just being overly cynical?

Facebook shuts down drug hashtags on Instagram

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook...am-2018-04-07/

[Rewind]

Cubeyou was doing "non-profit academic research." That's a euphemism for "Stealing your data and making money doing so.....because it's non-profit for our victims, not for us. "

Facebook suspends data firm Cubeyou in wake of privacy scandal

http://www.msn.com/en-us/finance/tec...dal/ar-AAvDuVI

[Rewind]

Trump, Putin, Kim, Assad, Russian trolls, hush money, Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, the NRA, the White House turmoil.....this ongoing drama is more suspenseful and entertaining than anything on television!

Cambridge Analytica whistleblower says both Congress and Robert Mueller have asked to talk with him about the Facebook scandal and Donald Trump

http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-ex...j-probe-2018-4

[Rewind]

The number of people leaving Facebook is getting to be as large as the number of people leaving the White House.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak leaves Facebook over data collection concerns

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techno...D=ansmsnnews11

[Rewind]

We see what happens when a social media giant values profits more than privacy. This is from CBS News:

Former Facebook manager Sandy Parakilas warned about potential privacy risks in 2012

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sandy-p...risks-in-2012/