The Facebook news thread

I think this story falls under the category "Easier said than done."

Ahead of midterms, Facebook says it will ban fake content designed to suppress voter turnout

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/faceboo...voter-turnout/

Facebook is being sued for fraud for greatly overstating the number of ad views and then charging the advertisers higher rates. Facebook, of course, denies the charge. By the way, Facebook has informed me that this thread has been viewed more than 700,000 times.

'Far from an honest mistake': Facebook accused of inflating ad data

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/faceboo...awsuit-claims/

Following huge data breaches, the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the discovery of thousands of fake accounts, Facebook has come under intense scrutiny by European regulators who have imposed stronger privacy protections. Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg have hired a British Liberal Democrat party leader to help Facebook deal with Europe. That's because Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg have enough to deal with in this country.

Facebook hires Nick Clegg, Britain's former deputy prime minister, to lead global affairs

http://www.latimes.com/business/tech...019-story.html

These major shareholders are upset by all the scandals, data thefts and security breaches -- but they have as much chance of getting Zuckerberg to resign as I have of winning the $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot.

Facebook's major investors want Mark Zuckerberg to step down as chairman

https://www.techworm.net/2018/10/fac...-chairman.html

An election is just a few days away and Facebook is flooded with fake accounts, fake ads, false stories, doctored photos, propaganda, hoaxes and conspiracy theories -- in Brazil. What, did you think I was talking about the United States?

Facebook's WhatsApp flooded with fake news in Brazil election

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-b...-idUSKCN1MU0UP

Sometimes I think the Russians, the Chinese and the Iranians care about United States elections more than United States citizens do.

Facebook removes 82 Iran-linked accounts spreading false information

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/faceboo...ng-false-info/

There are so many alt-right groups in the United States now, we can't really call them "alt" anymore, can we?

Facebook removes pages belonging to far-right group 'Proud Boys'
NBC News, Oct 31, 2018 1:10 AM PDT

Facebook has begun taking down pages affiliated with the "Proud Boys," a far-right organization whose members were allegedly involved in a violent fight in New York this month. Pages on Facebook and Instagram that previously belonged to the group disappeared and instead showed messages saying they were not available. The social networking company confirmed the move and cited its policies against hate organizations and figures.

Several members of the Proud Boys were arrested this month, in the days after police said the group was involved in a fight with masked protesters belonging to the anti-fascist coalition Antifa. The fight occurred after Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes gave a speech on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Facebook said in a statement, "We ban these organizations and individuals from our platforms and also remove all praise and support when we become aware of it." Social media services and other tech companies have faced pressure from some users to be more aggressive in enforcing their bars on hate speech, especially as online threats have evolved into violence in the real world. Other users have expressed concern about the companies becoming more powerful arbiters of speech.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-...d-boys-n926506

Members of the British and Canadian Parliaments formed a committee to investigate the use of social media to spread misinformation and influence elections. They want Zuckerberg to come to London and testify in person. Will he? I'm guessing he will not "like" the committee's request.

UK-Canada committee wants to question Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook's 'malign use in world affairs and democratic process'

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/faceboo...bined-inquiry/

Here is a foolproof way to stop fake news and fake accounts on Facebook: Impose a strict, inviolable rule that anyone who wants to make a post has to go to Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, present proper identification and submit his proposed message to a team of fact checkers who will post it upon verification of accuracy. Of course the number of daily Facebook posts would drop by 99.99999% -- but would that really be so bad?

Facebook, Twitter make moves to guard against misinformation in 2018 midterms and beyond

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fa...icNn?ocid=AMZN

Facebook has been trying to put a stop to fake accounts, fake ads, misinformation and election meddling but it's a never-ending battle. At least they came up with a new descriptive term:

Hours before election day, Facebook pulls 115 accounts for 'coordinated inauthentic behavior'

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...o46q?ocid=AMZN

The social media giant also admitted they were "too slow to spot Russian interference on Facebook." Gee, ya think?

Facebook drops political consultancy firm that sought to discredit critics

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...JMpt?ocid=AMZN

The New York Times reported that Facebook hired Definers Public Affairs "to discredit activist protesters, in part by linking them to the liberal financier George Soros" while "lobbying a Jewish civil rights group to cast some criticism of the company as anti-Semitic." Soros, understandably, is not happy -- and Facebook's troubles continue to worsen.

George Soros' foundation blasts 'Facebook’s smear campaign'

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-...mear-campaign/

According to the business/technology website 24/7 Wall St., the most dangerous jobs in America are logging, commercial fishing, airplane piloting and roofing. I'm starting to think being a member of Facebook's public-relations team should be on that list. Facebook's troubles just keep multiplying.

Senators press Facebook for response to reports that the social media giant retaliated against critics

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senator...ainst-critics/

Facebook's fake accounts, fake ads, fake stories, privacy breaches, data theft, retaliation against critics and problems with the EU have led many to demand the resignation of Mark Zuckerberg and the firing of the CEO. Zuckerberg's attitude seems to be, "I'm not leaving and you can't make me! Nyaah, nyaah, nyaah!"

Mark Zuckerberg vows to stay at Facebook with Sarah Sandberg despite alleged smear campaign

https://www.latimes.com/business/la-...121-story.html

In the UK, as compared with the US, it is not so easy for big corporations to get away with wrongdoing. A California judge granted Facebook's request to have certain documents sealed, documents which would reveal the company's failures to properly address the problems of fake accounts and fake stories. But now, I say, old chap, we might finally learn the truth, eh wot?

British Parliament seizes Facebook documents that an American judge had sealed

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/british...rdered-sealed/

November 27. Today is the day a seven-nation committee spspearheaded by members of the UK and Canadian Parliaments meets in London to investigate all the thousands of fake accounts and fake news stories on Facebook. CEO Mark Zuckerberg was asked to attend. Did he? What do you think?

Facebook engineer warned in 2014 of Russian intrusion, UK lawmaker says
CBS News, Nov 27 2018 10:59 AM

A Facebook engineer discovered in October 2014 that "an entity with Russian IP addresses" was harvesting more than three billion data points per day, a British member of Parliament revealed today. Communications related to the engineer's discovery were among a trove of documents seized from an American businessman by Damian Collins, who leads an unprecedented coalition of lawmakers from nine nations investigating the social media giant and its role in spreading disinformation.

Collins' "grand international committee" grilled Richard Allan, Facebook's vice president for public policy, and Collins gave the first hints of what the seized documents contain. Though he said the committee won't be publishing the documents, he said one in particular might be of significant public interest.

"An engineer at Facebook notified the company in October of 2014 that an entity with Russian IP addresses had been using a Pinterest API key to pull over three billion data points a day," Collins said at the hearing. "Was that reported to any external body at the time?"

Allan — who was seated next to an empty chair reserved for Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who declined to attend — did not directly answer the question. However, a Facebook spokesperson contacted by CBS News said, "The engineers who had flagged these initial concerns subsequently looked into this further and found no evidence of specific Russian activity."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/faceboo...t-member-says/

Mark Luckie complains that Facebook is run by biased, discriminatory, privileged white men. Isn't that true of most big US corporations?

Facebook has a 'black people problem,' says former employee who quit this month

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/27/face...-employee.html

A member of British Parliament cited several documents which reveal how Facebook allowed third parties to access data without users' consent. Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook never 'sold' data. Am I to assume, then, he let these "third parties" have it for free?

Zuckerberg denies Facebook ever 'sold anyone's data'

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...xFf4?ocid=AMZN

Another bit of bad news for Facebook -- and Facebook users. You didn't want your photos shared publicly? Well, guess what.

Facebook reveals a bug exposed 6.8 million users' photos

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/14/tech/...bug/index.html

The bad news for Facebook just keeps getting badderer and badderer.

Facebook could face multi-billion-dollar fine for data breaches
CNN, Dec 14 2018 3:34 PM

Facebook could be facing a multi-billion-dollar fine after a regulator announced today it is launching an investigation into the company over failure to protect user privacy. The Irish Data Protection Commission, which oversees Facebook's compliance with European law, launched a "statutory inquiry" into Facebook after receiving multiple reports of data breaches affecting the company. News of the inquiry came just as Facebook announced that a bug exposed photos from as many 6.8 million users. In September, the company announced the biggest security breach in its history, in which hackers accessed the personal information of tens of millions of Facebook users.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/14/tech/...ine/index.html