Europe enlists tech companies to help end online hate speech
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft have signed up to stop the spread of hate speech online. The group have committed to a European Commission (EC) code of conduct that ensures their respective platforms “do not offer opportunities for illegal online hate speech to spread virally.”
As the quote suggests, many EU member states have stipulations in their freedom of speech laws that make, for example, expressions of hate based on race, skin color, nationality, religious belief or sexual orientation illegal. A quick search of your social media platform of choice will tell you that all of these expressions are commonplace.
The code of conduct isn’t legally binding, but it does include public commitments that Facebook et al. will try to stick to. They’ll need to ban hate speech in their community guidelines for the region, and implement “clear and effective processes to review notifications regarding illegal hate speech.” Dedicated teams in each company will review potentially offensive content against their own community guidelines and relevant national laws, targeting the removal (or regional disabling, if appropriate) of illegal hate speech in less than 24 hours.
The code should standardize companies on a simple reporting process for online hate speech that will hopefully be more effective than those currently in operation. This process will be there for the public, but also for governmental bodies to act as “trusted reporters.” There will also be some crossover between the companies and law enforcement agencies in the region. The EC wants such agencies to be familiar with the reporting process, for obvious reasons. A two-way dialog will help police know how to remove illegal content, and could also see something like a death threat for delaying a game be actioned on more swiftly by local police.
In addition to adhering to the new reporting guidelines, the companies will share their methods with one another and other social media companies not signed up to the code of conduct. This, it’s hoped, will help spread “best practices” beyond the four companies directly involved. They’ve also committed to raise awareness of the new rules and reporting processes, support educational programs in the field and promote “independent counter-narratives” to hateful rhetoric and prejudice.
The EC, for its part, will be working with the companies to aid them in meeting the code of conduct, and will also be promoting its efforts in an effort to get other companies to sign up.
Source: European Commission
Activists say Vietnam shut down Facebook during Obama’s visit
During President Obama’s three-day trip to Vietnam this week, authorities in the country blocked access to Facebook in an attempt to silence political dissidents, according to reports from two activist organizations. Digital-rights group Access Now and local pro-democracy organization Viet Tan collected reports from within the country and concluded that Facebook was fully blocked or restricted in Vietnam from Sunday through Wednesday, Reuters reports.
Blocking Facebook is a piece of the Vietnamese government’s broader strategy to suppress the use of social networks by political activists planning protests in the country, Reuters says. Vietnamese authorities blocked the site a handful of times in May amid protests over an environmental disaster that resulted in mass fish deaths along Vietnam’s coast. Access to Facebook was shut down on Sunday as pro-democracy groups called for a boycott of parliamentary elections in the country.
Other nations have blocked or restricted access to Facebook in efforts to halt political unrest, including Egypt, China and Bangladesh. One person on the ground in Vietnam tells Engadget that it’s commonplace to see the internet throttled or Facebook blocked as tensions rise in the country — seeing a downed social network is one way citizens know to check the news.
Why did you block Facebook in Vietnam????😡😜 pic.twitter.com/mnqlosw4ne
— Nguyen Le Chau Tue (@TriTue_NT) May 22, 2016
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Reuters
Mark Zuckerberg will use Facebook Live to chat with the ISS
Live video is all the rage for Facebook right now, and next week CEO Mark Zuckerberg will show off the feature with some help from NASA. On Wednesday, June 1st, Zuckerberg will host a 20-minute livestream with NASA astronauts Tim Kopra and Jeff Williams along with the ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) Tim Peake, all three of whom are currently working onboard the ISS. The trio will take questions submitted to NASA’s Facebook page, which is also where the stream will be shown. Things kick off at 12:55 PM ET, so set a reminder if you want to tune in.
Source: NASA (PR Newswire)
Senator behind biometric privacy act tries to remove its teeth
The Illinois Biometric Privacy Act became law in 2008, making it illegal in the state to capture a person’s biometric identifiers — things like fingerprints, iris scans or faceprints — without explicit consent. This has led to three lawsuits against Facebook, Google and Snapchat, each over the companies’ use of face-scanning or -tagging technology. Now, Illinois State Senator Terry Link is attempting to add language to the bill that would make these practices legal in the state, effectively ending the lawsuits, The Verge reports. Note that Link is the senator who originally introduced the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act.
Link’s proposed changes alter the definition of a “scan” to be an in-person experience only. The new language defines a scan as “data resulting from an in-person process whereby a part of the body is traversed by a detector or an electronic beam.” The revision also adds “physical or digital” photographs to the list of items that are not biometric identifiers. The changes are attached to HB6074, a bill that tackles unclaimed property procedures. The alterations were proposed just before the legislature is set to recess for the long Memorial Day weekend, The Verge notes.
Christopher Dore is a partner with Edelson, the firm working on the lawsuit against Facebook, and he thinks the social network had something to do with the revisions.
“We believe that Facebook is a lobbyist that is a part of this,” Dore said, according to The Verge. “The changes that have been proposed certainly mirror the arguments that have been made in our case.”
Earlier this month, a judge denied Facebook’s motion to dismiss the Illinois case against its face-scanning technology.
Regarding this week’s proposed revisions, a Facebook spokesperson tells Engadget, “We appreciate Sen. Link’s effort to clarify the scope of the law he authored.”
Source: The Verge
Robber arrested after Facebook suggests the victim adds him
People know people. It’s how Facebook works. Now it’s a random force for good, helping to track and convict a thief in Birmingham in the UK. Omar Famuyide was spotted on the social network’s “people you may know” feature by one of his victims, after which UK police connected him to multiple robberies and firearms offenses. The BBC reports that he was jailed for 17 years for robbery, attempted robbery, possession of a firearm and possession of a knife.
Facebook’s “people you know” feature not only digs into your friends and their connections, but also lighter connections in the network. It’ll also use your work or education information, as well as location and your Instagram account, to sniff out possible new BFFs… or people who have wronged you. Detective constable Rhiannon Daff said the Facebook tip was “a crucial part of the investigation” and “the final piece of the jigsaw” — not quite as easy a case as the Lucozade Bandit.
Via: Gizmodo UK
Source: BBC
Facebook and Microsoft are building a huge trans-Atlantic data cable
Microsoft and Facebook today have announced a partnership to build a massive underwater data cable connecting the US to Europe, an effort that’ll help the two internet giants better move data back and forth around the world. The cable, dubbed “MAREA,” should be ready by October 2017 and will have an insane estimated data capacity of 160Tbps, making it the highest-capacity subsea cable to ever cross the Atlantic.
It’s not hard to understand why having a better infrastructure for transmitting data is important to both Facebook and Microsoft. Facebook has a whopping 1.6 billion users, and that’s not counting traffic from other hugely popular services like Instagram and Whatsapp. For Microsoft’s part, its Azure cloud services use a ton of bandwidth, and that’s without mentioning its other cloud-based products like Bing, Office, Skype and Xbox Live.
The MAREA system isn’t just for Microsoft and Facebook, however. The cable will be managed by Telxius, a division of the Telefónica telecommunications company. The company will then sell off capacity from MAREA to companies in addition to Facebook and Microsoft.
The cable itself will stretch from Virginia Beach in the US to Bilbao, Spain, a rather unique path. Most trans-Atlantic cables originate in the New York City / New Jersey area, despite the fact that many huge data centers are located in Virginia. Additionally, this route further south from most large cabling systems will supposedly allow for more “resilient and reliable” data connections — something of the utmost importance when dealing with internet services like those Microsoft and Facebook deal in.
Source: Facebook (PR Newswire), Microsoft
Facebook is reportedly working on ‘shoppable’ video ads
Facebook already has ways for you to shop using ads and shop pages on the social network. In an effort to prove ads can encourage spending rather than just promoting a brand, the company is reportedly working on “shoppable” video ads. In other words, you’ll be able to buy products highlighted by a commercial or some other kind of footage with ease. As The Information explains, you’ll be able to tap on a Nike video if you want get more info about a pair of shoes that someone is wearing. If you decided you want to buy them, another tap will send you out to the retailers website.
The Information reports that the new video ads are still in the works, but there are plans to start testing them next month. If the video format sounds familiar, Google Shopping ads show you related products on the pre-roll content ahead of YouTube videos. In that case, clicking the “i” icon displays a list of items alongside pricing and retailer info.
Facebook already has dedicated a dedicated Shop section for business pages and its so-called Canvas feature makes ads a bit more interactive. Messenger chat bots were among the big announcements at this year’s F8 event, and some of those will allow you to order food while others provide updates on orders or serve as “gift concierges” to guide your shopping. Facebook is also said to be working on a way for users to save items they see for browsing later. You know, just in case you need to weight your options before committing.
Source: The Information
Go Live on Facebook’s Windows 10 app
Rejoice everyone using the Facebook app on Windows 10: Now you can start a Facebook Live broadcast from your tablet or desktop. Pretty neat, right? As WinBeta notes, the update is slowly rolling out, so you might not see the “Go Live” button (screenshotted below) in the status update field just yet. Previously, this was only available via the mobile apps, but we’re living in the future so anything’s possible these days. Who knows, it might not be long before we see the next Chewbacca mask video.
Via: WinBeta
Source: Microsoft Store
Mom behind most-watched Facebook Live video visits its HQ
It’s only been a few months since Facebook opened up live video streaming to everyone, but with over a billion daily users the emergence of a massive hit was inevitable. Late last week an odd yet charming video stream of Candace Payne amusing herself by trying on a Chewbacca mask went viral, and currently stands at 143 million views with more than 3 million reshares. According to CEO Mark Zuckerberg that makes her video the most-watched Facebook Live video ever, and just that quickly, she’s on the company campus riding bikes with guess who — Chewbacca.
Most importantly for the social network, beyond selling out the masks at Kohls, she’s kept its live streaming feature in the news cycle for days. She’s made appearances on The Late Late Show with James Corden and Good Morning America, and even if a viewer didn’t stick around to watch the whole video on Facebook, they’ve probably heard about the feature by now. Twitter’s Periscope live streaming and even YouTube Live have been around longer, but Facebook’s massive audience — and algorithmically driven feed — may give it an edge in being able to promote its platform.
Source: Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)
Facebook Live will broadcast a Spanish soccer game
Facebook’s ability to broadcast live video makes it great for breaking news, but perhaps its eventual aim is to become an entertainment destination in its own right. The Spanish football league has announced that it’ll use the service to broadcast a European football soccer game for the first time. The game will be streamed by Grabyo, an online video company backed by luminaries of the game Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas. If you want to watch the title tussle between Atletico Madrid Feminas vs. Athletic Club in the Women’s league, then head to the Facebook on Saturday at 11:45 CET.
This game is, naturally, both the league and Facebook dipping a toe into the water, but it could have big implications for the future. Most of the high-end sporting world is locked behind lucrative pay TV deals but Facebook’s richer than most blue-chip broadcasters. As social sharing dries up, the site needs a new way to keep people’s attention focused on the site, and offering sporting fixtures could be the solution. It’s not the first time a soccer game has been streamed using the service, but it’s the first to have blessing from its parent league.
Its main rival, Twitter, is also adding some premium sports broadcasting to its arsenal, albeit in a much bigger way. The site secured the rights to stream 10 Thursday Night Football games from the NFL that are broadcast on NBC and CBS. While it’s not an exclusive deal, it demonstrates the power of tech companies in beating back the behemoths of broadcast TV. Although it’ll take more than a few years before we see the back of pay per view contests in favor of just clicking “like” on something.
Source: La Liga
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