No, Facebook wasn't deliberately censoring Wikileaks' #DNCLeak emails
Julian Assange promised to deliver a cache of emails that would harm 'liberal war hawk' Hillary Clinton and her presidential campaign. Living up to Assange's promise, Wikileaks delivered the goods.
It wasn't long before controversy struck, but this was not because of the content of the emails. The communication between US Democratic Party committee members was shared on Facebook but it didn't take long for the content to be blocked, leading to accusations of censorship.
Facebook's solar-powered 'Aquila' internet airplane completes first flight
When I find myself without internet access for even just a short period of time -- say, less than an hour -- I feel like I am having withdrawal symptoms. I get anxious, irritable, and frustrated. First world problems, am I right?
Sadly, according to Facebook, there are 4 billion people on the Earth with no access at all -- makes a short outage seem rather insignificant. Mark Zuckerberg and company are looking to change this with an unlikely tool -- solar-powered airplanes that beam the internet to the ground. Today, Facebook announces that its experimental aircraft successfully completed its first flight last month in Arizona.
Facebook celebrates 1 billion monthly Messenger users
The battle between messaging apps has been going on for a number of years now, but the same names keep floating to the top.
WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger regularly feature in the top chat apps, and today Facebook announces that it has hit a key milestone -- one billion users every month. To celebrate, the social network has a little gift to say thanks... but don’t get too excited.
After truck attack in Nice, Google offers free calls to France and Facebook activates Safety Check
The world woke this morning to news that a trunk had been driven through a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France. With 84 people killed and many seriously injured, people around the world are not only shocked and appalled, but also concerned about friends and family in the area.
As has become worryingly common, Facebook today activated its Safety Check feature to allow people in Nice to let those they know that they are safe. In addition to this, Google and a number of phone providers are offering free calls and texts between the US and France.
Facebook's 13,000 employees will use Microsoft Office 365
Facebook has signed a deal with Microsoft to use some of the software giant’s cloud-based productivity tools.
Facebook’s 13,000 employees will use some of Microsoft's Office 365 services, such as email and calendar, while other services, like Skype for Business or Yammer, will not be used as directly compete with Facebook’s own.
Facebook explains live video censorship policies after live-streaming a fatal shooting
It was only a matter of time before Facebook's decision to open up live video to everyone was going to result in controversy. Sure enough, earlier this week, the social network became the medium through which the shooting dead of Philando Castile by a police officer was shared with the world. The graphic video quickly became notorious, but then vanished temporarily.
There were suggestions that Facebook was censoring the footage, but the company said that a technical glitch was to blame. But whether the video was censored, collapsed under the weight of traffic, or did succumb to a problem, the killing of Philando Castile on Facebook Live raises many questions about how the platform is used, and Facebook has responded to the incident with an explanation about its censorship policies.
Facebook Messenger ups security with end-to-end encryption in 'secret conversations'
Continuing in its relentless drive to take over the world of messaging, Facebook Messenger is gaining end-to-end encryption. To start with, the security feature is only rolling out on a 'limited test basis' but if feedback is positive, it will get a wider airing.
Facebook says that the move comes in response to requests for additional security options to protect discussions about sensitive matters, saying that security and privacy experts have been involved in the implementation of the feature.
Our private data is worth less than we think
Brits think their personal data is really, really valuable. There is nothing wrong with that, and private data should be valued highly, and guarded as such. However, once criminals get a hold of such data, they’ll sell it for such a low price you simply won't believe.
According to a new TotallyMoney.com report, based on a poll of 1,000 consumers, we value an email address at £983. In reality, it is being sold for five pence. A similar thing is with the browsing history. Its actual price on the black market is a ridiculous £0.0014. On average, we value it at £934.
Woman live-streams the police shooting of her boyfriend on Facebook
We've had quite a few shooting deaths lately, some of them caught on video. Just yesterday we saw the cell phone video that was captured of an incident in Baton Rouge. That incident resulted in widespread protests, though all peaceful so far.
Now, just a day later, yet another video surfaces from Minnesota depicting a man shot during a traffic stop. The gentleman died of his wounds.
Facebook malware infects 10,000 users in two days
A new malware was spotted by security researchers at Kaspersky Lab, targeting Facebook users. According to the researchers’ new report, there have been 10,000 victims in two days.
The malware has two stages: firstly, an unsuspecting victim gets a message from a Facebook friend, saying they had mentioned them in a comment. But when the victim clicks to see the comment, they instead download a bunch of malware, including a Chrome add-on which can take over the victim’s Facebook account, once they log back in.
Facebook announces an open source wireless access platform called 'OpenCellular'
Here in the good ol' USA, we take a lot of our blessings for granted. Sure, we aren't perfect-- there is poverty in all places -- but a large part of this country has access to things like clean water and internet access. Sadly, there are plenty of people globally without access to either of those aforementioned things. While water is obviously essential for life, internet access is crucial for knowledge -- especially in regions where access to formal education is limited.
Today, Facebook announces an open source wireless access platform called 'OpenCellular'. The goal of this project is to connect more citizens of the globe to the internet. According to the social network, there are still 4 billion folks that don't have access -- shocking. OpenCellular could contribute to lowering that number.
Facebook hits back at Israeli complaints about sabotaging police work
Facebook has responded to complaints from Israel's Minister of Internal Security saying that it does remove abusive content from the site. On Saturday, Israeli cabinet minister Gilad Erdan referred to Facebook as a 'monster' adding that it "does not cooperate" with requests from the police.
Tensions between Palestine and Israel have seen an increase in posts inciting violence and terrorism. While Erdan accuses Facebook of failing to step in as well as "set[ting] a very high bar for removing inciteful content", the social network says it work closely with numerous countries, including Israel, to stem the flow of hate speech.
Facebook's new multilingual composer will let you post status updates in multiple languages
Facebook has announced a new tool that aims to break down language barriers. Previously available for Pages on the social network, the multilingual composer is set to make its way to individuals' accounts as well.
Previously anyone who wanted to post bi-, tri- or multilingual status updates would have to either type out each language as a separate post, or post a lengthy status featuring multiple translations. The latest change means that you can write in, say, French, and only friends and followers with their language set to French will see it.
Facebook uses Irish headquarters to skirt privacy laws
Facebook has won an appeal against a court ruling that said the social network could not store data about people who did not have an account. It had been ruled that Facebook could not gather data about non-users in Belgium; Facebook responded by blocking access to those without an account.
Back in 2015, Facebook was told to stop this blocking or face hefty daily fines. Facebook felt that the ruling was unfair and appealed. In a new ruling today, the Brussels Court of Appeal said: "Belgian courts don't have international jurisdiction over Facebook Ireland, where the data concerning Europe is processed".
Facebook opens up about how it controls your newsfeed
Earlier today, Facebook announced the latest tweak to newsfeeds. Having denied being politically bias towards Brexit, or having a liberal leaning, Facebook continues to face question and criticism about how its news feeds and trending topics are formulated.
As well as updating the way newsfeeds are populated, Facebook today revealed just how it choses what appears in your newsfeeds. This isn’t a case of full transparency, but it is an interesting insight nonetheless.
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