David Cameron's Facebook page reported for posing a 'credible threat of violence' over ISIS
The UK's decision to start a military campaign in Syria to fight ISIS has dramatically divided opinion. Support and opposition is not split neatly down party lines, but a vote this week led to almost immediate airstrikes being carried out.
Taking to social media, Prime Minister David Cameron -- or his representatives -- used his official Facebook page to crow about the fact that vote went the way he wanted it to. This has had something of an interesting side effect. Facebook users are reporting the page for threatening violence.
Facebook's Live Video is no longer a celebrity-only feature
The ability to broadcast live video on Facebook is something that has previously only been available to celebrities. It's not being made available to everyone -- yet -- but a handful of lucky users are being given the chance to try it out ahead of a wider rollout.
Starting today, some US iPhone users will be able to live broadcast to their friends and family. This is Facebook's bid to take on Twitter's Periscope, but the social network has more to announce. On top of Live Video, photo collages are also being unveiled as a new way to show off your snaps.
Facebook's Page plugin ventures into CRM territory with new Events and Messages options
Facebook has done an excellent job of becoming the social network, connecting people all over the world. More recently, it has tapped into business markets by providing companies with a quick, easy, and -- importantly -- free way to create an online presence. Now, with an update to its Page plugin, Facebook is making it easier for businesses to connect and communicate with customers.
The update makes it possible to better integrate Facebook with an existing website. Companies can easily add the ability to send a message via their website, and the communication will appear on Facebook on the Messages tab. The update also makes it easier to share news about upcoming events, keeping all-important customer engagement going.
Facebook will stop tracking Belgian web users who shun the social network
Privacy issues in relation to Facebook make frequent appearances, but they tend to focus on instances of the social network using the browsing and account data of logged in users. However, a recent court case in Belgium highlighted the fact that the site was tracking people who accessed public Facebook pages either without a Facebook account, or without logging into one.
This change has a couple of implications for people. Firstly, it means that people who are trying to stay off Facebook's radar will be better able to do so, but it also means that previously accessible content will only be available to those willing to log into their account. Facebook is complying with the Belgian court order that was handed down last month, but the company is not happy about it and intends to fight back.
Facebook helps you to cut your ex out of your life
Break ups happen. Relationships come to an end. It might be an amicable termination, but the chances are that it's not. You probably never want to hear from your ex partner again. Unfortunately, over the years, you have built up a shared circle of friends, and you're both connected to them on Facebook.
Depending on the circumstances of the break up, you might want to go as far as ditching the online friendship and blocking your former beau. But you might not want to take things quite that far. With this in mind, Facebook is now rolling out new features that kick in when you indicate that you're no longer in a relationship, so you won’t be constantly reminded of what you have lost.
Track censored content on Facebook, Twitter, Google and other social media
There are many problems with the censoring of online content, not least that it can limit free speech. But there is also the question of transparency. By the very nature of censorship, unless you have been kept in the loop you would simply not know that anything had been censored.
This is something the Electronic Frontier Foundation wants to change, and today the digital rights organization launches Onlinecensorship.org to blow the lid off online censorship. The site, run by EFF and Visualizing Impact, aims to reveal the content that is censored on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, and YouTube -- not just the 'what' but the 'why'. If you find yourself the subject of censorship, the site also explains how to lodge an appeal.
What's so different about Paris? Facebook reveals why it enabled Safety Check after French attacks
The shootings and suicide bombings in France this week grabbed the attention of the global media. To help those caught up in the aftermath to let loved ones know that they were OK -- and to enable others to check on friends and relatives in France -- Facebook enabled its Safety Check feature for the disaster.
While this was welcomed, it also raised questions. Why had this not been done for other such disasters? Why were shootings in other countries treated differently? What was so special about France that it warranted extra attention from Facebook? Were the lives lost in other atrocities seen as less important? Facebook's Alex Schultz has stepped up to the plate to answer these concerns.
Facebook is receiving more government data requests than ever before
The time has rolled around once again for Facebook to release its twice-yearly report about government data requests. It will perhaps come as little surprise that in the current atmosphere of surveillance and privacy concerns that in the first half of 2015 Facebook received more government data requests than ever before.
The latest figures show that the number of data requests has jumped by 18 percent to 41,214. There was also a massive increase in the number of pieces of content that were taken down or 'restricted' for violating local laws -- a rise of 112 percent. Facebook reiterated previous assertions that it does not provide backdoor access to governments, and reveals that the US is by far the leading requester of data.
Facebook censors links to social network Tsu.co
Anyone who tries to post links to Tsu.co on Facebook, Facebook Messenger, or Instagram will find that they are unable to do so. If you've not heard of Tsu.co, it's another social network, and your initial thought may be that Facebook is trying to censor people from talking about rivals.
Facebook blocks any messages containing the URL from being posted, warning that the site is 'unsafe'. Tsu.co different from other social networks in that it is invite-only and promises to share ad-revenue with users. This has resulted in huge levels of Tsu.co-related spam appearing on Facebook and the susequent ban.
Facebook uses AI to recognize objects in photos
Artificial intelligence researchers at Facebook are set to unveil a new system that can identify objects in photographs. While this is not an entirely new idea, Facebook's AI Research (FAIR) team says that it has reached a new milestone, meaning that recognition is now much faster and requires less training.
Any AI-driven recognition system is built on sample data which can be used as a reference point. FAIR's new system needs just a tenth of the amount of training data than other systems, and operates 30 percent faster. But the team's progress doesn’t end there -- great strides have also been made in natural language understanding and predictive learning.
Hearts vs Stars: Twitter embraces Likes as Facebook leaves them behind
The idea of 'liking' something is synonymous with Facebook. Or at least it was. Now Twitter is trying to get in on the action, renaming Favorites to Likes. As well as a name change, there's also a new icon. Gone is the Favorite Star, replaced with the Like heart.
The move comes just as Facebook is talking about introducing reaction emoji, with a view to giving users of the social network new ways to express how they feel about the content they see. Twitter, however, is moving in the other direction. While 'favoriting' a tweet was fairly non-partisan, 'liking' is an action that is loaded with meaning.
Following criticism, Facebook introduces changes to 'real names' policy
Unlike many other social networks, Facebook has long required its users to display their real names. Over the last couple of years there have been many vocal complaints from various types of user who feel victimized by this: drag queens, transgender and LGBT communities, and Native American users, for instance.
As well as users directly affected by the policy, privacy groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation have campaigned for Facebook to have a rethink. And it seems that the social network has listened. Facebook's Alex Schultz has written an open letter which, while not announcing the end of the real names policy, introduces a couple of key changes that will please many people.
Zuckerberg: we have a moral responsibility to those without internet access (and to kill game invites)
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg took part in a Q&A session at the Indian Institute of Technology in Dehli, responding to queries ranging from the Internet.org project to Candy Crush notifications. Not for the first time, he found himself jumping to the defence of the program which aims to connect millions of people to the internet. He denied that the walled-garden of Internet.org went against the idea of net neutrality, but conceded that people had to "follow the basic rules of what Internet.org is".
He pointed out that existing net neutrality laws made exceptions for free services, but these loopholes have been described by critics as 'fatal'. In a wide-ranging talk, Zuckerberg also announced plans to kill one of the biggest irritants of the social network -- game invites for the likes of FarmVille and Candy Crush.
Facebook kills the Other Inbox and launches Message Requests
Facebook is pretty much all about communication, so the existence of the Other Inbox has always seemed a bit weird. Receive a message from someone you don't know, and it will disappear to this message dungeon, most likely never to be seen again. The lack of notifications meant that such messages would tend to go unnoticed for months.
Now Facebook is addressing the problem. The Other Inbox is now dead, replaced by Message Requests. Now if you are contacted by someone you are not already friends with, rather than vanishing into the void, the message will generate an alert on the Messages tab on the web, and in Messenger on mobile devices.
Facebook at Work signs up 100,000 RBS workers
Facebook at Work, the social network’s business version, has signed an agreement with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), bringing the service to 100,000 of its staff.
The deal, dubbed "ground breaking partnership" by RBS will "allow employees to communicate faster and more efficiently", the bank said.
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