All posts in disinformation
Amazon has removed one million product listings with false claims to protect from coronavirus
Amazon has removed one million product listings from its platform for making false claims to protect from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to Reuters. They also removed tens of thousands of listings that were price gouging for products like protective masks. Italy, which is fighting its own outbreak of the virus, launched […]
Social media platforms should ‘open up’ algorithms to combat fake content, says Vĕra Jourová
European Commission Vice President Vĕra Jourová says tech companies need to work harder to eliminate fake accounts and the spread of disinformation online, following a report Friday from a NATO research group showing that fake content is still thriving on most platforms, according to Politico. The report from the Latvia-based Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence showed […]
Twitter says the UK’s Conservative Party altered its account to pose as an independent fact-checker
Twitter says that the Conservative Party altered an official account to give the impression of an impartial fact-checking service, in an attempt to mislead the public ahead of the UK’s general elections, according to The Guardian. During a debate Tuesday night between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, the party changed the name of its campaign headquarters press office […]
European Commission says tech companies must do more to fight disinformation
The European Commission has warned that tech platforms’ voluntary, self-regulatory efforts to minimize disinformation need to go much further, in their latest progress report on an agreement several of the largest companies signed a year ago, according to TechCrunch. Facebook, Google, Twitter, Mozilla, and Microsoft signed on to the EU’s Code of Practice on Disinformation in […]
UK lawmaker questions Facebook on its move to allow misinformation in political ads
A UK lawmaker is challenging Facebook on its decision to exclude political ads from its fact-checking requirements, effectively allowing politicians to lie in Facebook ads, according to The Guardian. The House of Commons’ media committee chair, Damian Collins, pressed Facebook vice president and former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg over the company’s policy change, dropping a ban […]
Political manipulation becoming ‘pervasive’ on social media, report warns
Manipulation on social media platforms has reached a massive, global scale in recent years, according to a new report from the Oxford Internet Institute, detailed by TechCrunch. Researchers investigated large-scale manipulation of public opinion by government and political parties, and found that the practice is widespread in 70 nations worldwide, compared to just 28 in 2017. “Computational […]
YouTube will tweak its UK platform to promote fewer conspiracy videos
YouTube will implement algorithm changes to its platform in the UK, reducing recommendations of conspiracy theory and junk science videos, according to Tech Crunch. YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki said the changes will allow quality content “more of a chance to shine” and could reduce views of “borderline content” by 50 percent. The changes were first trialed […]
US legislator joins international inquiry into disinformation on social media
An international effort to investigate disinformation through social media platforms and tech giants has gained its first US legislator as a member, adding weight to requests for US-based tech executives to appear as witnesses before the committee, according to Tech Crunch. The next meeting of the International Grand Committee on Disinformation and ‘Fake News’ is set to […]