Organizers of a Facebook ad boycott vowed to press on with their campaign, saying the social network’s top executives had failed to offer meaningful action on curbing hateful content. At a virtual meeting that included Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, the #StopHateForProfit coalition leaders “didn’t hear anything… to convince us …
Read More »Facebook groups pivot to attacks on Black Lives Matter
A loose network of Facebook groups that took root across the country in April to organize protests over coronavirus stay-at-home orders has become a hub of misinformation and conspiracy theories that have pivoted to a variety of new targets. Their latest: Black Lives Matter and the nationwide protests of racial …
Read More »Zuckerberg: Advertisers will be back to Facebook ‘soon enough’
As the ads boycott grows, Mark Zuckerberg shows no sign of backing down. “My guess is that all these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough” the Facebook chief executive has said. Campaigners accuse the tech firm of being too slow and reluctant to remove some hateful content. …
Read More »Opinion: Could a boycott kill Facebook?
Boycotts can be extremely effective – as Facebook is finding out. In the late 18th century, the abolitionist movement encouraged British people to stay away from goods produced by slaves. It worked. Around 300,000 stopped buying sugar – increasing the pressure to abolish slavery. The Stop Hate for Profit campaign …
Read More »Pepsi joining Facebook ad boycott, Fox Business News reports
PepsiCo Inc will stop advertising on Facebook Inc, Fox Business News reported here on Sunday, citing sources. The halt on advertising will run through July and August, the report said. Sources described the move as a “global boycott” on placing Facebook ads, the report said. PepsiCo did not immediately respond …
Read More »Mark Zuckerberg has $7 billion wiped off his fortune as Coca-Cola halts all social media advertising for 30 days
A boycott of Facebook by major advertisers is hammering the social media giant’s stock price and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s personal fortune. Zuckerberg’s net wealth is down by $7.21 billion as of Saturday, while Facebook’s share price dropped more than 8% at the close of Friday trading, as the ad …
Read More »Social media companies distrusted by most Americans on content decisions: Poll
Most Americans do not trust social media companies to make the right decisions about what should be allowed on their platforms, but trust the government even less to make those choices, according to a poll released on Tuesday by Gallup and the Knight Foundation. The debate over online content moderation, …
Read More »Facebook fires employee who protested inaction on Trump posts
Facebook Inc fired an employee who had criticized Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s decision not to take action against inflammatory posts by U.S. President Donald Trump this month, citing his tweet challenging a colleague’s silence on the issue. Brandon Dail, a user interface engineer in Seattle, wrote on Twitter that he …
Read More »Facebook places state media labels on Russian, Chinese broadcasters
Facebook will start labeling Russian, Chinese, and other state-controlled media organizations, and later this summer block any ads from such outlets that target U.S. users, it said on Thursday. Russia’s Sputnik, Iran’s Press TV, and China’s Xinhua News are on the list of organizations that will receive the label from …
Read More »Facebook’s Zuckerberg faces employee backlash over Trump protest comments
Facebook employees critical of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision not to act on President Donald Trump’s inflammatory comments about U.S. protests went public on Twitter, praising the rival social media company for acting, and rebuking their own employer. Many tech workers at companies – including Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Google, and …
Read More »Facebook, Snapchat join chorus of companies condemning George Floyd death, racism
Facebook Inc and Snap Inc became the latest U.S. companies condemning racial inequality in the United States as violent protests flared up across major cities over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while in police custody in Minneapolis last week. The two tech companies stood …
Read More »Facebook and Twitter clash over fact-checking as Trump threats intensify
For years, Twitter and Facebook have enjoyed a healthy rivalry: They’ve competed for acquisitions, talent, and advertising dollars, and sometimes gone so far as to copy each others’ features in the never-ending pursuit to grow their audiences. But the clash between the two tech companies appeared to take on new …
Read More »Facebook to launch new shopping feature across apps
Facebook Inc is launching Facebook Shops, a service that will allow small businesses to display and sell their products on the social network’s platforms, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday.
Read More »Google says most employees will work from home until 2021 amid pandemic
Google has said most of its employees will work from home until next 2021 – the latest major technology firm to stick with social distancing measures until next year. Reports said Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive officer, told employees on Thursday to prepare to work from home until October and …
Read More »Facebook’s ‘supreme court’ members announced
Facebook has announced who will sit on an independent board, set up to have ultimate say over what controversial content should be taken down. Former Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt will co-chair the panel with three others. The panel said they will judge some of the “hardest cases out there.” …
Read More »Facebook reveals Gaming app to rival Twitch and YouTube
Facebook has launched a dedicated gaming app earlier than planned, in its latest attempt to grow its presence in the online gaming world. Facebook said the “accelerated” launch was a direct response to the COVID-19 lockdown. The app lets users follow high-profile gamers, watch live gaming streams and leave comments …
Read More »Twitter, Facebook suspends accounts linked to Indonesian army’s Papua campaign
Twitter and Facebook have suspended more than 80 accounts following a Reuters investigation that linked them to a network of news sites backed by the Indonesian army that publish pro-government propaganda about the restive region of Papua. The 10 sites in the network appear to be independent news outlets. But …
Read More »Zuckerberg: Facebook’s new approach ‘is going to piss off a lot of people’
Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook will stand up for principles like free expression and encryption, even if it means facing a backlash. “This is the new approach, and I think it’s going to piss off a lot of people. But frankly, the old approach was pissing off a lot of people …
Read More »Tech giants watch our every move online. Does that violate our human rights?
Facebook claims its data collection is inherent to the way the internet works. The internet didn’t have to be this way It’s a quintessential experience of the digital age: you’re scrolling through Facebook or reading an article online, and suddenly get served with an advertisement so narrowly targeted to a …
Read More »‘Delete WhatsApp unless you’re OK with surveillance,’ founder of rival Telegram warns.
WhatsApp is a “Trojan horse” exploited to snoop on millions of users naive enough to believe that the Facebook-owned messenger differs from its parent company, long beset by privacy scandals, Telegram founder Pavel Durov said. In a lengthy post on his Telegram channel on Wednesday, Durov took aim at one …
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