politicians
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Mark Zuckerberg still won't ban 'political' ads from Facebook
For the better part of the past four years, Facebook just hasn't been able to keep its name out of the bad news cycle. The latest backlash the company is facing has to do with its political ad policies, which essentially allow politicians to spread misinformation on the site. CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed the topic during Facebook's Q3 2019 earnings call today, saying he doesn't agree with "critics" who claim the company won't ban these controversial ads because "all we care about is money." Zuckerberg said ads from politicians will be less than 0.5 percent of Facebook's revenue this year, noting that the $5 billion FTC fine was more than 10 times more costly for the company.
Hundreds of employees criticize Facebook's political ad policies
Over the past month, Facebook has come under criticism for allowing politicians to run false or misleading ads. Now, employees are speaking out. More than 250 Facebook employees wrote a letter addressed to CEO Mark Zuckerberg and top Facebook officials calling Facebook's political ad policies "a threat to what FB stands for."
Facebook’s updated ad policy is letting politicians post misleading ads (updated)
Facebook's updated ad policy is making it easier for politicians to post misleading ads. Nick Clegg, the company's vice president of global affairs and communications (and a former politician) explained the policy last week: "We will not send organic content or ads from politicians to our third-party fact-checking partners for review," he said at the time. "However, when a politician shares previously debunked content including links, videos and photos, we plan to demote that content, display related information from fact-checkers, and reject its inclusion in advertisements."
Facebook makes clear that posts by politicians can break 'normal' rules
Pretty much anything a politician says on Facebook goes, from the company's perspective. It typically won't remove their posts under its content guidelines and it doesn't fact check them. However, it might still limit the spread of political posts that include previously debunked misinformation (say, a climate change-denying video its fact checkers have discredited).
Chrome extension sends your political gripes to Congress
The next time you take to social media to lodge a complaint about the current state of politics, why not send the message off to someone who can actually do something about it? ePluribus, a Chrome extension, automatically turns your posts on Twitter, Facebook and even in the comments section of a news article into an official message to Congress with a couple simple clicks.
Study: Women are abused every 30 seconds on Twitter
Earlier this year Amnesty International released a report discussing what many of Twitter's female users already know: the social network is not always a great place to be if you're a woman. Now, a new study reveals the hard statistics on just how toxic the situation is. According to the report by Amnesty International and global AI software company Element AI, female journalists and politicians were abused every 30 seconds on Twitter in 2017.
Twitter bars site that kept politicians' boneheaded tweets
Politwoops -- a database of tweets US lawmakers would rather you forget -- has been banished by Twitter for violating its terms of service. The Sunlight Foundation, which created the site (and still operates an EU version) recently tweeted that "Twitter (has)... decided to kill Politwoops. We're sad we're losing this public record of deleted tweets." The site has been tracking politicians since 2012, and occasionally surfaced controversial messages and images that were later retracted. Despite that, many political figures actually praised the site for bringing greater transparency to Washington.
AP: Lawmaker's Instagram account proves he's misusing taxpayer money
Rep. Aaron Schock (R) from Illinois has been spending taxpayer money on renting private jets, getting massages and taking his staff to sold out concerts, according to the Associated Press. And, get this: AP says it has confirmed all those times he rented a private jet, thanks in part to his Instagram posts. AP extracted location data from his photos and compared it with the records for each flight billed against his office. Current rules state that lawmakers can use taxpayer money to pay for their share of the cost for private flights (other passengers would have to pay for their share), but that was only approved in January 2013.
MP admits he was Candy Crushing it during a parliamentary meeting
We're sure there are many ways a politician can pass the time during a dull parliamentary meeting, but clearing a few levels in Candy Crush Saga probably wouldn't rank high on that list. Nigel Mills, a Conservative MP for Amber Valley, was caught doing exactly that last week, after he was filmed scooping up candies with his iPad in a Work and Pensions Committee debate. In a statement to The Sun he fessed up to the political faux-pass, but said he was always "fully engaged" with the discussion and "shall try not to do it [again] in future." The House of Commons has already jumped into action, but not in the way you might expect; it's now reportedly investigating the "breach of the filming rules" which caught the minister bang to rights. While the incident will certainly leave Mills a little red-faced, it's probably a nice bit of publicity for a UK game developer that's been struggling since its high profile IPO.
Five apps that landed politicians in hot water
It's not just a US phenomenon. Politicians worldwide have a habit of being caught doing inappropriate things with their iPhone, iPad or Mac. We couldn't cover them all, so we chose five scandals and identified the apps used in the offending acts. Read below to find out which iOS or OS X apps have gotten some of our world leaders in hot water. VIP Poker [iOS Universal; Free] This is the game Senator John McCain was caught paying during a hearing on America's possible use of force against the Syrian government. His subsequent tweet defending his behavior has not helped his cause. Rocket Bird [iPad; $2.99] Roberto Menia, coordinator for Italy's Future and Freedom party, was caught playing a version of Rocket Bird in Parliament. Apparently, the politician sitting next to him was playing along, too. Flick Kick football [iOS Universal; $0.99] Well-known Italian politician and sports fanatic Sabatino Aracu was spotted playing Flick Kick football while keeping his Parliamentary seat warm. Tweetdeck [OS X; Free] Remember Anthony Wiener's notorious crotch shot DM fail that led to the Representative's resignation from Congress? Well, that now-deleted tweet was sent from a version of Tweetdeck. Mobile Safari [iOS Universal; Free] Note to politicians -- browsing the web on the iPad during an important meeting can cause lots of headaches, especially when inappropriate content starts gracing your screen. Just ask Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, Thailand's Pongpan Sunthornchai or Indonesian lawmaker Arifinto.
Google, Amazon, Facebook and more confirmed as members of the Internet Association
Pitching itself as the first trade alliance to represent the concerns of the online economy, the Internet Association lobbying group has just confirmed its member companies and policy platform. As suspected Amazon, Facebook, eBay, and Google are joined by other large tech firms, under the leadership of Capitol Hill advisor Michael Beckerman, to form the umbrella public policy organization. Citing its three main areas of focus as protecting internet freedom, fostering innovation and economic growth, and empowering users, the Internet Association will represent regulatory and political interests of its member companies, and their employees. There is no word on what the first freedom or innovation to benefit from the associations collaborative-clout will be, but while we wait to find out, you can lobby on the source link for the Mission- and Purpose-statement containing press release.
Internet Association to lobby Washington, may tout Amazon, Facebook, Google among its ranks
Political lobbying is often a mixed bag at best. Still, there's a cautious amount of optimism surrounding the Internet Association, a soon-to-start lobbying group that plans to advocate for an "open, innovative and free" internet among US politicians. The unsurprising (if well-intentioned) aim is to prevent another SOPA or PIPA with more formal opposition than even the Internet Defense League can manage. Who'll be pulling the strings is nebulous -- officially, the Association will only say that former Congressional staff director Michael Beckerman is at the helm until a formal September 19th launch. That internet openness must extend to some very leaky representatives, however, as the National Journal, AFP and Reuters all claim that Amazon, eBay, Facebook and Google are charter members. None of them are talking on the record; we certainly wouldn't be shocked if the roster is real, knowing how much Google and other partners have fought takedown laws that would bypass much of the normal legal system. We're hoping that whatever manifests a genuinely rational counterbalance to media and telecom influences that often aren't very interested in protecting internet-only business models or due process.
First fine for libel via Twitter issued against politician by British court
British politician and former Mayor of Caerphilly, Wales, Colin Elsbury, has been ordered to pay a fine for the charge of libel against an opponent. The lawsuit was filed by Eddie Talbot, an independent challenging Elsbury, after Talbot claimed that Elsbury had Tweeted that Talbot had been forcibly removed from a polling place by police. Well, Elsbury definitely Tweeted that, but, unfortunately for him, the person was not Eddie Talbot. Although Elsbury quickly and publicly corrected himself, Talbot took him to court, and in Cardiff on Friday that Elsbury will have to pay a £3,000 fine plus costs of around £50,000. A cursory glance over Elsbury's recent Tweets indicates that he still may not have the hand of the medium, but we'll keep our eyes on his stream for any new instances of #twibel.
Potential Lt. Governor of Guam is also a hardcore WoW player
Guam is a territory of the United States and has one non-voting member in the U.S. House of Representatives. It's the largest of the Mariana Islands, as well as the most southern island of that grouping. It's also home to a potential future Lieutenant Governor who is also a serious WoW player.Senator Ray Tenorio wrote GamePolitics.com to say that he would be running for Lt. Governor alongside his friend Senator Eddie Baza Calvo, who is the one running for Governor. He also said that he wanted to let people know that gamers are the same folks who "fight and die for democracy, conduct intricate procedures in professional careers, and, Yes, even make policy." And while that sounds like a lot of political season rhetoric, the Lietutenant Governor has already established his gamer credentials.Senator Tenorio's character Paleray is a Dwarf Priest in the Knights of the Mariannas on Silverhand. I'll save you the trouble of looking up whether he qualifies as "skilled" or "nub." Not only is he rocking several Hard Mode Achievements out of Ulduar, but he's an old-school player. Senator Tenorio is a Knight-Lieutenant from the old PvP system. While it wasn't one of the worst "grindy" titles, it certainly shows that the Senator has spent some time around Azeroth. Best wishes to Ray on going from Knight-Lieutenant to Lietuenant Governor.
Jennicide places in poker, poses for Playboy, and plays on Proudmoore
Jennifer Leigh knows games -- she finished 5th at the Poker Royale: Battle of the Ages series. She's known as Jennicide on PokerStars, and finished "in the money" at the World Poker Tour in 2006. Other folks might know her from May's issue of Playboy magazine. In a recent interview with the RPG Vault on IGN, she talked a little about her history with games and World of Warcraft. WoW's the only MMO she's played recently, but she's been known to play Everquest, Guild Wars, and others. She picked up World of Warcraft during a losing streak of poker, and figured paying Blizzard a monthly fee was would be less painful than continuing her streak. Of course, she runs into the same problem many people do: while she loves her WoW, she has trouble explaining to people who don't get it. She's surprisingly open about her server information. (For the record, she plays a Night Elf Druid on Proudmoore, and helped found the guild Fate and Fury. Also, she's planning a Blood Elf Warlock.) Between this and the politicians coming out of the closet, I can't wait to see what other interviews crop up.
Farmers and Warcraft players in the US of A
This blog post is careening around the blogsphere at large, and it probably behooves us to mention it here on WoW Insider, considering the points it makes about WoW players. It's a variation on the red state/blue state argument, in that it points out that there are actually more Warcraft players in the United States today than there are professional farmers. And so, says the piece, when someone, be they politician or pundit or newscaster, says that "the real America" is rural farmland where people are more likely to be milking cows than running Karazhan, they're wrong.There are a few problems with this argument, of course, one of which is admitted to in the article: farming and World of Warcraft-playing are hardly mutually exclusive. Just because you read blogs and play MMOs doesn't mean you're not a person who wakes up in the morning and gets your eggs out from under chickens. The other issue is that if you're going to start fighting nostalgia, you're going to lose. Every generation looks at the future (or in this case, the rapidly approaching present) and compares it unfavorably to the past. I've always thought it amazing that someday we will have someone in the White House who knows how to get 30 extra lives in Contra, and that person will probably look at the new holo-vid-games that come out in 2016 and say "when we were young, we played with buttons and thumbsticks!"But back to the issue at hand: it's true-- America is becoming a technological, urban country, and whether you like it or not (politics completely aside, because I know how much you guys like those on this gaming blog), it's a fact that a person on the street is more likely to know what day Brewfest starts rather than when the summer solstice hits. Sure, we're not seeing the latest class changes on the evening news, but we are seeing Warcraft selling trucks, and whether newscasters and politicians are recognizing it or not, the MMO culture is becoming more and more massive every day.
Chinese anti-corruption game a local hit
Incorruptible Fighter is an online game in China which has players taking on corrupt party officials GTA style. According to Times Online the game was created by civil servants who wanted to make a "lighthearted counterpoint to constant accusations of endemic corruption" in the government. The game was meant to only host 500 people, it currently has approx. 100,000 taking out corrupt Communist Party officials and their mistresses through "weapons, magic and torture."We can't help but laugh how someone didn't think a game about killing corrupt politicians wouldn't catch on? Although, in China, corruption is taken a bit more seriously, last month the former head of China's food and drug safety oversight was executed for taking a quarter million pounds in bribes to approve drugs that killed dozens of people. Hmm, that sounds like a typical day in D.C. -- minus the justice part ... when do we get our version of this game? Incorruptible Fighter has been criticized for looking stale and that there is no reason for the children of the corrupt officials to be targets. One professor from Peking University says that government officials should be getting anti-corruption lessons, "not local youngsters." Yeah, but local youngsters grow up.[Via GamePolitics]
New York tests limits of game legislation with felony bill
The latest bill proposed in New York would actually make selling or renting a game to a minor which has "depraved violence and indecent images" a class E felony. What is that exactly in prison time? According to New York penal law, "For a class E felony, the term shall be fixed by the court, and shall not exceed four years." However, it must be over one year imprisonment to be considered class E. But wait, it gets better. "Depraved" is defined by the bill as anything showing "rape, dismemberment, physical torture, mutilation or evisceration of a human being." So, many M rated games would fall under this category. Boiled all the way down, this new law would have a kid working at Gamestop, Best Buy, or the local Blockbuster potentially get sent to OZ for 1 - 4 years because he sold or rented a minor an M rated video game. With politicians like these, who needs Jack Thompson?This bill, A08696 by Democrat Assemblyman Joseph Lentol will have to share the spotlight with a similar bill proposed by Sen. Andrew Lanza (R), which is backed by Senate Republicans. All of this is about Gov. Eliot Spitzer's promise to legislate video games. According to GamePolitics, the enforceable parts (the Class E felony) would go into effect 120 days after the bill passes. The State Assembly goes into recess on June 21, so this bill needs to be on the fast track to make it. New York is getting really creepy with this game legislation.
British pols look to teach parents about game ratings
Website MCV reports that prominent members of British parliament will work with various groups in early 2007 to create a policy to educate parents "protect children" from violent video games. Looks like politicians and the game industry are learning to play nice and work through their issues. Following the "interesting" announcement two weeks ago that US Senator's Clinton and Lieberman would work with the games industry in support of an ad campaign to teach parents about the ESRB rating system, it looks like the British will follow their lead. Labour party member Keith Vaz says the discussion will center on implementation of TV advertising to educate parents. The meetings will include politicians, industry reps., retailers and parents. Vaz says, "It's an opportunity to reach a consensus on what actions, including a potential television advertising campaign, should be implemented to protect the UK's children." Whatever gets these guys thinking it'll get them reelected and moves them along to bother another industry is fine by us.
iPod as a catalyst for DMCA reform?
CNET News has a really interesting perspective piece highlighting the video iPod's potential for being a catalyst for DMCA reform, specifically: the (outlandish) portion that makes it illegal to sell or distribute DVD-ripping software.The idea behind the article is that, until now, these measures of the DMCA haven't really hit the radar of an audience outside the comparatively small segment of digital-rights advocates. Declan McCullagh, the articles author, believes that the video iPod could finally be the spark large enough to get a much greater portion of consumers interested in (and angry about) the non-DVD-ripping limits on today's software. While McCullagh mentions a few DMCA-reform bills that are already floating around, he's also quick to point out that none of them, at present, have a very bright future.The video iPod, according to McCullagh's logic, might be able to help all of this. With its wide popularity, he thinks more and more users are going to start questioning why it's so easy for iTunes to rip a CD to their library (and iPod), and yet the software balks at a DVD movie. Yes - before you start firing up the comment form, there are still ways of getting a DVD off a plastic disc and onto your favorite media player, iPod or otherwise. But for the greater community of users out there, DVD ripping is still a thing of mystery and magic.I recommend you check out the full article as I think it's a really interesting read, but there's one thing I want to add to the discussion; a factor that neither the industry nor these politicians seem to examine: price. I wholeheartedly believe that if these companies cleaned all of their "market research" and "value perception" statistics out of their ears, they would realize that people are stealing content because they know the providers are taking them for a ride - and they won't put up with it anymore. Everyone knows CDs cost pennies on the dollar, and DVDs cost even less than VHS tapes to produce, yet they retail for a far higher price. The rampant (and as-yet unstoppable) success off the iTMS is real world proof that people will pay for the content, maybe even more content, as long as it has a fair price.But alas, as with all other political affairs, our ability to copy DVDs that we own will only change at the speed of bureaucracy.
