nickclegg
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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).
Facebook will share data on hate speech suspects with French courts (update)
Facebook is handing over identifying information to French courts on people suspected of using hate speech on its social network. "This is huge news, it means that the judicial process will be able to run normally," Cédric O, France's minister for the digital sector, told Reuters. "It's really very important, they're only doing it for France." Update 6/25/19 9PM ET: A Facebook spokesperson told us: "As a matter of course, we will no longer refer French law enforcement authorities to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty process to request basic information in criminal hate speech cases. However, as we do with all court orders for information, even in the US, we will scrutinize every order we receive and push back if is overbroad, inconsistent with human rights, or legally defective."
Facebook expands election integrity efforts ahead of EU vote
European Parliament elections are set to take place in May, which of course means there are bad actors who will try to use nefarious means to disrupt the process. Facebook is trying to clamp down on interference on its platforms, with measures including new rules for electoral ads and those related to key election issues. Advertisers need to confirm their identities before they can post ads, while Facebook plans to increase transparency around such ads (an effort with which it has faced some difficulties).
Facebook hires tarnished UK politician to fix its reputation
These days, all Facebook seems to do is lurch from one public relations crisis to a political one, and back again. Consequently, the company has decided to hire a British former politician, Sir Nick Clegg, as VP of Global Affairs and Communications. Clegg will replace Elliot Shrage, who announced he was stepping down from that role earlier this year.
