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Kickstarter game teaches players how to identify fake news
Between fake news, viral clickbait and biased reporting, it's hard to get a sense of what is really true when reading the headlines. So a new game being pitched on Kickstarter aims to take the public behind the curtain and show them how journalism works by putting them in the driving seat.
Trump’s ‘Social Media Summit’ was a celebration of conspiracy theorists
President Donald Trump kicked off his Thursday morning by doing what he does best: tweeting. Amid a sea of missives, which ranged from attacks on the "Fake News Media" to the Mueller Report, he said it would be "a big and exciting day at the White House for Social Media." It was all a lead-up to his administration's first "Social Media Summit," an event that was announced back in June and took place yesterday. Despite being billed as a summit about social media, though, the Trump administration didn't invite anyone from the two biggest players in the space: Facebook and Twitter. Instead, it brought together people who are under the impression that these tech giants are censoring conservative voices on the internet.
Facebook will fight misinformation linked to the 2020 US census
Facebook isn't just limiting its anti-interference efforts to elections. The social network has published a second updated on its civil rights audit, and with it news that the company plans to treat the 2020 US census as if it were a vote. It will have a team dedicated to fighting misinformation surrounding the census, a policy to crack down on fake census-related stories and partnerships with non-partisan groups to foster participation. AI will help enforce the policy, Facebook said.
Instagram will block hashtags spreading fake news about vaccines
Just one day after coming under fire for inconsistent practices in its handling of misinformation about vaccines, Instagram told Engadget that it will block hashtags that surface "verifiably false" information regarding vaccinations. The new policy will extend Instagram's ban policy to hashtags that may seem unrelated or innocuous but are used to spread debunked claims.
Instagram will soon let you appeal post takedowns
While Instagram has made it easy for users to report posts that may violate its policies, there hasn't been a way for people to contest those decisions. But that will be changing soon. In a media briefing in New York City, the company said it is going to start rolling out a new appeals feature over the next few months. This will give users the chance to request a review of content that was taken down, all from inside the app. Instagram says that, if it realizes it made a mistake, it'll restore posts. Any appeal will be sent to a completely different reviewer than the one who made the original decision, in order to ensure that the posts are thoroughly inspected.
Facebook fact checkers will soon review Instagram posts
Fake news, conspiracy theories and misinformation aren't just problems for Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. They're also rampant on Instagram. While Instagram has been working to reduce the reach of false posts, starting this week, it will go a step further. Soon, the platform will run potentially false posts past Facebook's fact-checking partners.
Facebook opens 'war room' to fight meddling in EU election
Facebook is now using "war room" to fight election interference for most of Europe. The social network has debuted a 40-person team devoted to tracking and fighting misinformation campaigns ahead of the European Union election on May 20th. The team, based in Facebook's European headquarters in Dublin, includes a mix of data scientists, engineers and security experts whose goal is to intercept bogus content before it has much opportunity to spread.
Facebook’s ‘privacy-focused’ plan is another diversion
When Mark Zuckerberg took the stage at F8 2019, he once again outlined the company's new "privacy-focused" vision. It's a message he's been spreading over the past few months, and it will focus on six key principles: encryption, interoperability, ephemerality, safety, secure data storage and private interactions. While Zuckerberg went all in on how Facebook-owned apps will soon work seamlessly together, and how private conversations will play a key role, he seemed unaware the new plan could create problems of its own.
Facebook awards grants for social media and elections research
Facebook is making good on its promise to better understand the complicated role it plays in global politics. The social media giant announced the first recipients of a grant that will allow researchers access to its privacy-protected data for the study of social media's impact on elections. More than 60 researchers from 30 academic institutions from 11 countries were picked by an independent peer-review review board. Grantees will have access to an unprecedented amount of data from Facebook and Instagram for their research; a total of 6.9 billion page posts, 1.2 billion group posts, 11.2 million verified profile posts and 1.6 billion Instagram posts.
Twitter makes it easier to report election tweets that deliberately mislead people
With a number of high profile elections taking place around the world in the coming months, social media platforms are gearing themselves up for the inevitable onslaught of fake news and misleading information. Twitter has announced that it's doubling down on its efforts in this area with a new feature that will let users report this kind of problematic content directly.
YouTube's fact checking linked the Notre Dame fire to 9/11
YouTube's fact check panels were supposed to help debunk conspiracy theories, but they just backfired in an unfortunate fashion. The internet giant has disabled the algorithmically-provided panels on live videos of the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral fire after at least one video displayed a fact panel for the 9/11 terrorist attacks, implying that the coverage was a fake news story about the New York City tragedy.
UK will hold social networks accountable for harmful content
The UK government plans to penalize tech companies like Facebook and Google that fail to curb the spread of harmful content on their platforms. As promised, the country is seeking to empower an independent regulator to enforce the rules which target violent material, posts encouraging suicide, disinformation, cyber-bullying, and child exploitation. Over the coming weeks, the government will consult on the types of punishments available to the new watchdog, including fines, blocking access to sites, and holding senior members of tech companies accountable for their failures.
WhatsApp wants your help with a fake news study in India (updated)
India's elections begin April 11th, and WhatsApp is determined to use every method it can to fight fake news ahead of the voting. The Facebook-owned company has teamed up with Proto to launch a fact-checking project, Checkpoint Tipline, that verifies messages. Relay a message and Proto will determine whether it's real, bogus, misleading or contested. The team can handle images and video, and it supports four regional languages as well as English.
Singapore plans to pass its own fake news law
Singapore is set to follow its South East Asian neighbor Malaysia's lead by introducing an anti-fake news law. The legislation will allow the city-state's government to take down content that violates the new rules, according to local newspaper The Straits Times. The "Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill" is among more than 20 recommendations put forward by a parliamentary select committee tasked with tackling misinformation. In less urgent cases, the law will force websites to publish corrections or warnings on fake news.
Facebook pulls 2,632 bogus accounts and pages in latest crackdown
Facebook's war against shady accounts isn't about to slow down. The social site has pulled 2,632 accounts, groups and accounts for conducting "coordinated inauthentic behavior" across Facebook and Instagram. The perpetrators were linked to Russia, Iran, Macedonia and Kosovo, although Facebook stressed that it didn't find connections between each activity besides similar tactics.
WhatsApp test highlights frequently forwarded messages to curb fake news
WhatsApp is experimenting with yet more tools to help fight the spread of fake news. A new beta for Android labels messages you send as "frequently forwarded" if they've been shared five or more times. You can even see the exact forwarding count by diving into the Message Info section. It's limited to messages you send rather than ones you receive, but it could give you second thoughts about sharing a sensationalist piece more than once.
Instagram is the latest hotbed for conspiracy theories
You might open Instagram to see what your friends are doing, look at a cute puppy or like pretty pictures of other people's food -- but there's something much darker under the surface. While other platforms are working to eradicate hate speech and stop the spread of conspiracy theories, hate-fueled and misguided information is flourishing on Instagram. As The Atlantic writes, Instagram is "the internet's new home for hate."
Apple backs news literacy programs in US and Italy
Apple is joining the fight against fake news by teaming up with three groups that offer news literacy training for young people. The company announced that the News Literacy Project and Common Sense, both based in the US, and Osservatorio Permanente Giovani-Editori in Italy would receive support from Apple in their efforts. "We've been impressed by the important work being done by the News Literacy Project, Common Sense and Osservatorio, empowering young people to be active and engaged citizens," said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a press release.
WhatsApp is testing an image search tool to combat fake news
WhatsApp appears to be working on a new feature to help users identify whether an image they receive is legitimate or not. While picking apart update 2.19.73, WABetaInfo discovered a "search by image" function that will let you upload a received image directly to Google to reveal "similar or equal" images on the web. With this info, you should be able to more accurately judge whether the picture is real, or fake news.
Google explains how it's fighting fake news
Like all online platforms, Google is not immune to the scourge of fake news that has dominated headlines over the last few years. The company has taken various steps in fighting the problem -- from partnering with fact-checking networks to launching the $300 million Google News Initiative. Now it's expanded its transparency efforts further by detailing at length the steps it takes to fight disinformation across its services.
