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Get ahead of new stories that are impacting the T&S industry.
Google Is Making It Easier to Remove Personal Info From Search
The Time | May 11, 2022
Company Listed: Google
Google recently started allowing users to remove their personal information from search results, including their phone number, email, and home address. On Wednesday, the company announced at its annual I/O developer conference that it’s launching a tool to further streamline the process.
“People are worried about threats, they’re worried about things like identity theft, or they’re just generally not comfortable with their personal contact information being out there,” says Danny Sullivan, Google’s public liaison for Search. “The internet has given us easy access to all sorts of information it used to be hard to get. But that’s also caused people to have concerns about privacy and how they manage their information online. This is us trying to give people some sense of having more control over that.”
Google, Meta Must Find and Remove Online Child Pornography Under EU Draft Rules
US News | May 11, 2022
Company Listed: Google, Meta Facebook
Companies that fail to comply with the rules face fines up to 6% of their annual income or global turnover, which will be set by EU countries.
The EU executive said its proposal announced on Wednesday aimed to replace the current system of voluntary detection and reporting by companies which has proven to be insufficient to protect children.
It cited the more than one million reports of child sexual abuse in the 27-country bloc in 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic a factor in the 64% rise in such reports in 2021 compared to the previous year. On top of that, 60% of child sexual abuse material worldwide is hosted on EU servers.
Why you need to add a trust and safety officer to the leadership team
TechRepublic | May 12, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
As trust becomes less of a nebulous idea and more of a competitive advantage, it might be time to add a new role to the executive team. Trust and safety officers can keep an eye on the entire user experience and make sure it is comfortable and not creepy. These leaders can build community policies and guide moderation teams to create safe, online spaces.
Tiffany Xingyu Wang, chief strategy and marketing officer at Spectrum Labs, said trust and safety officers need to be part of the executive team.
Reversing Trump Twitter ban will provoke user backlash, Elon Musk warned
The Guardian | May 11, 2022
Company Listed: Twitter
Elon Musk’s promise to reverse a Twitter ban on Donald Trump if he completes his takeover of the social media platform has prompted warnings that it will provoke a backlash among users and could clash with new internet safety laws.
The Tesla CEO and world’s richest man is in the process of buying Twitter for $44bn (£35.6bn) and has described himself as a “free speech absolutist” with doubts about imposing permanent bans on Twitter accounts such as Trump’s, which was suspended after the Capitol riot last January. Experts also warned that Trump’s return could lead to breaches of proposed rules governing digital content in the UK and EU.
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Meta withdraws Ukraine war content policy guidance request
The Reuters | May 11, 2022
Company Listed: Meta Facebook
Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (FB.O) said on Wednesday it has withdrawn a request for policy guidance from its Oversight Board about the content moderation of posts related to Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine.
This decision was not made lightly — the PAO (policy advisory opinion) was withdrawn due to ongoing safety and security concerns," the company said in a blog post.
The board, which can make binding decisions on specific thorny content moderation appeals and give policy recommendations, said it was "disappointed" by the decision.
Appeals court rules Texas social media law can proceed
The Protocol | May 11, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
A three-person panel of federal appeals court judges is letting a Texas law aimed at punishing social media companies for alleged anti-conservative bias go into effect for now.
In a ruling late Wednesday, the panel stayed a district court injunction that had paused the law while the judges consider an appeal of the lower court's move.
The decision, which was supported by two unnamed judges and was not immediately published with the court's reasoning, comes after a Monday hearing in which the jurists appeared to struggle with basic tech concepts, including whether Twitter counts as a website.
Texas Law Against Facebook, Twitter Moderation Clears Hurdle
The BloomBerg | May 11, 2022
Company Listed: Meta Facebook, Twitter, Youtube
The trade groups claim the law, known as HB 20, would force platforms to host extremist content in violation of their user policies and their First Amendment rights. Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other Republicans argue the law is needed to protect conservative viewpoints from being silenced.
It’s unclear how the ruling will impact the companies’ operations in the second biggest U.S. state with almost 29 million people. Representatives for Twitter, Facebook and Google’s YouTube declined to comment.
GOP state legislators move to police social media
The Hill | May 12, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
Republican state legislators across the country are eyeing new restrictions on the type of content that major social media companies can police.
In the absence of federal action on tech reforms, the state-level proposals are leaving industry experts worried about a patchwork of regulations and a flood of litigation.
Legislators in at least 18 states have considered bills that would impose penalties for censorship or content limits based on ideological viewpoints. The specifics vary, but many of the proposals would allow users who believe their views have been censored or silenced to bring lawsuits in state courts.
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Twitter launches a new web game to make its privacy policy easier to understand
TechCrunch| May 12, 2022
Company Listed: Twitter
Twitter announced today that it has rolled out a new web video game to make it easier for users to understand its privacy policy. The goal of the game, which is called Data Dash, is to educate people on the information that Twitter collects, how the information is used and what controls users have over it. The social media giant says the game is designed to help users learn how to “safely navigate the Twitterverse.”
Once you start the game, you’ll be asked to pick the language in which you would like to play. After that, you’ll have the option to select a character. The game is played by helping a dog, named Data, safely navigate “PrivaCity” by dodging ads, steering clear of spammy DMs and avoiding Twitter trolls. Each time you complete a level, you’ll learn more about Twitter’s privacy policy and what you can do to keep yourself safe on the platform.