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Get ahead of new stories that are impacting the T&S industry.
Before Massacre Began, Suspect Invited Others to Review His Plan
NY Times | May 17, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
About 30 minutes before he launched what investigators said was a long-planned massacre at a Buffalo supermarket, Payton S. Gendron invited a small group of people to join a chat room online.
Until that moment, the posts in the room on the chat application Discord had been visible only to Mr. Gendron, who had for months uploaded numerous pictures of himself, often posing with his gear and the weapon that officials say he used to carry out the shooting, even sharing hand-drawn maps of the Tops grocery store he openly said he planned to attack.
Facebook quietly bankrolled small, grass-roots groups to fight its battles in Washington
Washington Post | May 17, 2022
Company Listed: Facebook, Meta
In early March, weeks after senators advanced a sweeping bill to expand competition in the tech industry, a regional newspaper more than 2,000 miles from Silicon Valley ran a defensive op-ed.
“Instead of attacking these digital platforms, we need to work with these companies toward innovation and access for our businesses to survive,” Clayton Stanley, the president and CEO of The Alliance, an economic development organization in northeastern Mississippi, wrote in the Mississippi Business Journal.
After Buffalo, will social media companies finally ban great replacement theory?
Las Angels Times | May 17, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
The Buffalo, N.Y., mass shooting that claimed 10 lives Saturday was an event shaped by, and for, internet platforms, including message boards and streaming and social media sites.
Now, as the predominantly Black neighborhood that suspected killer Payton Gendron targeted is left reeling, whether those platforms allow their users to promulgate the racist “great replacement theory” that appears to have motivated him has become a matter of public safety.
Free Speech” Ought to Mean More than Mocking Trans People
The Bulwark | May 17, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
Explaining why he wants to (maybe) buy Twitter, Elon Musk said that he values free speech. Here’s how he defined it: “By ‘free speech’, I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law.”
That definition is both shallow and contradictory. And it does not offer any guidance to the challenging questions the idea of “free speech” poses to a genuinely free society.
In the United States, the First Amendment says the government cannot punish you for speech (with some established exceptions, such as incitement and sexual harassment). The same law also protects free association—meaning that it’s perfectly legal for private organizations to exercise their freedom of association by excluding some speech. A support group for widows doesn’t have to let a never-married man talk. A Bible study group doesn’t have to give equal time to an atheist. Private groups can choose to do so if they want; but they can’t be compelled to.
Russia Will Not Ban YouTube, Minister Shadayev Says
Rferl | May 17, 2022
Company Listed: YouTube
The Russian minister overseeing digital communications says the government has no plans to block the video sharing platform YouTube despite threats to do so over parent company Alphabet Inc's failure to delete content Moscow has deemed illegal.
Speaking at an education event in Moscow on May 17, minister of digital development, communications and mass media, Maksut Shadayev, said "Russia must remain part of the global network," though it must "learn to filter information" in the Internet.
T&S Policies & Regulations
Regulatory news and policy decisions impacting the T&S ecosystem.
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An unholy coalition torpedoes social media reform legislation in Brazil
Poynter | May 17, 2022
Company Listed: Google, Facebook
Mercurial Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Google and Facebook are accidental allies fighting in the same trench to defeat Big Tech regulation in Brazil.
Bolsonaro maneuvered his congressional allies last month and managed to put brakes on an omnibus bill that would establish moderation and transparency requirements for the internet platforms and payment for news content.
Inside Facebook's political advocacy group
Washington Post | May 17, 2022
Company Listed: Facebook
Good morning and happy Tuesday! I'm filling in for Cristiano today! It's a busy day for our colleagues who are covering today's primary elections. If you’re itching to know more about the midterm elections, check out their handy guide here.
Below: Lawmakers want Facebook to crack down on Russian disinformation in Eastern Europe, and China’s tech sector fears its glory days may be over.
Meta Shares Latest Numbers on Rules Enforcement, Including Abuse and Terror-Related Content and Fake Profiles
Social Media Today | May 17, 2022
Company Listed: Meta
Meta has published its Community Standards Enforcement Report for Q1 2022, which provides an overview of its ongoing efforts to detect misuse and abuse in its apps, and address such via evolving detection and removal processes.
And those efforts do appear to be having an impact – first off, on bullying and harassment, Meta says that it increased its proactive detection rate on such content from 58.8% in Q4 2021 to 67% in Q1 2022, via improvement of its detection technology.
Can UK and EU Rules Stop Online Radicalization?
Bloomberg | May 17, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
These were the reported victims of a racially motivated shooting in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday, committed by someone who sought glorification through social media and who will not get a name check in this article.
Years after similar attacks, technology firms are still playing a role in spreading extremist ideas — from hosting the forums that radicalize young men to helping make them famous among a burgeoning White-supremacist movement online. New laws from Europe forcing tech firms to make their sites safer couldn’t come fast enough, though there may be some stumbling blocks in their way.
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Product Manager, Trust & Safety
Pinterest | United States
Posted: May 17, 2022
At least 2 years of experience in a role related to product development, at fas