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T&S Early Warning News
Get ahead of new stories that are impacting the T&S industry.
Tackling disinformation – how can we combat the lies that go viral?
European Sting | October 02, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
Disinformation is not new. Examples of disinformation and so-called fake news campaigns are plentiful. But with increasing fears about the cost of living – exacerbated by the pandemic and the energy crisis – it is now more critical than ever to tackle disinformation head-on.
This podcast contains the audio from an Agenda Dialogue discussion at the Sustainable Development Impact Meetings 2022 on how the public, regulators and social media companies can collaborate to increase online safety.
Columbia Journalism Review: The social-media platforms, the Big Lie and the coming elections
Brooklyn Eagle | October 02, 2022
Company Listed: Twitter, Google, TikTok, Meta
In August, Twitter, Google, TikTok, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, released statements about how they intended to handle election- related misinformation on their platforms in advance. For the most part, it seemed they weren't planning to change much. Now, with the November 8 midterms drawing closer, Change the Terms, a coalition of about 60 civil rights organizations say the social platforms have not done nearly enough to stop continued misinformation about “the Big Lie”—that is, the unfounded claim that the 2020 election was somehow fraudulent. “There's a question of: Are we going to have a democracy?" Jessica González, a Free Press executive involved with the coalition, recently told the Washington Post. "And yet, I don't think they are taking that question seriously. We can't keep playing the same games over and over again, because the stakes are really high."
González and other members of Change the Terms say they have spent months trying to convince the major platforms to do something to combat election-related disinformation, but their lobbying campaigns have had little or no impact. Naomi Nix reported for the Post last week that coalition members have raised their concerns with platform executives in letters and meetings, but have seen little action as a result. In April, Change the Terms called on the platforms to "Fix the Feed" before the elections, requesting that the same companies change their algorithms in order to "stop promoting the most incendiary, hateful content"; "protect people equally," regardless of what language they speak; and share details of their business models and approaches to moderation.
British Ruling Pins Blame on Social Media for Teenager’s Suicide
NY Times | October 02, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
Sitting in the witness box of a small London courtroom this week, a Meta executive faced an uncomfortable question: Did her company contribute to the suicide of a 14-year-old named Molly Russell?
Videos and images of suicide, self-harm and depressive content that the teenager viewed in the months before she died in November 2017 appeared on a screen in the courtroom. The executive read a post that Molly had liked or saved from Instagram, and heard how it was copied almost verbatim in a note filled with words of self-loathing later found by her parents.
WhatsApp bans 2.3 mn bad accounts in India as new PDP Bill takes shape
Business Standard | October 02, 2022
Company Listed: Meta, WhatsApp
Meta-owned WhatsApp on Saturday said it banned over 23 lakh accounts in India in the month of August in compliance with the new IT Rules, 2021.
The messaging platform, which has nearly 500 million users (according to third-party data) in the country, received 598 complaint reports in the month of August in India, and the records "actioned" were 27.
T&S Policies & Regulations
Regulatory news and policy decisions impacting the T&S ecosystem.
Compare and review T&S Policies for dozens of companies here
Data privacy bill is flawed, but necessary
The Hill | September 30, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
A bipartisan data privacy bill that progressed out of a House committee in July has not been getting the attention it deserves in the news. The American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA), which advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a 53-2 vote, is the most significant federal data protection law in the United States since the U.S. Privacy Act of 1974.