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Hate Speech Is Going to Cost Facebook and Twitter a Fortune in 2018
The European Commission plans on tackling fake news as part of a broader effort to protect democracy. "Fake news is a direct threat to the very foundations of our democratic society," EU commissioner for digital economy, Mariya Gabriel said on Monday (13 November). Speaking at a conference on fake news in Brussels, Gabriel announced plans to set up an expert panel that will feed into possible legislation later on. "European citizens need to have the skills and tools at their disposal to manage the ocean of information available online, that is our challenge," she said.
Facebook said that it would ask its users to tell it which news sources they read and trust to help it decide which ones should be featured more prominently. In a post on his personal page on Friday evening, Facebook’s CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg said he wanted to make sure news consumed on the platform was from “high quality and trusted sources”. “There’s too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarization in the world today,” wrote Zuckerberg. “Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we don’t specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them.” Meanwhile, Twitter said in a blog post that it would email nearly 678,000 users that may have inadvertently interacted with now-suspended accounts believed to have been linked to a Russian propaganda outfit called the Internet Research Agency (IRA).
The announcements come amid intense scrutiny by US lawmakers over both Facebook and Twitter’s role in letting Russians and others spread misinformation during the 2016 presidential election. The goal, according to U.S. intelligence agencies, was to divide Americans on politically charged issues like race, religion, and gun control.
Prime minister to ask shareholders to pressure firms such as Twitter and Facebook
Theresa May will use a speech to business leaders in Davos on Thursday to urge shareholders to pressure social media giants such as Twitter and Facebook to do more to tackle terrorism. May flew to the Swiss ski resort for the World Economic Forum on Wednesday after prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons. She will call for more action from tech companies to identify and take down extremist content and say investors have a responsibility to pressure them to clean up their act.
UK government to establish new unit to battle onslaught of fake news
A team will be established in the UK to combat the complex problem of fake news. A spokesperson for UK prime minister Theresa May has said that the government will be creating a dedicated national security unit to fight against disinformation and the dissemination of fake news.
The unit will be based in the Cabinet Office and will reportedly monitor social media to "identify and challenge disinformation". 10:31, UK, Monday 22 January 2018
www.heraldscotland.com...
THE UK Government is to create a new unit to counter disinformation and "fake news" by foreign powers such as Russia as ministers launched a fresh review of Britain's defence capabilities. The move came as the National Security Council, chaired by Theresa May, agreed the main findings of an across-Whitehall review of national security capabilities. The Prime Minister's spokesman said the new national security communications unit would build on existing capabilities and would be tasked with "combating disinformation by state actors and others".
originally posted by: dug88
So governments are passing laws as to what constitutes news or not. As I've said before sounds like propaganda to me. Fake news has been around since at least I was a kid. It used be sold next to pretty much every checkout stand, still is. Dunno why it's such a big deal now it's on the internet. Whatever happened to common sense?
It was last spring when Karl Rove called Michael Steele, the lieutenant governor of Maryland, to sell him on running for the Senate, and to close the deal, Rove paused to put President Bush on the phone. As Steele recalls it, the president's adviser said, "Here, the boss wants to talk to you." Steele froze, then demurred. "I went, 'No, no thank you.' I was so stunned that he was going to hand the phone to the president. I said, 'That's all right, we'll have that call later.' I couldn't believe it." Other top Republicans called. Senator Elizabeth Dole. Ken Mehlman, the party chairman. One day Steele's cellphone rang, and Vice President Dick Cheney was on the other end.
www.nytimes.com...
www.huffingtonpost.com...
“I have a very simple admonition at this point,” Steele said on “Hardball” on MSNBC. “Just shut the hell up and don’t ever preach to me about anything ever again. I don’t want to hear it.”
originally posted by: dug88
So governments are passing laws as to what constitutes news or not. As I've said before sounds like propaganda to me. Fake news has been around since at least I was a kid. It used be sold next to pretty much every checkout stand, still is. Dunno why it's such a big deal now it's on the internet. Whatever happened to common sense?
originally posted by: 3NL1GHT3N3D1
So who decides what is fake news and what isn't? I think personal responsibility and personal research should be the deciding factor in what is or isn't fake news not the government.
originally posted by: 3NL1GHT3N3D1
a reply to: 3daysgone
I agree, it's dangerous and would potentially be more harmful than simply leaving fake news alone in my opinion. Sounds like state sponsored media (propaganda) to me.
originally posted by: Allaroundyou
a reply to: 3daysgone
So you are saying that lying should be punished in some form? I don’t like lying just as much as the next person but suppressing ones right to free speech in any form is wrong. I think the solution would be to better educate ourselves and improved schooling.