New York, United States | AFP | The Facebook scandal involving the harvesting of data from tens of millions of users has raised a lot of questions about social media and search engines. As Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the US Congress this week on protecting user data, …
Read More »Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook is not a monopoly
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told lawmakers Tuesday that he does not believe his company is a monopoly. Zuckerberg rejected the suggestion in a Senate hearing that the social media giant, with over two billion users worldwide, has exclusive control over its market. “It …
Read More »Zuckerberg testimony to Congress: ‘My mistake, I’m sorry’
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg says he accepts responsibility for the social network’s failure to protect private data and prevent manipulation of the platform, according to testimony released Monday on the eve of his first Congressional appearance. “We didn’t take a broad enough view of …
Read More »Facebook to verify identities, require labels for political ads
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook announced Friday it will require political ads on its platform to state who is paying for the message and would verify the identity of the payer, in a bid to curb outside election interference. The social network, which is under fire for enabling manipulation …
Read More »Up to 2.7 million Europeans affected by Facebook data scandal: EU
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Facebook has admitted it may have “improperly shared” the personal data of up to 2.7 million people in the European Union, the bloc announced Friday, saying it would demand further answers from the social media giant. The EU wrote to Facebook last week to ask …
Read More »YouTube shooting shows how fake news spirals on social media
Paris, France | AFP | Within minutes of the shooting at YouTube offices in California, social media was awash with conspiracy theories and images of the supposed “shooter” wearing a Muslim headscarf. Some Facebook videos were quick to claim that it was a “false flag” attack, carried out to discredit the …
Read More »Facebook says 87 million may be affected by data breach
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook said Wednesday personal data on as many as 87 million users was improperly shared with British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. The new figure eclipses a previous estimate of 50 million in a further embarrassment to the social network roiled by a privacy scandal. The …
Read More »Fraud rap for cryptocurrency promoted by DJ Khaled, Mayweather
New York, United States | AFP | The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday laid charges over a fraudulent cryptocurrency fundraiser that boxer Floyd Mayweather and rapper DJ Khaled touted on social media. Neither celebrity is accused in the scheme which the SEC said raised more than $32 million from …
Read More »Facebook gets thumbs down for handling of data scandal
Paris, France | AFP | When it comes to its handling of the scandal over how its users’ data was harvested to help elect US President Donald Trump, Facebook gets an almighty thumbs down from crisis management experts. Public relations specialists questioned by AFP were damning in their verdict of …
Read More »Facebook overhauls privacy settings amid data breach outcry
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook on Wednesday launched a fresh effort to quell the firestorm over the hijacking of personal data, unveiling new privacy tools and settings aiming to give users more control over how their information is shared. The new features follow fierce criticism of the social network …
Read More »