Meta has engaged in a “systemic and global” censorship of pro-Palestinian content since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war on 7 October, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW). In a scathing 51-page report, the organization documented and reviewed more than a thousand reported instances of Meta removing content and suspending or
Meta called on US lawmakers on Wednesday to regulate Google and Apple’s app stores to better protect children, the same day that the Senate began investigating Meta’s failures to shield children using its platforms. In a blogpost titled Parenting in a Digital World Is Hard. Congress Can Make It Easier, Antigone Davis, Meta’s global head
Meta soared past analyst expectations in its third-quarter earnings report, solidifying investor confidence that the previously embattled tech company is out of the woods after several volatile years. Its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said the company enjoyed its “highest operating margin in two years”.The company reported a third-quarter revenue of $34.15bn, beating the expected $33.56bn, up
Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to roll out encrypted messaging on his platforms will let child abusers “hide in the dark”, according to a government campaign urging the tech billionaire to halt the move.The Facebook founder has been under pressure from ministers over plans to automatically encrypt communications on his Messenger service later this year, with Instagram
Members of local Facebook groups have been exposed to hundreds of hoax posts, including false reports of missing children or deadly snakes on the loose, a study shows.The fact-checking charity Full Fact found more than 1,200 false posts on the social media site’s community groups across the world, and warned that these were probably just
Meta’s global policy head, Sir Nick Clegg, has backed calls for an international agency to guide the regulation of artificial intelligence if it becomes autonomous, saying governments globally should avoid “fragmented” laws around the technology.But Clegg downplayed suggestions of payment for content creators like artists or news outlets whose work is scraped to teach chatbots
Australia’s privacy watchdog will soon enter negotiations with the Facebook owner to end protracted, costly legal proceedings over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, more than five years after it was first revealed.The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner is still pursuing Meta, which owns Facebook, in the federal court over alleged privacy breaches affecting more than
NHS trusts are sharing intimate details about patients’ medical conditions, appointments and treatments with Facebook without consent and despite promising never to do so.An Observer investigation has uncovered a covert tracking tool in the websites of 20 NHS trusts which has for years collected browsing information and shared it with the tech giant in a
An alliance of the world’s most powerful law enforcement agencies including the FBI, Interpol and Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) have condemned Meta’s plans to encrypt direct messages on Facebook Messenger and Instagram, saying that doing so will weaken the ability to keep child users safe.The Virtual Global Taskforce, made up of 15 agencies, is
Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, is reportedly considering a company-wide ban on political advertising in Europe amid fears it could struggle to abide by new EU campaigning laws.Policymakers in Brussels are proposing rules that would force online tech groups including Facebook and Google to divulge information about political adverts, including how much they cost
Within the space of a week I have, admittedly through my own naivety, been ripped off twice on Facebook Marketplace.My daughter wanted a copy of the game The Last of Us for her PlayStation. I found a copy on the site, and contacted the seller. He asked for £25 paid by PayPal “friends and family”.I
It was left to Nick Clegg – once a great hope for liberal politics in Britain, nowadays cutting a sad figure as global lobbyist for a company with major PR problems – to announce that Facebook was open to Donald Trump’s nefarious business again. The decision was wrong, but it hardly spells the end of