Once upon a time, there was a fringe news outlet with a loud and dissenting opinion. A fatal shooting, it claimed, was not at all what it seemed to be: It was a hoax, orchestrated by some shadowy force—probably Communists—bent on replacing freedom with dictatorship.Source: Win or Lose, the Alex Jones Lawsuit Will Redefine Free Speech...
The “Dry Alabama” Facebook page, illustrated with stark images of car wrecks and videos of families ruined by drink, had a blunt message: Alcohol is the devil’s work, and the state should ban it entirely.Source: Democrats Faked Online Push to Outlaw Alcohol in Alabama Race...
Facebook has unveiled its new election war room designed to assist employees with finding and deleting fake news and bogus accounts aimed at interfering with elections. (Oct. 18) APSource: Facebook discloses possible election meddling by Russia, foreign actors on eve of midterms...
The companies acted under threats of federal regulation after reports that Russian operatives bought politically divisive social media ads under fake names.Source: Facebook, Google and Twitter shine light on campaign ads — but only so far...
Over just two weeks in September, a limited-liability company calling itself “News for Democracy” spent almost $400,000 on more than 16 million impressions for a network of 14 Facebook pages that hadn’t existed until August.Source: The Secretive Organization Quietly Spending Millions on Facebook Political Ads...
The Supreme Court will settle a dispute over a video that aired on a New York City public access television channel that could have ramifications for social media and public radio stations. On Friday, the Justices said they would accept Manhattan Community Access Corp. v.Source: Supreme Court takes public access TV case with bigger implications...
On Thursday, Facebook announced it had removed more than 800 political pages and accounts for “coordinated inauthentic behavior” and spamming. This week, the people behind the pages Facebook purged for being inauthentic are angry.Source: Facebook's 'spam purge' is silencing genuine debate, political page creators say...
Facebook has announced in a briefing call its plans to push users for voter registration ahead of the US and Brazil elections. The company has partnered with TurboVote, the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute to monitor election meddling.Source: Facebook pushes voter registration drive, inks deals to monitor elections...
MENLO PARK, Calif. — Sandwiched between Building 20 and Building 21 in the heart of Facebook’s campus, an approximately 25-foot-by-35-foot conference room is under construction. Thick cords of blue wiring hang from the ceiling, ready to be attached to window-size computer monitors on 16 desks.Source: Inside Facebook’s Election ‘War Room’...
Late last week, the FEC unanimously (!) approved an advisory opinion allowing Microsoft to “offer a package of enhanced online account security services at no additional charge on a nonpartisan basis to its election-sensitive customers, including federal candidates and national party committees.Source: FEC Approves Microsoft Giving Free Security Package to Candidates...
