Category: social network

Twitter flaw let a researcher match 17 million phone numbers with users

[ad_1] The users were in countries like France, Greece and Turkey, and some of them were politicians and officials. TechCrunch found a senior Israeli politician, for instance. Balic didn’t notify Twitter, but did warn some users directly. Twitter blocked his effort on December 20th and hasn’t publicly acknowledged the flaw so far. We’ve asked Twitter […]

Pokémon games are available to play on Facebook

[ad_1] Before you ask: there aren’t any in-app purchases, at least not at this stage. The Pokémon Company isn’t shy about its goals with producing Facebook titles. This is about making Pokémon games available to “people all over the world” who otherwise couldn’t (or wouldn’t) play. For Facebook, meanwhile, this is a big boost to […]

Online bulletin board inventor Randy Suess dies at 74

[ad_1] For the next couple of decades, these dial-up bulletin boards (BBSes for short) were the first taste of the online world for many people. They quickly grew to cover many of the features you expect from the modern internet, such as live chat, multiplayer games and, of course, social posts. It was just cruder […]

Navy bans TikTok from government-issued phones

[ad_1] There’s little doubt as to why TikTok might face restrictions, though. US politicians remain concerned about TikTok’s Chinese ownership and the potential for the app to serve as a conduit for Chinese government plans. There’s no evidence that TikTok is siphoning personal info, but that might not matter to jittery officials. As it stands, […]

Facebook bans hundreds of misleading accounts that targeted US users

[ad_1] The individuals that orchestrated the campaign posted content on behalf of The BL, and Facebook said its investigation linked the activity to Epoch Media Group. The latter is the publisher of The Epoch Times, which Facebook banned earlier this year for shady ad buying practices. While it doesn’t directly credit the website, Facebook may […]

Twitter shares data for 5,929 accounts that spread Saudi Arabian propaganda

[ad_1] The activity was linked to Smaat, a social network marketing company inside Saudi Arabia. It reportedly created, bought and ran the accounts on behalf of its clients, some of whom include “high-profile individuals” and Saudi government departments. Twitter has since banned both Smaat and some of its executives. The accounts are part of a […]

Facebook, Instagram ban influencers from promoting guns and vaping

[ad_1] Enforcement for the new rules should take effect in the “coming weeks,” Facebook said. It’s also working on tools to help creators honor the new policy, such as setting minimum age requirements or their content. This is the first time Instagram is limiting what influencers can pitch in their feeds, and it’s considered overdue […]

Instagram will automatically label false content shared from Facebook

[ad_1] The social media giant reiterated that it will pull users from the Explore and hashtag pages if they repeatedly receive these flags. This auto-labeling could help curb some of the more obnoxious attempts to spread misinformation. You’ll hopefully see fewer instances of friends sharing old hoaxes or junk science. This won’t necessarily stop the […]

Instagram is using AI to alert bullies to offensive captions

[ad_1] The anti-bullying notice is available now in “select countries,” and should be available elsewhere in the “coming months.” Whether or not this proves effective is uncertain. Instagram said that its efforts to reduce bullying in comments have been “promising,” but that doesn’t guarantee similar performance for the posts themselves. Someone caught up in the […]

Ads on Facebook are spreading misinformation about anti-HIV drugs

[ad_1] GLAAD said it contacted Facebook’s public policy team and reached out to five fact-checking agencies, but the social network answered by pointing to a public ad policy page explaining why ads can be removed. In response, GLAAD posted an open letter asking Facebook to remove the ads, with support coming from 50 organizations, New […]