When an ordinary account gets banned on Facebook, it’s possible that no human was ever involved in the decision. Not so for Alex Jones and Infowars. According to the New York Times, the order to ban the radio host came from the very top. Citing sources from inside Facebook, The New York Times reported on the process that led to Jones’ suspension. The situation was volatile enough that Mr. Zuckerberg got personally engaged, according to two people involved in Facebook’s handling of the accounts. He discussed Infowars at length with other executives, and mused privately about whether Mr. Jones — who once called Mr. Zuckerberg a “genetic-engineered psychopath” in a video — was purposefully trying to get kicked off the platform to gain attention, they said. Mr. Zuckerberg, an engineer by training and temperament, has always preferred narrow process decisions to broad, subjective judgments. His evaluation of Infowars took the form of a series … [Read more...] about Report: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckberg Personally Made Decision to Ban Alex Jones
Facebook To Make Large Page Managers Verify Their Identities
Aug 10, 5:12 PM EDT Newsletter Signup BusinessTechnologyWorldNationalMedia & CultureOpinionSportsLuxury Technology By Alex Perry 08/10/18 AT 4:40 PM As Facebook tries to navigate privacy issues and foreign election meddling, Mark Zuckerberg’s social network has introduced several new policies throughout 2018. Facebook most recently announced it will require increased verification from any pages in the United States with sufficiently large follower counts. The change was outlined in a blog post published on Friday.The process appears fairly simple. When someone who manages a page with a large reach logs in, they may be prompted to comply with a couple of security measures so Facebook knows they are legitimate. First, they will have to verify their personal account. This can be done by turning on two-factor authentication, so Facebook knows the only person who can manage the page is whoever runs that account. After that, the user will need to prove they actually live in … [Read more...] about Facebook To Make Large Page Managers Verify Their Identities
Facebook Jeopardizes Migrant Lives, Senior British Law Enforcement Chief Says
World International Affairs A top British police chief accused Facebook of failing to shutter pages used to coordinate human trafficking, thereby leading to migrants' deaths in the Mediterranean. Tom Dowdall, deputy director of the National Crime Agency, Britain's top law enforcement agency, said that organized crime gangs were linked to hundreds of sites related to migrant transit. Smugglers use the site to advertise their services. "Since December 2016, we have identified over 800 Facebook pages which we consider as being associated with organized immigration crime," Dowdall told The Evening Standard. "[They are] largely offering vessels, documents, transport services. There is enough we are seeing to indicate to us that it supports criminality." The total number of migrants attempting to reach Europe by sea has steadily dropped since peaking in 2015, when more than 1 million migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea. Over … [Read more...] about Facebook Jeopardizes Migrant Lives, Senior British Law Enforcement Chief Says
Facebook pages with large U.S. following to require more authorization
(Reuters) - Facebook Inc <FB.O> will introduce an authorization process for users who manage Facebook pages with a large U.S. following, it said https://www.facebook.com/business/news/new-authorization-for-pages on Friday, seeking to make it harder to administer a page using a fake or compromised account. The measures come about a week after the social network said it identified a new coordinated political influence campaign on its platform to mislead users ahead of November's U.S. congressional elections. At the time, Facebook removed 32 pages and accounts from Facebook and Instagram as part of efforts to combat foreign meddling in U.S. elections. The new measures will require administrators of Facebook pages to secure their account with two-factor authentication and confirm their primary home location. Facebook will also add a section that shows the primary country from where a page is being managed. Facebook-owned photo-sharing app Instagram will also roll out similar features … [Read more...] about Facebook pages with large U.S. following to require more authorization
Facebook blasted for ads by people smugglers that ‘help lure migrants to their deaths in the Med’
FACEBOOK is helping lure migrants to their deaths in the Mediterranean, a senior official at Britain's top law enforcement agency warned yesterday. The tech giant is failing to stop traffickers posting adverts offering boats and forged documents to help cross from North Africa to Europe, warned National Crime deputy director Tom Dowdall. He told the Evening Standard that Facebook is not displaying "enough willingness" to stamp out the adverts. He said: "they are being lured to their deaths using an application that they are using every day of the week. "Since December 2016, we have identified over 800 Facebook pages which we consider as being associated with organised immigration crime. "That is largely offering vessels, documents, transport services. There is enough we are seeing to indicate to us that it supports criminality. "We have a problem here which we need to address. We just haven’t had enough willingness yet. "The technology exists with big providers like Facebook to … [Read more...] about Facebook blasted for ads by people smugglers that ‘help lure migrants to their deaths in the Med’