Facebook

Editor’s note: The county called to update information for this story after it was published online. Berks County election officials say all of its voting machines were working correctly when voters cast their ballots on Election Day and they have received no formal petition to perform a manual recount of the results. That statement comes after a group made claims on social media that the machines were changing votes in the Pennsylvania gubernatorial contest — shifting them from Republican Doug Mastriano to Democrat Josh Shapiro — and that the county is preparing to conduct a manual recount. The post makes these allegations without providing evidence. The post seems to have originated from the private Facebook page of a group called the Southeastern PA Freedom Fighters. However, the post began to generate conversation when the Berks County Republican Committee shared it Friday morning across its various social media platforms. The post asks volunteers to help with the recount, claiming they need three residents from each precinct to carry out the task.  » Read More

Antonio Johnson Antonio Johnson by: Melissa Moon Posted: Nov 18, 2022 / 05:43 PM CST Updated: Nov 18, 2022 / 05:44 PM CST MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis teen is facing serious charges after police say he stole an $84,000 Dodge Charger and then scammed another person out of their vehicle. Antonio Johnson, 19, was booked in the Shelby County Jail Friday on two counts of theft of property, altering a motor vehicle serial number, and altering, falsifying, or forging an auto title. Investigators said the 2022 Dodge Charger Scat Pack was reported stolen on Oct. 10, and a month later, the car was posted for sale on Facebook Marketplace. A man who saw the ad told police he met up with Johnson and agreed to trade his 2015 Camaro and $6,000 for the Charger, court records show. The victim said at the time, he didn’t know Johnson’s real name but said he signed over an Arkansas title with the name Antonio Johnson.  » Read More

LUMBERTON, N.C. — Video taken at a junior high football game shows the terrifying moments of gunfire erupting and students in the field scattering for shelter, screaming. However, amid the chaos and terror, one video also caught the heroic actions of a 13-year-old running to help his teacher.Several video clips were posted to Facebook by witnesses within minutes of the shooting. Footage shows students kneeling for a trophy ceremony when gunshots ring through the football stadium at Lumberton Senior High School during a junior high championship football game.The students on the field were from Lumberton Junior High and St. Pauls Middle School.In one video, you can hear someone shout, "Somebody's shooting in here!" Students leap to their feet. Some go running across the field, searching for cover. Others throw themselves into the grass, covering their heads. Cheerleaders in blue can be seen running and screaming.At the end of the video, a young student can be heard shouting, "Get down, Mr. Weller!" and then seen pulling a man to the ground.  » Read More

Ahead of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Nov. 15, 2022, announcement that he would run for reelection in 2024, a Meta memo reiterated that his speeches would be exempt from third-party fact-checking efforts on Facebook. The memo, which was obtained and reported on by CNN, stated that if Trump were to announce a reelection bid, he would no longer be fact-checked on Facebook's platform by its third-party fact-checkers (Meta is Facebook's parent company). The memo stated that "political speech is ineligible for fact-checking. This includes the words a politician says as well as photo, video, or other content that is clearly labeled as created by the politician or their campaign."  The memo explained: "If former president Trump makes a clear, public announcement that he is running for office, he would be considered a politician under our program policies." This rule applies to all politicians. According to Facebook's official policy, partners in the company's fact-checker program should not rate the following types of content: Posts and ads from politicians: This includes the words a politician says as well as photo,  » Read More

Meta and Facebook platforms will host a VR concert which includes a 'hyperrealistic' avatar of deceased rapper Biggie Smalls. Whether you’re talking about Meta or Facebook, the company has done some pretty questionable things over the course of its history, but an upcoming VR concert might take the cake. Meta has announced it will host a VR concert featuring The Notorious B.I.G., once fronted by East Coast rapper Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace. That’s not all though. The concert will be hosted on Facebook and Meta platforms and will feature a “true-to-life, hyperrealistic” avatar of Biggie Smalls himself. News of Meta’s upcoming Notorious B.I.G. VR concert was shared in a report by Consequence on November 16, 2022. The concert, called The Notorious B.I.G. Sky’s the Limit: A VR Concert Experience, will be exclusive to Meta VR and Facebook platforms and is set to take place on December 16, 2022, to honor what would have been Biggie Smalls’ 50th birthday. The concert is being produced in collaboration with Wallace’s estate. It will feature some of Notorious B.I.G.’s greatest hits,  » Read More

On Tuesday night, former president Donald Trump held a rally which officially ended all the speculation about his future political aspirations. Trump announced he was indeed running for president again, essentially kicking off his 2024 campaign. There was some chatter that Trump was announcing his presidential run now in order to avoid a Department of Justice criminal probe. The rumor has since been shot down by the DOJ. But there is at least one perk that Trump can take advantage of now:Facebook's parent company Meta now considers him to be a political candidate, and according to Facebook policy, politicians are not fact-checked on the platform. The former president — the same one who spends his days continuing to perpetuate falsehoods about the 2020 election being stolen from him and sharing posts from QAnon conspiracy theorists on his social media platform Truth Social — is now immune to Facebook's fact-checkers.CNN obtained an internal memo from Meta that was sent hours before Trump's announcement on Tuesday in which the social media company reminded employees of the rule.  » Read More

A police force has warned of a "sharp increase" in scams on Facebook Marketplace as Christmas looms and people look for bargains online.North Wales Police, which covers the Chirk, Llangollen and Wrexham region, says over the last weekend residents reported losses of £4,270 in just two days.The reports include victims paying large deposits or making full payments direct into the suspect's bank account, for goods that are never received. In one instance a large deposit was made for an item and, when the victim attended the address provided to make collection, the elderly occupants were unaware of the sale and the victim was left out of pocket.People selling items have also been targeted by criminals. Fraudsters posing as buyers arrived at the victim’s house to collect an item and claimed they had made payment using an online banking app. The suspects were handed the item and left, but the funds were never received by the victim as the banking app was fake.A spokesman for the police said: "We would urge people to be cautious when using Facebook Marketplace as there is little chance of being reimbursed if the worst happens.  » Read More

(Reuters) - Electric vehicles (EVs) from Tesla Inc and other brands were among the least reliable vehicles in the United States, Consumer Reports ...  » Read More

Facebook's parent company said last week it was reducing its headcount by 13% after reporting disappointing third quarter results.  » Read More

MENLO PARK, California — Facebook app owner Meta Platforms has decided to chop thousands of jobs in the Bay Area, a fresh round of painful tech layoffs that will jolt five cities in this region, state labor officials report.All told, the owner of the Facebook app disclosed plans to jettison 2,564 jobs in the Bay Area, according to official notices sent to the state’s Employment Development Department.The tech titan’s job cuts will affect workers in Menlo Park — Meta’s hometown and world headquarters and by far the hardest hit — as well as Meta Platforms employees in Sunnyvale, Fremont, Burlingame and San Francisco.The layoffs are poised to raise red flags about the pace and outcome of the Bay Area’s years-long struggle to recover from its mammoth job losses during the first two months of the coronavirus outbreak in March 2020 and April 2020. The once-robust region has yet to regain those lost jobs.Statewide, the Facebook owner has decided to terminate more than 2,700 positions,  » Read More