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Meta could be researching an NFT Marketplace within Facebook and Instagram, according to a report by Financial Times. But, what could such a move mean for photographers finding footing in a young but exploding market? Could NFTs work to prevent image theft on social media? The report, which is based on several anonymous “people familiar with the matter” suggests that Meta is building support for NFTs that would allow users to display the digital collectibles on their profiles, as well as buy and sell on the platform. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are a digital file—often art or a collectible—that uses blockchain technology to authenticate and prove ownership. While NFT collectibles have been around for a few years, last year’s success of the first NFT to be sold by an art auction house brought many photographers and artists to the space, minting their art as authenticated digital collectibles. While the report hasn’t been confirmed by Meta,  » Read More

I was kicked off Facebook. You may be asking, what in the world did Calvin do to get kicked off social media? Here’s my story, with its twists and turns, and a lesson or two.It all started when I read the book, “Scam Me If You Can: Simple Strategies to Outsmart Today’s Rip-off Artists,” authored by Frank Abagnale, who also wrote “Catch Me If You Can,” made into a movie by the same name. I’m not interested in the controversies surrounding Abagnale and his claims. In today’s world seemingly filled to the brim with con artists and scams, I did find helpful some of his advice in “Scam Me If You Can.” I bet someone could get elected anything from president on down by promising to end scams and put these crooks in jail.Back to my story. Be careful about giving out your birthdate, as it’s one more piece of information swindlers use to steal your identity. Although it wasn’t for public view, I did have my date of birth in my Facebook account personal profile.  » Read More

WEBSITE OF THE YEARAPP OF THE YEARNorthern Advocate21 Jan, 2022 02:33 AM3 minutes to readPolice are warning Northlanders of the dangers posed by scammers on Facebook Marketplace. Photo / Tania WhyteFacebook Marketplace is fast becoming a hunting ground for scammers with one Northlander having been conned out of $15,000.Constable Trae Harrison, who investigates fraud in the Whangārei and Kaipara districts, said they had received 53 complaints about the social media buy and sell forum since the start of the year.And there was no sign the volume of complaints would ease with police flat out trying to investigate as many as possible, he said.Harrison described how many of the scams involved phony Facebook profiles where sellers used a fake account and false name to make an empty promise to ship items paid for by buyers."As soon as they're done with their scam they cancel their account and disappear with their money."In one poor Northlander's case,  » Read More

Facebook disabled a network of fake accounts that posed as English and Scottish locals, but were actually an Iran-based influence operation. The company detailed the takedowns in its latest report on coordinated inauthentic behavior on its platform. The network was relatively small — eight accounts on Facebook and 126 on Instagram — though it had amassed about 77,000 followers, according to the company. Facebook’s security researchers didn’t indicate exactly who in Iran was behind the effort, or what their motives were, but said some of the people involved had a “background in teaching English as a foreign language.” “This network posted photos and memes in English about current events in the UK, including supportive commentary about Scottish independence and criticism of the UK government,” Facebook writes in its report. In a call with reporters, Facebook’s Global IO Threat Intelligence Lead, Ben Nimmo, said that it’s not the first time the company has caught Iran-linked fake accounts targeting Scotland, but that the latest network stood out for its “artisanal” approach to the fake personas. “What was unique about this case was the effort that the operators took to make their fakes look like real people,” Nimmo said.  » Read More

Facebook’s unglamorous mistakes In a Facebook group for gardeners, the social network’s automated systems sometimes flagged discussions about a common backyard tool as inappropriate sexual talk.Facebook froze the accounts of some Native Americans years ago because its computers mistakenly believed that names like Lance Browneyes were fake. The company repeatedly rejected ads from businesses that sell clothing for people with disabilities, mostly in a mix-up that confused the products for medical promotions, which are against its rules. Facebook, which has renamed itself Meta, and other social networks must make tricky judgment calls to balance supporting free expression while keeping out unwanted material like imagery of child sexual abuse, violent incitements and financial scams. But that’s not what happened in the examples above. Those were mistakes made by a computer that couldn’t handle nuance. Social networks are essential public spaces that are too big and fast-moving for anyone to effectively manage. Wrong calls happen. These unglamorous mistakes aren’t as momentous as deciding whether Facebook should kick the former US president off its website.  » Read More

Veteran folk singer Hana Horká died Sunday of COVID-19 after intentionally exposing herself to the virus in an ill-advised self-immunization attempt. She was 57 years old. The Czech musician’s passing was confirmed by her son Jan Rek, who told Prague Morning that she “preferred to catch the disease than get vaccinated.” Her fatal goal: to regain access to her favorite off-limits sources of entertainment. Per her son’s account, Horká, lead vocalist for the popular international band Asonance, had wanted a “recovery pass” to the sauna and theater in her native Czech Republic, where either proof of vaccination or a recent infection is required to access specific cultural venues, the BBC reported. Horká, who hadn’t gotten the shot, saw an opportunity for the latter after both Rek and his father caught the virus over Christmas despite being vaccinated. Instead of self-isolating, she deliberately hung around the infected family members. Veteran folk singer Hana Horká died Sunday of COVID-19 after intentionally exposing herself to the virus.  » Read More

Just one week of antitrust litigation news shows how much legal turbulence Facebook and Google are facing. Michael Weiner gives us a remarkably compact summary of those issues, from the deeply historical (Facebook's purchase of Instagram) to the cutting edge of tech (complaints about Oculus self-preferencing). In all, he brings us current on two state AG case, two FTC cases, and one DOJ case against the twin giants of surveillance advertising. Speaking of litigation, no major new technology has been greeted with more litigation in its infancy than face recognition. So this week we do a long interview with Hoan Ton-That, the CEO of what must be the most controversial tech startup in decades, Clearview AI. We probe deeply into face recognition's reputation for race and gender bias, and what the company is doing about it. Hoan offers a clear rebuttal to misconceptions about the technology; he is clearly taking the controversy in stride and confident that the technology will overcome efforts to turn it toxic. Meanwhile,  » Read More

One of the NFL’s greatest features (along with high scoring, the college football pipeline, and Andy Reid food metaphors) is scarcity. Teams play only 17 games a season, so every game is a big deal. The league owns a day of the week in part because, most days, there is no football. But scarcity drives up the price of any commodity and the league will always have an incentive to try to sell more games, as long as they don’t become so abundant that it curbs fan appetite. For example, the league just held its first three-day wild-card weekend. It’s been two years since the NFL altered its playoff format to introduce an additional team in each conference to the postseason. These changes eliminated the first-round bye traditionally enjoyed by the no. 2 seed and added two more games to the first round. This year, instead of splitting the games between Saturday and Sunday, the NFL stretched the schedule to put the final game of the slate, Rams-Cardinals, on Monday, when fans were treated to a 34-11 Rams blowout win.  » Read More

Facebook could owe money to almost two thirds of people in the UK. That's because Mark Zuckerberg's firm, now called Meta, is facing a new lawsuit which, if it doesn't go its way, could compel it to issue £50 payouts to 44million people that used Facebook between 2015 and 2019. Damages of over £2.3billion in total are being sought over claims Facebook used its market dominance to exploit the data of UK users.The lawsuit is being heard at London's Competition Appeal Tribunal and alleges Facebook made billions imposing unfair terms and conditions that demanded users surrender valuable personal data to access the network.The legal action is being brought forward by Liza Lovdahl Gormsen, who is a senior adviser to Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) watchdog and a competition law academic.Lovdahl Gormsen said she is acting on behalf of people in the UK that used Facebook between 2015 and 2019.She explained: "In the 17 years since it was created, Facebook became the sole social network in the UK where you could be sure to connect with friends and family in one place.  » Read More

Facebook has threatened to delete the personal account of the director of a prominent pro-Israel lobbying group at the United Nations, saying he violates community rules. UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer was also told that his page had already been under sanctions to reduce its visibility for months, the group said in a statement Monday. “It turns out that, as I suspected, Facebook has been deliberately and unjustifiably hiding my posts from the public,” Neuer said in the statement. “Now they’re arbitrarily threatening to delete my account. It’s a Kafkaesque situation, and makes absolutely no sense.” Facebook sent Neuer a warning that his page was “at risk of being unpublished” due to “continued Community Standards violations.” The warning listed just one incident, a post from August 17, 2021, that used a photo of Afghan Taliban to jab at boycotts of Israel. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories By signing up, you agree to the terms It showed Taliban gunmen at the presidential palace in Kabul with a caption “Prediction: Ben and Jerry’s will never announce a boycott of the Taliban,” a reference to the US ice cream maker dropping its…