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Facebook and Instagram weren't designed for people under the age of 13 Topics Facebook | Artificial intelligence | Social Media IANS  |  New Delhi  Last Updated at July 31, 2021 12:11 IST Admitting that it is not easy to detect and remove accounts belonging to people under the age of 13, Facebook has said that it is looking at ways to convince people under age 13 to not lie about their age, including using the artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Facebook and Instagram weren't designed for people under the age of 13, so the company is now creating new ways to stop those who are underage from signing up. "We're developing AI to find and remove underaged accounts, and new solutions to verify people's ages. We're also building new experiences designed specifically for those under 13," said Pavni Diwanji, VP of Youth Products at Facebook. Facebook is also working with operating system (OS) providers,  » Read More

Sir, – The unlawful use of a person’s image, whether to promote a cryptocurrency by fraudulent means, through anonymous ads, or to suggest wrongly that a person has died, is an issue large social media platforms like Facebook and others must start to take seriously (“Gavin Duffy and Facebook resolve case over ads that claimed businessman was dead”, News, July 30th). As someone who has experienced abuse and threats on Facebook, even though I know longer use it, I’m sure the case resonates with a large number of people. All too often when we complain to the likes of Facebook or others, they are slow to take decisive action or slow to acknowledge complaints. For ordinary lay complainants with little or no financial means, they will have to go through the process of obtaining a court order to find out who is behind the use of their image, abuse or threats through a privacy or defamation action which is extremely frustrating and costly. The e-commerce directive of 2003,  » Read More

Media top headlines July 29 In media news today, the CDC gets hit by liberal media outlets for 'confusing message' on wearing masks, WaPo's Max Boot gets ripped for tweeting Saudi Arabia is 'more progressive' than the U.S. for vaccine mandate, and NBC's Tokyo Olympics coverage spurs 'advertiser anxiety' as viewers continue to dropWhen White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced from the podium earlier this month that the administration had begun "flagging" social media posts about COVID they deemed as misinformation to Facebook, backlash from both conservatives and liberals was swift and harsh. Conservatives claimed the White House and Facebook were colluding to censor free speech, arguing that the social media giants should have no role in determining who can share their thoughts, and who can’t. "This is state-sponsored censorship," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News. "It’s the single biggest threat to the First Amendment we’ve ever faced. What’s more, most of the corrupt corporate media is either going along with or encouraging it."DAN BONGINO WARNS OF ‘DEADLY SERIOUS’ CONSEQUENCES NOW THAT BIDEN ‘DEPUTIZED’ BIG TECH TO SUPPRESS FREE SPEECHSen.  » Read More

Image: Kon Karampelas Facebook global head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher has detailed the new disinformation paradigm his platform is battling, with an influx of adversaries using public relations or marketing firms to do their bidding.Gleicher told the Select Committee on Foreign Interference Through Social Media that, last October, Facebook removed a network that was linked to marketing firms based in the UAE, Nigeria, and Egypt. The network targeted public debate around the world, primarily in the Middle East and Africa, but with some focus in Australia." an increasing use of marketing firms or PR agencies that are essentially running disinfo-for-hire businesses: You hire them and they run your disinformation campaign," he said on Friday morning. "We've seen these around the world, we've seen a couple of them as far back as 2018 … but we've seen more use of them lately."See also: Countering foreign interference and social media misinformation in AustraliaGleicher said Facebook has seen this approach play out in two ways,  » Read More

Facebook Inc. Chief Financial Officer David Wehner is the Chicken Little of Silicon Valley, yet investors are still acting on his warnings. For the past five years, Wehner has been saying the sky will fall at Facebook FB, +1.49% in the second half of the year, warning repeatedly of advertising-revenue deceleration, or plateauing and negative impacts from various events. Seriously, just take a look at July 2016, July 2017, July 2018, July 2019 and even July 2020, when Wehner warned that revenue would only grow about 10% in the third quarter (they grew more than 21%). So, of course, in July 2021, Wehner wailed another warning. “In the third and fourth quarters of 2021, we expect year-over-year total revenue growth base to decelerate significantly on a sequential basis, as we lap periods of increasingly strong growth,” Wehner said Wednesday, immediately sending Facebook shares south in after-hours trading, as has regularly been the case with his annual mid-summer caution.  » Read More

Facebook said that the social media giant will require all its employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before they return to the office, as more firms set the same requirement amid the persistence of the virus."As our offices reopen, we will be requiring anyone coming to work at any of our US campuses to be vaccinated," Facebook VP of People Lori Goler said in a statement. "How we implement this policy will depend on local conditions and regulations."FACEBOOK BEATS ON EARNINGS AND REVENUE, BUT WARNS GROWTH WILL SLOW IN SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR"We will have a process for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons and will be evaluating our approach in other regions as the situation evolves," Goler noted, leaving the door open for exceptions to be granted. She added, "We continue to work with experts to ensure our return to office plans prioritize everyone’s health and safety."Facebook's announcement came just hours after fellow Big Tech firm Google announced it would be requiring its employees to get the jab before they return to a Google campus.  » Read More

SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. — Have you ever booked the vacation of your dreams only to find out you’ve been left in the dark thanks to a scammer?Now, more than ever, scammers are taking advantage of unsuspecting victims online but there is a trend. It’s a growing problem that one vacation realtor wants to help end.“She called and said I just want to let you know this person is portraying to be you, going on to the Facebook page and chiming in as an owner and conning people out of thousands of dollars.”It’s become a growing plague throughout vacation realty and it all starts with a click. Prospective vacationers thinking they’re booking the rental of their dreams only to be scammed.“Basically, this person has created a Facebook page using my name and then sending a client a VRBO listing," said Patience Rodriguez, a business partner with Select Vacation Properties. "When the client goes to that listing, it’s an actual property and it says its hosted by Patience Rodriguez so it looks legitimate.”Only- it’s not.  » Read More

Q. I know a number of people who earn money by buying items at estate sales and thrift stores, then selling those items at a profit through websites like Facebook Marketplace or Nextdoor. For some people it is more of a hobby but for several it is their primary source of income. Is this income taxable? How should it be accounted for?— CuriousA. That’s a great question.Online marketplaces have indeed become more popular in recent years.For anyone who is in the business of buying and selling anything, the profit is subject to both income tax and self employment tax, said Michael Karu, a certified public accountant with Levine, Jacobs & Co. in Livingston. It would get reported on Schedule C as a business, he said.It’s important to note that it is not the difference between the selling price and purchase price that is taxable, Karu said.“Expenses incurred in order to create the income also would be deductible,” he said.  » Read More

Letters increase font size As discussed in your editorial of July 20 (“Our View: Biden’s gaffe tells truth about Facebook”), the spread of disinformation on social media has become an especially acute problem in the age of COVID and can be deadly when it discourages vaccination. But the regulation of speech on social media is fraught with First Amendment concerns, especially when government officials, in this case the president, pressure private companies to censor content. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg insists that Facebook is not a news organization, thus dodging responsibility. But a recent survey has shown that 55 percent of American adults receive part or all of their news from Facebook, and the number is rising. Perhaps more focus should be placed on reducing that number. If Mr. Zuckerberg is sincere, he would not mind a requirement that he post a disclaimer to appear on a banner upon login, such as: “Facebook is not a news organization and does not edit content,  » Read More

Facebook Inc. has struck partnerships with three Canadian publishers, including The Globe and Mail, to expand a platform that sees the social network pay for news content. As part of an initiative to ensure its 24 million Canadian users have access to reliable, authoritative news, Facebook has added The Globe, Glacier Media Inc. and Black Press Group Ltd. to a multiyear partnership called the News Innovation Test. Facebook launched the project in May with 14 domestic publishers and plans to begin supplying content in September. New initiative will see Facebook pay 14 Canadian media outlets for content “This project has enormous value to Facebook users looking for news,” said Kevin Chan, the company’s global director and head of public policy in Canada. He said the Menlo Park, Calif.-based technology firm decided to pay for third-party content because “Facebook is part of the news ecosystem.” Under the agreement, Facebook pays publishers for the right to offer users links to content on specific topics, initially including coverage of the pandemic and climate science.  » Read More