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That point was made clear last month when federal antitrust complaints filed by the Federal Trade Commission and 48 states including Massachusetts were thrown out by a federal judge in Washington. Now Congress, where antipathy toward the tech giant’s actions is a rare area of bipartisanship, must act with haste to bring antitrust laws into the social media age.“Courts really don’t know how to define antitrust markets in the digital context,” said Representative David Cicilline of Rhode Island, a Democrat who chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law.The ruling, by Judge James Boasberg, held that federal and state officials failed to assert a “properly defined antitrust product market,” a prerequisite to proving that Facebook violated the law.“It is almost as if the expects the court to simply nod to the conventional wisdom that Facebook is a monopolist,” Boasberg wrote.It was not a total legal victory for Facebook — state and federal officials were given 30 days to refile new complaints with more specifics about their claims.  » Read More

Facebook introduced the Soundmoji feature for Messenger users earlier this month. The feature, as the name suggests, offers audio alongside emojis to elevate the conversation between friends. Different kind of Soundmojis have been made available including fart, drums, laughing, violin, ghosts, shock, kisses, and more. Soundmojis are essentially next-level emojis that lets you send short sound clips alongside in a Messenger chat. They are now a part of the media content users can send to their friends on Facebook Messenger, and sit next to options like stickers, GIF images, and emojis.  How to use Soundmoji on Facebook Messenger Soundmojis are currently available on the mobile app versions of Facebook Messenger only, and we couldn't find them on Facebook for Web. Users cannot create custom Soundmojis for now, but the tailored Soundmoji library that is currently available will be regularly updated with new sound effects and famous sound bites. Each sound is represented by an emoji, keeping the visual emojis we all love in play, while bringing sound into the mix.Facebook says Soundmojis range from clapping,  » Read More

PARIS, France (AFP) — Like internet personalities the world over, Kenyan TikTok comedian Mark Mwas was intrigued when Facebook announced a $1 billion plan to pay content creators like him. But the 25-year-old, whose following surged past 160,000 as entertainment-starved Kenyans flocked to the app during the pandemic, is skeptical that fans would follow him to the older social network. “In our market, Facebook is kinda old-fashioned,” said Mwas, who posts skits about campus life in a mixture of Swahili, English, and Sheng slang. “Like, Mom is on Facebook and doesn’t know what TikTok is,” he told AFP in an email. “My content is suited for the millennials, who prefer other platforms.” Announced last week, Facebook’s $1 billion will pay the creators of popular posts, from fashionistas to comedians and video gamers, through 2022. 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 is the strongest signal yet that the US social media giant now recognizes the strategic importance of the “creator economy.” YouTube,  » Read More

Opinion/Editorial: Facebook posts must hoe the line Elizabeth Licata of Buffalo, New York, moderates the WNY Gardeners on Facebook.   Elizabeth Licata via AP The Daily Progress A garden group administrator is having a whoele peck of trouble with Facebook.At hoeme in western New York, Elizabeth Licata helps to moderate a 7,500-member Facebook gardening group.But Facebook doesn’t approve of a very important gardening tool, the humble hoe. The word, unfortunately, is too closely related to another word that is a particularly derogatory term for a prostitute or a generally promiscuous person.And so “hoe” gets flagged by Facebook’s algorithms as violating the company’s standards.When a group member posted “Push pull hoe!” in response to a question about members’ favorite gardening tools, Facebook stepped in, The Associated Press reports.“We reviewed this comment and found it goes against our standards for harassment and bullying,” said Facebook.OK, granted, “Push pull hoe!” may be a bit loaded with double entendre.  » Read More

In the rough-and-tumble world of Facebook, Santa Fe’s Aaron Borrego thinks he absorbed an illegal block from District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies.Borrego, 36, filed a lawsuit against the First Judicial district attorney this week, contending his free speech rights were violated because Carmack-Altwies’ office removed his comments and blocked him from its Facebook page.In comments on Facebook, Borrego had protested Carmack-Altwies’ decision in May to allow pre-prosecution diversion for protesters who pulled down the Soldiers’ Monument on the Plaza. He was blocked on the District Attorney’s Office’s page by July 1, the lawsuit says.Borrego, a real estate investor, filed the lawsuit in First Judicial District Court. Carmack-Altwies is the district attorney for Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Rio Arriba counties.Borrego said Thursday afternoon that, as a native Santa Fe resident, he found it “extremely disturbing to see anybody destroy our local Plaza and culture.” He said pulling down the obelisk merited felony charges.Among other things, he had posted on the Facebook page a question as to whether the district attorney would provide pre-prosecution diversion “for an alleged shooter,” the lawsuit says.  » Read More

Home Technology News Facebook’s content moderators demand for an end to culture of ‘fear and secrecy’ PremiumFacebook app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration. (REUTERS) 3 min read . Updated: 23 Jul 2021, 05:45 AM IST Prasid Banerjee The letter made three demands of the trillion dollar social media giant — Facebook must end its culture of fear and secrecy, Facebook must provide proper mental health support to all moderators, and it must bring all content moderators in house Content moderators employed by social media giant Facebook are demanding that the company end a culture of “fear and secrecy". “Content moderation is at the core of Facebook’s business model. It is crucial to the health and safety of the public square. And yet the company treats us unfairly and our work is unsafe. Today, we write to demand change," they wrote in an open letter signed by over 100 moderators and addressed to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg,  » Read More

Law360 (July 21, 2021, 6:54 PM EDT) -- A Maryland federal judge has dismissed a proposed class action filed by a prospective renter and housing advocacy group alleging that the D.C. area's biggest real estate firms discriminated against older people when it used targeted advertisements on Facebook to seek young tenants.U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte said on Tuesday that the named plaintiff, 55-year-old Neuhtah Opiotennione of Washington, simply could not prove any injury caused by the companies' decision to exclusively show apartment ads to those between the ages of 28 to 45 on Facebook.Moreover, just because she wasn't shown rental ads while scrolling through Facebook doesn't... Stay ahead of the curve In the legal profession, information is the key to success. You have to know what’s happening with clients, competitors, practice areas, and industries. Law360 provides the intelligence you need to remain an expert and beat the competition. Access to case data within articles (numbers, filings, courts, nature of suit, and more.) Access to attached documents such as briefs,  » Read More

Some anti-vaccination groups on Facebook are changing their names to euphemisms like “Dance Party” or “Dinner Party,” and using code words to fit those themes in order to skirt bans from Facebook, as the company attempts to crack down on misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.The groups, which are largely private and unsearchable but retain large user bases accrued during the years Facebook permitted anti-vaccination content, also swap out language to fit the new themes and provide code legends, according to screenshots provided to NBC News by multiple members of the groups.One major “dance party” group has more than 40,000 followers and has stopped allowing new users amid public scrutiny. The backup group for “Dance Party,” known as “Dinner Party” and created by the same moderators, has more than 20,000 followers.Other anti-vaccine influencers on Instagram use similar language swaps, such as referring to vaccinated people as “swimmers” and the act of vaccination as joining a “swim club.”A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment but pointed NBC News to the company's efforts to drive users to authoritative sources on Covid-19 vaccines.  » Read More

Restaurant owner Tom Brady says Facebook shut down his page for impersonating Super Bowl champion Tom Brady'I've been Tom Brady longer': Metro Detroit restaurant owner's Facebook page shut down over nameThe Facebook page of Jim Brady’s restaurant owner, Tom Brady, has been restored after he said the site shut it down for impersonating 7-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady.The page was restored after Local 4 reported on the issue Monday, July 19.More: ‘I’ve been Tom Brady longer’: Metro Detroit restaurant owner’s Facebook page shut down over name“The reason the profile was disabled is because Mr. Brady had NFL Quarter Tom Brady as his profile photo and as a header image on his page. Mr. Brady was not using his actual photo,” read a statement from Facebook.AdBrady said he changed his profile to the NFL quarterback after he won the Super Bowl and forgot that he left it up.“I’ve been Tom Brady longer than he’s been Tom Brady,” he said on Monday.  » Read More

We asked our Facebook friends for a word or phrase to describe the space trips by billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos. Below are some of their responses.Joshua Dylan Wilcox“Ive literally ran out of ideas to spend my billions on”Karen J HutsonWasteLiesa Jo JenkinsEgo tripDan GramerA new era. This type of spacecraft has been in the works since at least 1995, and took WAY longer than expected.Brian ArcherAll the rich kids are doing it.Julie Blazer HoltQuickTony KingI think what we did 52 YEARS AGO TODAY was much cooler.#Apollo11Alice Alesia BennettIt was unreal. just like a futuristic movie or a very expensive carnival ride.Laura Wilson SpringerMonumentalSara MullinsNew Space AgeAshley ClarkIt didn’t look like a rocket shipLacey RobinsonOne giant leap for a man and one small step for mankind.  » Read More