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ALBANY — What is an artist’s social responsibility? Do artists who make their work public in institutions and galleries across the nation even have a responsibility to deliver inspiration, hope and guidance in their work?A Facebook Live event exploring those questions, Art & Social Responsibility with Juan Logan, will feature the North Carolina artist and be hosted by AMA Executive Director Andrew J. Wulf. The virtual discussion will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday on the museum’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/AlbanyMuseumOfArt.“It is a rare treat to spend time with artist Juan Logan,” Wulf said. “At this event, he shall share his thoughts on the artist’s social responsibility and the human condition. As he says, the issues we confront today are relevant to us all. We are delighted to welcome him and our Facebook Live guests virtually to the AMA.”AMA Director of Education and Public Programming Annie Vanoteghem said the Facebook Live event will be easy for people to join.“There are no hoops to jump through,” Vanoteghem said. “You don’t need a password or any special permissions. Just go to the AMA Facebook page at 7 p.m. and join in.”Those who participate will be able to make comments and ask questions of Logan, whose exhibition “JUAN LOGAN: creating & collecting” is currently showing in the Haley Gallery at the AMA, through the Facebook Live commenting feature. Logan said he will begin with observations and comments, followed by the question-and-answer session with Wulf, including questions posed by the public.The event will conclude with a group of AMA members joining with Logan and Wulf in the conversation. Vanoteghem said AMA members who want to participate in the final segment may email her at annie.vanoteghem@albanymuseum.com. “We will have a maximum of 10 members participating in that part,” she said.Logan’s work addresses American culture as a…

Disinformation On Facebook Could Affect The Way You Vote NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with Jessica Feezell, of the University of New Mexico, about how much disinformation on Facebook affects voting. September 6, 20207:59 AM ET Disinformation On Facebook Could Affect The Way You Vote Download Embed NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with Jessica Feezell, of the University of New Mexico, about how much disinformation on Facebook affects voting.

In the aftermath of the Kenosha shooting, an activist group called Change the Terms is calling on Facebook to institute new policies around potentially dangerous content, including a blanket ban on “event pages that encourage people to bring weapons to events.” In a letter to Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, group called for a broad enhancement of Facebook’s moderation against extremism, including more automated tools for proactive enforcement and better systems for detecting event pages that promote violence. Another recommendation echoes an internal Facebook report (obtained by Buzzfeed News last week) that suggested better monitoring of spikes in user feedback reports. “We cannot stress enough the urgency of our requests,” the letter reads. “You have the power to save lives and significantly influence the health of our democracy.” Reached for comment, Facebook said it was considering the recommendations, but declined to comment further. “We are reviewing Change the Terms’ thoughtful suggestions and look forward to continuing the ongoing conversation with them,” a Facebook representative said. The questions come after the killing of two protestors in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which came after a number of militia-linked event listings on Facebook had encouraged armed attendance. A number of Facebook users reported the pages as likely to incite violence, but moderators refused to remove them prior to the shooting. The morning after the rally, Facebook pulled down the pages, affirming that they did violate Facebook policy. In a public speech, Mark Zuckerberg called the decision “an operational error” resulting from the specialized training given to the moderators who enforce the platform’s Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy. Facebook policy on firearm moderation is mixed, and is more lax than many of its competitors. Unlike Google, Facebook does not block gun ads, provided they’re made by a registered dealer and are in accordance with local laws. Facebook…

Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket: Facebook (FB) – Facebook announced it would not accept new political ads in the week before Election Day, and will remove posts that claim people will get Covid-19 if they take part in voting. Facebook will also add informational labels to any posts that seek to delegitimize election results. Tesla (TSLA) – The automaker's largest shareholder, investment management firm Baillie Gifford, has cut its stake in Tesla to less than 5% from 6.32%. Baillie Gifford said it took the action due to portfolio restrictions after the rapid runup in Tesla shares increased its overall percentage of the firm's holdings. Kansas City Southern (KSU) – Private-equity firms Blackstone (BX) and Global Infrastructure Partners have made a takeover offer for the rail operator, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Wall Street Journal. Kansas City Southern currently has a market value of nearly $18.3 billion, and the paper said the value of the takeover bid could not be learned. Beyond Meat (BYND) – Baird initiated coverage of the plant-based burger maker with an "outperform" rating, saying increased distribution should give Beyond Meat substantial growth over the next several years. Eli Lilly (LLY) – Morgan Stanley upgraded the drug maker's stock to "overweight" from "equal weight," pointing to prospects in the areas of diabetes and Alzheimer's. Verizon (VZ), Amazon.com (AMZN) – Verizon and Amazon are considering a $4 billion investment in India-based telecom company Vodafone Idea, according to a report in India's Mint newspaper. Vodafone Idea is a joint venture between Britain's Vodafone (VOD) and India's Idea Cellular, and such an investment might help it pay $6.8 billion that it owes to the Indian government. Costco (COST) – The warehouse retailer reported a 13.2% rise in August…

A Maryland state official was fired Saturday after sharing social media posts supporting Kyle Rittenhouse, who prosecutors say killed two people and severely wounded a third last week during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin.Arthur "Mac" Love IV had served as deputy director for the Governor's Office of Community Initiatives, which is responsible for outreach to diverse ethnic groups and faith communities. He had been in the role since January 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile.This is one of the FB posts by Governor Hogan's Deputy Director of Community Initiatives.Who oversees - I'm not kidding - the Commission on African American History and Culture.Fire him, @GovLarryHogan, and issue the Exec Order on use of force you should've issued months ago. pic.twitter.com/uNh62cAbtD— Delegate Eric Luedtke (@EricLuedtke) August 29, 2020 Maryland lawmaker Eric Luedtke, a Democratic state delegate, was among those who called for Love's firing. He tweeted Saturday that Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, should "make clear that such a viewpoint has no place in state government" and described the posts as "horrific."Luedtke tweeted a screenshot of one of Love's Facebook posts Saturday, a meme of a grinning white police officer holding two thumbs up with the words, "Don't be a thug if you can't take a slug!""This is one of the FB posts by Governor Hogan's Deputy Director of Community Initiatives. Who oversees — I'm not kidding — the Commission on African American History and Culture. Fire him, @GovLarryHogan, and issue the Exec Order on use of force you should've issued months ago," Luedtke tweeted.Love also reposted pictures that appear to show Rittenhouse cleaning graffiti, the Baltimore Sun reported. The original poster wrote: "I'm grateful that conservatives are rallying behind this kid. He genuinely seems like a good person," according to the newspaper.Steven McAdams, the executive director for the Governor's Office of…

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are donating $300 million to protect American elections. It is one of the couple’s largest-ever single gifts, meant to bolster democracy during a pandemic. But it’s also one that critics say is brimming with irony given Facebook’s past failures in protecting the integrity of elections. The Facebook chief said on Tuesday that he had sent the money to two civic organizations which in turn will direct it to state and local election officials so they can prepare for an unprecedented Election Day. The coronavirus pandemic has caused many states to radically shift — on short notice — how they will administer elections to ensure safety. A majority of Americans say they are anticipating that they will vote early or by mail this year. The majority of the gift, $250 million, will go to the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a nonprofit popular with many tech philanthropists, which will then regrant the money to local election officials so they can recruit poll workers, supply them with personal protective equipment, and set up drive-through voting. Another $50 million heads to the Center for Election Innovation & Research to be distributed to Secretaries of State across the country. The money does not come from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, their joint philanthropy, but is a personal donation. “Election officials across the country are working hard to ensure that everyone can vote and every vote can be counted,” Zuckerberg said, “and we want to help make sure they have the resources they need to do this.” And while the money may be sorely needed, the announcement of the gift on Tuesday emerged as an immediate flashpoint in the simmering debate over billionaire philanthropy and whether donations are the best way to enact change. That’s because, to many…

Insynapse Entertainment, in conjunction with Vacaville Firefighters Association Local 3501, will hold a dance fundraiser Friday night for those impacted by the LNU Lightning Complex Fires. However, with the shelter-at-home order still in effect, the party will be hosted online so participants will be able to jam to current and classic grooves without even leaving their homes. Dancers are encouraged to put on their dancing shoes, grab some cocktails and turn their homes into a dance club for one night. DJs Ed Combong and Chriztian will be spinning two hours of dance favorites from the ’70s to today. Combong said the playlist would be an eclectic mix of hip-hop, country, Latin pop, Top 40 hits and a whole lot more. “It’s just upbeat, fun, uplifting stuff,” he said. Combong is a member of Young Professionals of Vacaville, a group of Millennials in the local business world who come together to empower the next generation of business leaders. The day after the fires, the group had talked about doing something to benefit the victims. “They were just mentioning the devastation that they had already learned (of) from the day before,” he said. “To hear of people that were affected, it really concerned me. I have two friends that I heard they lost their homes completely.” Since then, Combong has been volunteering in Solano County where he can. He talked with his social media team about doing a benefit concert. Combong has done fundraisers in the past. When a security guard at Rockin’ Jump Trampoline Park — where Insynapse are resident DJs — lost his wife in an accident, a smaller-scale benefit was held. “We donated our time,” Combong said. In addition to tunes, there will also be opportunities to donate to those in need. Vacaville Firefighters 3501 has set up a…

In July 2019, Alaphia Zoyab was on a video call with Facebook employees in India, discussing some 180 posts by users in the country that Avaaz, the watchdog group where she worked, said violated Facebook’s hate speech rules. But half way through the hour-long meeting, Shivnath Thukral, the most senior Facebook official on the call, got up and walked out of the room, Zoyab says, saying he had other important things to do. Among the posts was one by Shiladitya Dev, a lawmaker in the state of Assam for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He had shared a news report about a girl being allegedly drugged and raped by a Muslim man, and added his own comment: “This is how Bangladeshi Muslims target our in 2019.” But rather than removing it, Facebook allowed the post to remain online for more than a year after the meeting, until TIME contacted Facebook to ask about it on Aug. 21. “We looked into this when Avaaz first flagged it to us, and our records show that we assessed it as a hate speech violation,” Facebook said in a statement to TIME. “We failed to remove upon initial review, which was a mistake on our part.” Thukral was Facebook’s public policy director for India and South Asia at the time. Part of his job was lobbying the Indian government, but he was also involved in discussions about how to act when posts by politicians were flagged as hate speech by moderators, former employees tell TIME. Facebook acknowledges that Thukral left the meeting, but says he never intended to stay for its entirety, and joined only to introduce Zoyab, whom he knew from a past job, to his team. “Shivnath did not leave because the issues were not…

Business|Facebook to Pay More Than $110 Million in Back Taxes in FranceAug. 24, 2020Updated 9:33 a.m. ETPARIS — Facebook's French subsidiary has agreed to pay more than 100 million euros ($118 million) in back taxes, including a penalty, after a ten-year audit of its accounts by French tax authorities, the company said on Monday. France, which is pushing hard to overhaul international tax rules on digital companies such as Facebook, Alphabet's Google, Apple and Amazon, has said the big tech groups pay too little tax in the country where they have significant sales.Current international tax rules legally allow companies to funnel sales generated in local markets in Europe to their regional headquarters. Some of the tech companies, including Facebook, have European or international headquarters based in countries with comparatively low corporate tax rates, such as Ireland. A Facebook spokesman said French tax authorities carried out an audit on Facebook's accounts over 2009-2018 period, which resulted in an agreement by the subsidiary to pay a total 106 million euros. The Facebook spokesman did not elaborate further on the details of the agreement. France's tax administration also did not give more details. Facebook's spokesman also said that since 2018 the company had decided to include its advertising sales in France in its annual accounts covering France.As a result, Facebook's total net revenue almost doubled in 2019 from a year earlier to 747 million euros, a copy of Facebook France's 2019 annual accounts, filed with France's companies registry and seen by Reuters, showed. Facebook France, which employs 208 people, refers to the French tax audit report in its 2019 annual accounts, saying it amounted to a tax adjustment of about 105 million euros. This includes a penalty of about 22 million, the annual accounts showed.French magazine Capital was first to report the payment…

FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed Facebook logo is seen placed on a keyboard in this illustrationBy Mathieu RosemainPARIS (Reuters) - Facebook's French subsidiary has agreed to pay more than 100 million euros ($118 million) in back taxes, including a penalty, after a ten-year audit of its accounts by French tax authorities, the company said on Monday.France, which is pushing hard to overhaul international tax rules on digital companies such as Facebook, Alphabet's Google, Apple and Amazon, has said the big tech groups pay too little tax in the country where they have significant sales.Current international tax rules legally allow companies to funnel sales generated in local markets in Europe to their regional headquarters. Some of the tech companies, including Facebook, have European or international headquarters based in countries with comparatively low corporate tax rates, such as Ireland.A Facebook spokesman said French tax authorities carried out an audit on Facebook's accounts over 2009-2018 period, which resulted in an agreement by the subsidiary to pay a total 106 million euros.The Facebook spokesman did not elaborate further on the details of the agreement. France's tax administration also did not give more details.Facebook's spokesman also said that since 2018 the company had decided to include its advertising sales in France in its annual accounts covering France.As a result, Facebook's total net revenue almost doubled in 2019 from a year earlier to 747 million euros, a copy of Facebook France's 2019 annual accounts, filed with France's companies registry and seen by Reuters, showed.Facebook France, which employs 208 people, refers to the French tax audit report in its 2019 annual accounts, saying it amounted to a tax adjustment of about 105 million euros. This includes a penalty of about 22 million, the annual accounts showed.French magazine Capital was first to report the payment of back taxes.Facebook's spokesman…