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British star Idris Elba advocated that racism in film and TV shows should be no different from sexism, with a rating system to warn viewers of racist viewpoints. “That’s why we have a rating system: We tell you that this particular content is rated U, PG, 15, 18,” said Elba to the Radio Times. “To …
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It is common to hear social media figures and pundits deride censorship on social media and other technology platforms. As I wrote in Towards Data Science, this threat is very real, especially during the COVID-19 public health crisis. However, the exaggeration of the threat plays into our society’s growing fondness for “grievance culture.” The story …
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A Facebook ad boycott gathered more steam on Thursday, when telecom giant Verizon said it would pull ads in July over criticisms of the social media giant’s failure to monitor hate speech. The “Stop the Hate for Profit” campaign had already convinced Unilever-owned ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s to join the campaign, as well …
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Twitter placed a warning on a tweet by President Trump on Tuesday afternoon, saying the tweet violated the company’s policy on “abusive behavior.” “There will never be an ‘Autonomous Zone’ in Washington, D.C., as long as I’m your President,” Trump wrote. “If they try they will be met with serious force!” There will never be …
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Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect new information from Google. Google is threatening to ban the right-wing political news website The Federalist from generating advertising revenue on the company’s platform, a Google spokesman told Adweek. Google says it will implement the ban because of posts in The Federalist’s comments section that allegedly violated …
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Four Senate Republicans sent a letter to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) on Tuesday asking for the agency to act on President Trump’s executive order regarding tech censorship by “clearly” defining Section 230 liability protections for social media platforms. Senators Marco Rubio (R., Fl.), Kelly Loeffler (R., Ga.), Kevin Cramer (R., N.D.), and Josh Hawley …
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Posts criticizing the response of authorities to the virus have been blocked or removed in many countries. Times of crisis always bring out the best and worst of human nature. The COVID-19 pandemic is no different. Communities around the world are rallying together to support vulnerable people, and healthcare workers are putting their health (and …
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While social media giants have done everything they can to control the narrative online, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has erred on the side of freedom of expression. In a letter to his employees, Zuckerberg stated he wants users to see information and decide for themselves how they feel about it, unless it causes “imminent risk …
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Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday defended what he called a “tough decision” to allow controversial posts from President Trump to remain on Facebook. In an internal call with employees, Zuckerberg said that he was “pretty thorough” when reviewing Facebook’s policies regarding Trump’s posts — specifically one that had been flagged by rival Twitter for “glorifying violence” …
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Representative Jim Banks (R., Ind.) sent a letter to Google on Tuesday asking that the tech giant explain why YouTube comments mentioning the Chinese Communist Party’s internet propaganda division Wumao (五毛) have been automatically deleted. The revelation, which was mentioned Monday by Palmer Luckey, an American entrepreneur who founded Oculus VR, drew a number of …
British star Idris Elba advocated that racism in film and TV shows should be no different from sexism, with a rating system to warn viewers of racist viewpoints. “That’s why we have a rating system: We tell you that this particular content is rated U, PG, 15, 18,” said Elba to the Radio Times. “To …
