Report: Iran-linked disinformation effort had personal touch Raphael Satter, Associated Press in the Washington Post, May 14th 2019
When an attractive young Middle Eastern woman contacted Saudi dissident Ali AlAhmed over Twitter last November, he was immediately suspicious.
Deepfakes are coming. We’re not ready.
Brian Klaas, Opinion, Washington Post, May 14th 2019
If 2016 was the election of “fake news,” 2020 has the potential to be the election of “deepfakes,” the new phenomenon of bogus videos created with the help of artificial intelligence. It’s becoming easier and cheaper to create such videos. Soon, those with even a rudimentary technical knowledge will be able to fabricate videos that are so true to life that it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to determine whether the video is real.
Facebook removes fake Italian accounts ahead of EU election Kelvin Chan and Frances D’Emilio, Associated Press in the Washington Post, May 13th 2019
Facebook shut down phony Italian accounts and pages spreading fake news ahead of European Union parliamentary elections, prompting opposition lawmakers to call Monday for tougher laws to curb online misinformation.
New French rules for Facebook? Zuckerberg likes the idea Angela Charlton, Associated Press in the Washington Post, May 10th, 2019
France welcomed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Paris on Friday with the threat of sweeping new regulations against his social media behemoth — and Zuckerberg himself called that proposal a good thing.
Why does Facebook fail to fix itself? It’s partly humans Barbara Ortutay, Associated Press in the Washington Post, May 10th, 2019
The question comes up over and over, with extremist material, hate speech, election meddling and privacy invasions. Why can’t Facebook just fix it?
Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes: Time to break up company Associated Press in the Washington Post, May 9th, 2019
Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes says it’s time to break up the social media behemoth. In a New York Times opinion piece published Thursday, Hughes said CEO Mark Zuckerberg has turned Facebook into an innovation-suffocating monopoly.
Facebook auto-generates videos celebrating extremist images Desmond Butler and Barbara Ortutay, Associated Press in the Washington Post, May 9th 2019
The animated video begins with a photo of the black flags of jihad. Seconds later, it flashes highlights of a year of social media posts: plaques of anti-Semitic verses, talk of retribution and a photo of two men carrying more jihadi flags while they burn the stars and stripes.
The Case Against Breaking Up Facebook Shira Ovide, Bloomberg Opinion, Washington Post, May 10th 2019
It’s impossible to root for Facebook Inc. It’s like rooting for the New England Patriots. (Sorry, Pats fans.) Besides partisans and kooks, who could side with an organization that is successful beyond belief, skirts the rules and is led by an all-powerful boss facing serious legal questions? And unlike the sports team, Facebook wields enormous influence over how the world thinks and interacts.