Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 14
Posts 1 - 10

Rogue chatbots deleted in China after questioning Communist Party

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Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 3.8.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, censorship
Summary | A Chinese messaging app decided to shut down two chatbots that questioned the Communist Party. For instance, the robots said that democracy was a must, and that they didn't like the Communist Party.
Image Description | Smartphone screen displaying app icons, and icons of apps JOOX and QQ.
Image Tags | logo, smartphone

Twitter to trial upping 140-character limit to 280 so you can say everything you want to say

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 26.9.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | Twitter
Summary | Twitter's 140-character limit is its signature, but the social network said that, as a test, they are going to try longer tweets (280 characters) with random users. Some people are strongly attached to the current limit and don't want it to change.
Image Description | Photograph of the Twitter logo on a woman's lips, finger touching the Twitter app icon on a smartphone screen, hand holding a smartphone displaying Twitter, screenshots of tweets, and Twitter logo.
Image Tags | hand(s), logo, smartphone, Twitter

Germany Tells Sites to Delete Hate or Pay Up

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 30.6.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, censorship, cyberbullying, Facebook, fake news, law, threat
Summary | Germany has the strictest policies when it comes to illegalizing slanderous, threatening, and extremist language from public spaces. Germany has just passed a law that allows them to fine Facebook as much as 57 million dollars if they do not remove offensive content quickly enough from the platform. While some may say this is censorship , German lawmakers claim that respectful online encounters are a necessity for free speech to thrive. Facebook is now working on improving the flagging process for offensive material and are also using artificial intelligence to remove fake news.
Image Description | Blurry man looking at a smartphone with the Facebook logo in the background.
Image Tags | Facebook, logo, male(s), smartphone

Facebook takes a new crack at halting fake news and clickbait

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Newspaper | USA Today
Date | 17.5.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, fake news, threat
Summary | Facebook has announced that it will work on new strategies to flag fake news on their platform by labeling them "disputed". Facebook's activism will also target click bait stories which can be equally misleading. Click bait are headlines which leave out essential content or grossly exaggerate to lure people into clicking on the link.
Image Description | Getty image of a woman's hand holding a smartphone showing the Facebook logo in front of a screen showing the Facebook sign-in page.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, Facebook, female(s), hand(s), logo, smartphone

Iranian hackers attack Telegram to find 15 million accounts

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Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 3.8.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | privacy, texting
Summary | Iranian hackers got access to Telegram accounts and got the details of 15 million Iranian users.
Image Description | Telegram logo, photograph of military men running, photograph of two Muslim women taking a selfie, screenshot of a series of tweets
Image Tags | female(s), logo, male(s), selfie, smartphone, Twitter

Facebook wants to kill off the phone number in 2016: Claims system is from the 'flip phone era' as it reveals Messenger now has more than 800 MILLION users

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Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 8.1.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, Facebook, texting
Summary | More than 800 million people use Facebook Messenger. Facebook wants to 'kill off the phone number' and attract even more users thanks to more features. Texting and SMS were flip phone communication styles. Now we can do much more with our smartphones, and new communication styles are appearing. With Messenger, Yes, you can text, send stickers, photos, videos, voice clips, GIFs, and even money to people. You can call people and you don't even need to know people's phone numbers anymore. Facebook also wants to introduce its digital virtual assistant called "M" into Messenger
Image Description | Photograph of Mark Zuckerberg, chart displaying Messenger statistics, illustrations of two smartphones displaying a conversation with "M", and photograph of a finger touching a screen displaying several icons.
Image Tags | Facebook, hand(s), logo, male(s), smartphone, text

Facebook backs down in race row: Will stop advertisers using 'ethnic affinity' to target housing, employment and credit ads

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Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 11.11.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | Facebook, marketing, privacy
Summary | Facebook will stop its "ethnic affinity" practice that helps advertisers reach ethnic groups with housing, extension of credit, and employment ads. However, policymakers and civil rights leaders have been concerned about the use of the ethnic affinity option; those ads discriminate against people. The privacy and public policy manager at Facebook said that it is important to keep the option to include and exclude groups for advertisers.
Image Description | Screenshot of Facebook's 'Detailed Targeting' form, screenshot of a part of a Facebook page, photograph of a smartphone screen with social media logos on it
Image Tags | Facebook, logo, smartphone, social media

China Disrupts WhatsApp Service in Online Clampdown

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 18.7.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | censorship, Facebook, Google, Instagram, privacy, threat, Twitter, WhatsApp
Summary | The Chinese government has partly shut down the use of WhatsApp within their borders. The app is widely used around the globe and was used by some in China do communicate with people outside of Chine with end-to-end encryption. Other popular social media platforms and internet sites like Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are blocked under the "Great Firewall" in China.
Image Description | Woman using a smartphone and women standing in front of Facebook and Instagram logos as well as emojis.
Image Tags | emojis, Facebook, female(s), Instagram, logo, smartphone

Facebook warns developers against using users' data for 'surveillance' after snooping revelations

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 14.3.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | Facebook, marketing, privacy
Summary | Facebook have fouhnd out that some of their coders have been selling tools for surveillance that they have created with their users' data. Facebook has changed its terms and conditions so that this would no longer be possible. Organizations protecting the rights of activists and people of color demand that more needs to be done.
Image Description | Three Getty images of the Facebook logo on a smartphone, a computerscreen, on glasses that a woman is wearing and a browser window of Facebook.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, Facebook, logo, smartphone

Instagram ranked worst social network for young people's mental health

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Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 19.5.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, Instagram, research/study, youth
Summary | Recent studies show that young adults aged 14 to 24 find that Instagram and Snapchat incease their sense of anxiety and loneliness the most. The most positivity boosting platforms were YouTube and Twitter. Mental health professionals are trying to stay informed on what youth's life looks like today so that they can better connect with them in a mental health crisis. Social media are more addictive than alcohol and cigarettes.
Image Description | Alamy image of two women taking a selfie on a beach and an image of a smartphone screen showing the Instagram logo.
Image Tags | female(s), Instagram, logo, selfie, smartphone

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