Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 10
Posts 1 - 10

How Hate Groups Forced Online Platforms to Reveal Their True Nature

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 21.8.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | censorship, politics, social media, threat
Summary | Ever since the fatal Unite the Right protest in Charlotteville, social media and other internet companies seem to be washing their hands from any connection with far-right groups. Facebook has deleted such groups off of their platform, Reddit has done the same, Spotify is deleting white supremacist music from their libraries, and so on. Now far-right groups are building online alternatives for themselves and lamenting the censorship they have been victimized by.
Image Description | Illustration of hands around some crumpled-up paper.
Image Tags | hand(s)

Germany vs. Twitter

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 21.6.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | law, threat, Twitter
Summary | The German government demands that Twitter remove illegal content (some offensive language is illegal in Germany) from the platform within 24 hours. If they fail to do so, Germany threatens to fine them up to 50 million euros. Now social media platforms have begun deleting German accounts which are even just coming close to illegal content so as not to risk a fine.
Image Description | Hand holding a lens over the Twitter logo.
Image Tags | hand(s), logo, Twitter

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

How to Protect Your Privacy as More Apps Harvest Your Data

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 2.5.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | law, marketing, privacy, smartphone, threat
Summary | Many smartphone apps can be used for free, or rather one does not have to pay money to use it. However, if the app is not from a non-profit organization, users pay in some other way that may be obscure to them. Usually free for-profit apps collect data abou their users that they can sell to advertisers. The only way to protect oneself from this is to carefully read the terms and conditions, even if they are in legalese. If one does not like the level of privacy provided by an app, the only certain way to avoid data exploitation is not to download the app.
Image Description | Illustration of a hand holding a smartphone where eyes are hidden behind the app icons.
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone

I swiped right and got a life coach, not a life partner

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Newspaper | Los Angeles Times
Date | 6.4.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | (mental) health, online dating, smartphone, social media
Summary | The author of the article met a life coach/texting buddy on Tinder. They have now been texting each other for two years, and they have never met. Her life coach, a young Syrian man, regularly gives her tips about relaxation, meditation, and breathing. She likes the fact that her "therapist" is digitally accessible 24 hours a day.
Image Description | Illustration of a laptop and two hands touching each other
Image Tags | computer/laptop, hand(s), keyboard

Revenge Porn Must Be Criminalized

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Newspaper | Huffington Post
Date | 6.4.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | cyberbullying, law, sexting, threat
Summary | There have been more and more cases of people posting intimate photographs of their ex-lovers on the internet. The practice is called revenge porn and it is horrible for the victims: their most intimate images are shared with the whole world without their consent and they cannot really erase the images from the internet afterards. New York CIty is now working on criminalizing the distribution of revenge porn - something that should already have happened long ago.
Image Description | Getty image of hands typing on a laptop.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, hand(s)

‘Good Girl’ Prom Dress Fliers Draw Criticism for Florida School

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 30.3.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | gender, school, Twitter
Summary | One school's guidelines on what appropriate prom gowns entail went viral on Twitter because of the double standard that girls are subjected to such prescriptivism and also because the text accompanying the images was demeaning towards women. An image of a gown seen as appropriate is captioned with "good girl" resounding how one would talk to a dog rather than young women.
Image Description | Image of the bulleting board with prom dresses and Tweets about the school message.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), text, Twitter

Facebook says police can’t use its data for ‘surveillance’

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 13.3.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, law, politics, privacy
Summary | Though Facebook's biggest source of revenue is advertising, they do cooperate with police investigators on a case-to-case basis. The government however has the option to subject Facebook users to mass surveillance in case of a disaster. "Disaster" is not defined so this gray are enables the government to misuse privacy agreements with Facebook at any given moment.
Image Description | Hand holding magnifying glass against a wall of Facebook logos.
Image Tags | Facebook, hand(s), logo

Twitter says it's cracking down on abuse (again)

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Newspaper | USA Today
Date | 7.2.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | cyberbullying, politeness, threat, Twitter
Summary | Twitter has been struggling with trolls, racists, and sexists since its advent but now a new motivation has presented itself. When investors such as Disney pull back their offers, Twitter headquarters begin to seriously look into the matter again. Twitter did very little to combat users who are only on Twitter to insult other users - they can be suspended but it is impossible to keep them from creating another anonymous account. For now, users can choose to mute certain words, posts, or threads so that they don't receive notifications for hateful content.
Image Description | Photograph of a hand-held smartphone showing the Twitter icon.
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone, Twitter

13 Super-Modern Signs Your Relationship Is Getting Serious

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Newspaper | Huffington Post
Date | 30.1.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, Instagram, sexting, social media
Summary | The digital age has brought forth new little milestones for relationships: what used to be putting your girlfriend on speed dial may now be waiting for them to watch a new episode of your favorite TV show together. Other signs that your relationship is increasingly serious are when you text each other during day time not to make plans but to check in or share something, when your significant other's family want to befriend you on social media, when you appear in each other's Instagrams, when you make your relationship official on Facebook, or when you send each other nude selfies.
Image Description | A CNP Montrose image of intricately manicured hands using a Blackberry.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), smartphone, text

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