Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 9
Posts 1 - 9

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

Facebook lets streams of depravity flow freely

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 19.4.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | censorship, Facebook, fake news, law, pornography, privacy, threat
Summary | Facebook is facing many criticisms about its poor enforcement of basic standards of content on the platform. Multiple violent live streams have been uploaded to Facebook in the past in it always took Facebook too long to take them down. Their algorithm to weed out pornography has backfired when they censored a historic photograph of a napalm victim from the Vietnam War because it registered as child pornography. After much denial, Facebook are finally taking steps against fake news spreading on their platform. All this may be called censorship but without moderation there can be no free speech because bullies dominate the discourse.
Image Description | N/A

Rumors on WhatsApp Ignite 2 Mob Attacks in India, Killing 7

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 25.5.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | fake news, law, threat, WhatsApp
Summary | In India, a piece of fake news has spread on WhatsApp. It said that a number of children were abducted in the region. Promptly, a mob has formed of over twenty people hunting down the alleged child abducters and murdering them. The police had however not recorded any cases of child abduction in the area.
Image Description | Image of people burying the dead after a mob attack.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s)

Ignoranz ist Stärke

(Ignorance is strength)

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Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 3.2.2017
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | fake news, politics, privacy, smartphone, social media, threat
Summary | Kellyanne Conways term "alternative facts" remind of Orwell's fictional language Newspeak which also changes meanings by renaming. Many facts of contemporary life (especially under the Trump administration) remind of dystopian novels "1984" by G. Orwell and "Brave New World" by A. Huxley. We all carry smartphones with us at all times with which we can send information but which also receive and document information about us like our location, who else is in that location, our communications, purchases, and so on. Privacy has become impossible in the digital age.
Image Description | Images and videos of the film "1984" and George Orwell as well as the news clip where Kellyanne Conway mentions "alternative facts".
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), TV

Big data’s power is terrifying. That could be good news for democracy

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 6.3.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | fake news, politics, social media, threat
Summary | Big data makes big new innovations possible. It has already been assumed that recent elections were manipulated by fake news targeted to gullable individuals on social media. Other people are looking into options of how big data can be used to improve democracy, for instance the Pirate Party in Iceland.
Image Description | An illustration of hands 'cracking' a computer and an image of female Icelandic politicians from the Pirate Party.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), keyboard

Fighting fake news: societies using technology to search for truth

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 0.0.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | censorship, Facebook, fake news, politics, social media, threat
Summary | Many countries are trying to combat fake news and urging Facebook to find ways of combatting fake news. They influence elections by deceiving people and that is a great problem. It is nearly impossible to identify fake news with a program, it takes a human. Facebook is now allowing users to flag suspicious content, which is then reviewed and if deemed fake, labeled as such and displayed with a lower priority. Fake news are not taken off of Facebook because that would be censorship.
Image Description | Shutterstock images of protesters against fake news.
Image Tags | female(s), text

«Les «fake news» renforcent la valeur des infos sérieuses»

("Fake news reinforce the value of serious news")

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Newspaper | Le Temps
Date | 27.1.2017
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | Facebook, fake news, social media, threat
Summary | Traditional news media should not have to help social media find "fake news". Fake news can be a threat, but they can also give an advantage to journalists. Indeed, if there are a lot of fake news, an audience will appreciate a serious piece of news even more. Facebook has been blamed for the spread of fake news. However, Sheryl Sandberg claims that Facebook should not have to evaluate and select its content. External experts should do that. However, Facebook already filters some content related to hatred for example.
Image Description | Photograph of Mathias Döpfner and Mark Zuckerberg.
Image Tags | male(s)

In Race Against Fake News, Google and Facebook Stroll to the Starting Line

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Newspaper | New York Magazine
Date | 25.1.2017
Language | German
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, fake news, Google, politics, threat
Summary | Google and Facebook are beginning to respond to the wide criticism that they do nothing to combat fake news on their platforms. Critics blame the uncontested spread of fake news for the voting of Donald Trump. Facebook and Google are now trying to block new providers on their platforms that spread misleading content but critics doubt that these measures are very effective.
Image Description | Getty image of a Google cafeteria.
Image Tags | Google, male(s), smartphone

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