Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 34
Posts 1 - 10

Slain teen's mother urges Congress to amend Web law

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Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 20.9.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | law, pornography, threat, youth
Summary | The mom of a 16-year old teenage girl who's been murdered testified about her daughter. Desiree Robinson was 16 and was on Backpage.com. The alleged killer used Backpage.com to find young girls with whom he could have sex. The pictures that Desiree posted online were the reason that led to her death. Senator Rob Portman introduced a new bill that will end immunity for websites that host prostitution-related advertising. Online sex trafficking is a serious issue and we need to do something to fight it.
Image Description | N/A

Extremists driven off Facebook and Twitter targeting smaller firms

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 12.7.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | Facebook, law, social media, threat, Twitter
Summary | Small social media networks don't have the same resources as big social media platforms to fight terrorists. Because platforms such as Facebook or Twitter can quickly block accounts supporting terrorism, extremists need to find other "smaller" platforms.
Image Description | Photograph of a hand using a laptop.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, hand(s)

Notwendiger Twitter-Protest oder Vandalismus?

(Necessary Twitter protest or vandalism?)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 8.8.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | cyberbullying, law, social media, threat, Twitter
Summary | A German artist protested Twitter's lax action upon hate comments on their platform by spraypainting hate comments from Twitter on the German Twitter headquarter building. Twitter only deletes 1% of user-reported hate comments. The German justice minister has also gone after social media companies and is threatening with very high financial sanctions if they do not comply with local laws that prohibit hate language.
Image Description | Image and tweets of the protester and of the justice minister.
Image Tags | male(s), Twitter

So können nützliche Apps das Autofahren erleichtern

(This is how useful apps can make driving easier)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 19.8.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | (mental) health, law, smartphone, threat
Summary | It is prohibited to take a smartphone into your hand while driving - not to text, not to call, and not to check notifications or the time. One can use their smartphone via voice control or if it is mounted on the dashboard as a navigational unit. More and more car-targeted apps are becoming voice operated so as to make them useful for drivers.
Image Description | Images of hand-held and dashboard-mounted smartphones inside cars showing maps and the Facebook logo.
Image Tags | Facebook, hand(s), logo, smartphone

Crackdown on Online Criticism Chills Pakistani Social Media

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 27.7.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | censorship, law, misunderstanding, social media, threat
Summary | The Pakistani government has passed a very strict law that prohibits any anti-government or anti-army posts on social media. Some people have already been arrested. They claim that their posts were not criticizing the armed forces and that it was all a misunderstanding. This is a huge issie when people get arrested for trivial tweets.
Image Description | Getty image of a protest.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), text

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

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

What the Kitty Genovese Killing Can Teach Today's Digital Bystanders

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 4.6.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, law, smartphone, threat, video communication
Summary | There are a few services now which allow smartphone users to broadcast videos live, for example on Facebook and on the Perscope app. Multiple people have already livestremed crimes like murder or sexual assault with a live audience watching without anyone having called the police. This is not right even though bystanders are no legally obliged to step in if they see a crime happening in most states.
Image Description | N/A

The Rise and Fall of Yik Yak, the Anonymous Messaging App

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 27.5.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | childhood, cyberbullying, law, privacy, social media, threat, youth
Summary | The anonymous messaging app Yik Yak became very popular in colleges and schools because it lets people broadcast anonymously to other users near them. The activity on the app has however started to become thretening with college students and children bullying each other and people making bomb threats that have led to multiple evacuations. A feminist group from University of Mary Washington have filed complaint to the University to block Yik Yak on campus because it has been used to harrass and threaten members.
Image Description | An illustration with a face and a smartphone and an image of the creators of Yik Yak.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

A hunt for militants at a key location: the Internet

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Newspaper | Los Angeles Times
Date | 6.5.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, law, texting, threat, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube
Summary | The EU's police organization as well as the US government are targeting IS material online in their battle against terrorism. Attempts to intercept communication via encrypted instant messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram have failed. The IS also uploads video and other content to YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. These social media platforms report to have deleted hundreds of thousands of entries linken to the IS.
Image Description | Portrait of a high profile IS member.
Image Tags | male(s)

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