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Before She Was Swept Away, She Went Live on Facebook

Linda Almond's body was recovered Sunday after home caved in

(Newser) - One of at least 22 victims killed in Tennessee flooding described her terror in a Facebook Live video moments before she was swept away. "We're being flooded right now," Linda Almond announced in a 70-second video filmed from her son's home in Waverly just before 10:...

Facebook's Report on Most Viewed Posts Has Some Surprises

Most viewed domain was an obscure Green Bay Packers site

(Newser) - In what it calls an effort to provide greater transparency, Facebook has released its first Widely Viewed Content report—but the company's critics say they've been left with more questions than answers. The report, which lists the 20 posts, pages, links, and domains seen by the most US...

Afghans Face Dilemma on Covering Up Digital Lives

Many fear Taliban will find evidence of cooperation with Americans

(Newser) - Afghans who worked with US troops or contractors in the past 20 years—or did anything that might displease the Taliban—are facing difficult decisions about covering up the paper and digital trails that could incriminate them. Destroying records of US employment would seem to make sense, except that they'...

YouTube Dumps Rand Paul for a Week Over Mask Misinfo

GOP senator calls his weeklong booting a 'badge of honor'

(Newser) - Marjorie Taylor Greene isn't the only Republican lawmaker who's temporarily lost social media privileges . On Tuesday, the same day that Twitter placed the Georgia congresswoman on a seven-day break for posting misinformation on the COVID vaccine, GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky received his own weeklong suspension from...

ISIS Posts Beheadings, Propaganda on Pro-Trump Site
ISIS Posts Pour Into Trump Site
Aug 2, 2021 6:55 PM CDT

ISIS Posts Pour Into Trump Site

GETTR now contains violent memes, including some of beheadings

(Newser) - Promised to be a free-speech social media option for Trump supporters, GETTR is proving popular with ISIS. The month-old site already has jihadi-related material such as posts calling for violence against the West, videos of beheadings, and memes of former President Trump being executed while dressed as a Guantanamo Bay...

4th Child's Death Blamed on TikTok Challenge

Latest is a 12-year-old boy in Oklahoma

(Newser) - A 12-year-old boy has died in Oklahoma after reportedly taking part in a TikTok challenge in which participants choke themselves until they pass out. Police officers were called just before midnight Monday to an apartment building in Bethany, where they found the boy unconscious and not breathing, with ligature marks...

Biden to Facebook: You're Not Killing People

President clarifies comments, renews call to stamp out misinformation

(Newser) - President Biden was pretty ticked at Facebook . Then Facebook got pretty ticked at Biden . Now Biden wants everyone to just get along—and work together to stop the antivaccine misinformation campaign. After saying Facebook and other social media giants that give platforms to antivaxxers are "killing people," CNBC...

Biden Is Onto Something With 'They're Killing People'

Kara Swisher writes that social media isn't exactly killing people, but it still deserves blame

(Newser) - There was no nuance, no hedging in President Biden's answer Friday when he was asked if he had anything to say to social media companies in the face of the worsening pandemic. "They're killing people," Biden said. He added, "The only pandemic we have is...

Biden Says Social Media is 'Killing People'

President slammed tech firms for not doing enough to combat vaccine misinformation

(Newser) - The president has come out swinging at big tech companies he says aren't doing enough to combat vaccine misinformation on social media platforms. “They’re killing people. The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated," Biden told reporters at the White House on Friday, per The ...

Twitter Is Killing Off Its Disappearing 'Fleets'

Self-destructing tweets never caught on

(Newser) - Twitter is disappearing its disappearing tweets, called fleets, after they didn't catch on. The company began testing tweets that vanish after 24 hours last March in Brazil. Fleets were designed to allay the concerns of new users who might be turned off by the public and permanent nature of...

Trump's Silicon Valley Move May Be a Lose-Win Strategy

Legal experts think suits against social media giants are doomed, but they may fire up his base

(Newser) - Former President Trump went after Facebook, Twitter, and Google on Wednesday with class-action lawsuits that accuse them of censoring conservative views by banning him and others. The consensus in coverage is that the lawsuits stand little chance of succeeding, but that might be OK with Trump. Coverage:
  • An analysis at
...

Norway Takes a Stance on Photos Posted by Influencers

Touched-up images on social media will need a label

(Newser) - Khloe Kardashian received attention in April for trying to pull an unedited swimsuit photo of herself off the internet that may have been posted accidentally. To quiet the discussion about the issues that raised, she then put a revealing photo on Instagram , saying, "This is me and my body...

Judge Tosses Government Cases Against Facebook

He ruled that FTC had failed to prove social media site has monopoly power

(Newser) - Facebook has emerged victorious—for now—in a Goliath vs. Goliath legal battle. A federal judge has struck down antitrust lawsuits brought against the social media giant by the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of 46 state attorneys general, NBC reports. US District Judge James E. Boasberg of the...

SCOTUS: Cheerleader&#39;s Profane Post Is Free Speech
SCOTUS:
Cheerleader's
Profane Post Is
Free Speech
the rundown
Jun 23, 2021 11:43 AM CDT

SCOTUS: Cheerleader's Profane Post Is Free Speech

Ruling in favor of Brandi Levy could have 'significant ramifications'

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a cheerleader suspended from her high school team for using a vulgar word on Snapchat, thereby extending its protection of student speech to social media, the Wall Street Journal reports. "F--- school f--- softball f--- cheer f--- everything," a 14-year-old...

Sources Say Facebook Is Ending a Controversial Policy

Social media company will reportedly no longer make exceptions for politicians

(Newser) - Facebook plans to end a contentious policy championed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg that exempted politicians from certain moderation rules on its site, according to several news reports cited by the AP . The company's rationale for that policy held that the speech of political leaders is inherently newsworthy and in...

Want a Blue Check Mark From Twitter? Here's Your Chance

Platform's verification process for coveted badge is back

(Newser) - For more than three years, Twitter users hoping to receive a coveted blue check mark—a symbol that indicates that "an account of public interest is authentic," per the platform —have been in a holding pattern. That changed on Thursday, when the site reopened its verification process...

Parler Is Back in Apple's App Store—With Conditions

Think of it as 'Parler Lite or Parler PG'

(Newser) - Parler is set to make a reappearance in Apple's App Store on Monday, after the latter company reviewed changes that the social media platform made to address concerns of lax moderation. The news comes on the heels of reports last month that Apple had cleared the way for this...

Report: 65% of Anti-Vax Social Posts Tied to 12 People

Researchers urge social media sites to crack down on 'Disinformation Dozen'

(Newser) - High rates of vaccine hesitancy are holding America back from herd immunity—and much of the blame lies with the "Disinformation Dozen," researchers say. A March study and a recent follow-up from the Center for Countering Digital Hate identify a dozen figures responsible for an estimated 65% of...

Family's Ski Accident Video Shows Why 'YouTube Culture Is Broken'

Fans felt manipulated by 'Bucket List Family'

(Newser) - With their globe-trotting—or, in pandemic times, US-trotting—lifestyle, the "Bucket List Family" has gained more than 2.6 million followers on Instagram , but Stephanie McNeal as BuzzFeed feels they have now gone too far in the search for clicks. Some of the influencers' followers were alienated by the...

State AGs to Facebook: Ditch 'Harmful' Instagram for Kids

Dozens of attorneys general want social media giant to abandon its idea of an 'Instagram for kids'

(Newser) - Facebook is currently working on an "Instagram for kids" that would allow children under 13 to use the platform, but there's already pushback from multiple corners. The latest resistance: a Monday letter from the National Association of Attorneys General, representing bipartisan AGs from 44 US states and territories...

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