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Social media and online
The latest social media news and insight on the changing internet. Verdict covers the developing technology of social media and the online world, from regulations to innovations and the business beyond. Social media has seen dramatic maturation in recent years, but has faced an increasingly challenging time as its true impact is felt. So what does the future hold?
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18 Feb
Social media technology trends 2020
Many of the leading US and European social media firms will attempt to follow the lead of Tencent’s WeChat, and become all-encompassing super-apps in 2020.
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14 Feb
Romance scammers stole $475m last year. Here’s how to spot them
There’s big money in fake love.
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12 Feb
UK watchdog Ofcom to regulate online harms
The UK government has announced that it intends to appoint communications watchdog Ofcom as online harms regulator.
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11 Feb
On Safer Internet Day, online incivility is at a four-year high
Today is Safer Internet Day, an annual event that raises awareness of emerging online issues, especially those affecting younger internet-users.
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6 Feb
Twitter results show efforts to combat hate speech have “started paying dividends”
Twitter has published its quarterly earnings for Q4 of 2019, beating expectations.
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6 Feb
Facebook encryption plans condemned by child protection groups
Child protection organisations have sent a joint letter urging Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to halt plans to bolster encryption on its platforms, warning it will make it harder to catch child abusers.
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4 Feb
Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation calls for overhaul of targeted ads regulation
The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, the government’s advisory board on the ethical use of AI, has called for changes to be made to social media regulation.
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4 Feb
“Not cool”: Elon Musk slams Twitter crypto scams
If you’ve ever taken the time to read the replies on an Elon Musk tweet, you’ve probably noticed someone impersonating the SpaceX and Tesla chief to scam users out of cryptocurrency.
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30 Jan
Adtech industry looks to GDPR to solve thorny issue of real-time bidding
The adtech industry is one of the most important industries in the online world, underpinning the adverts that enable many sites to make money, but it has a serious problem: one of its central technologies is not fully compliant with GDPR.
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22 Jan
ICO publishes guidelines to protect children’s privacy online
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published a set of guidelines designed to protect children’s privacy online.
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22 Jan
Twitter Android app down following update – latest
The Twitter Android app is down for some users following an update, according to a number of reports.
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20 Jan
ICO calls for adtech industry reform due to “systematic” problems
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said that it will crack down on adtech companies that have their “heads firmly in the sand” over issues in the processing of user data as part of a reform of real-time bidding.
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17 Jan
Alphabet has reached a trillion, but does it really matter?
Google’s parent company Alphabet has reached a trillion-dollar valuation, making it the fourth US company to achieve this.
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14 Jan
LinkedIn down: Users report outage for some features
LinkedIn is currently down according to a number of reports, with many users unable to use a number of features on the business networking platform.
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9 Jan
Publishers slam tech firms’ efforts to combat misinformation
Publishers from around the world feel that technology firms such as Facebook, YouTube and Google did not do enough last year to combat misinformation on their platforms, according to research published today by the Reuters Institute for Journalism.
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19 Dec
Social media advertising: Ban targeted ads not political ads
Twitter caused a media sensation recently when it announced it would be banning all political advertising, and other social media giants like Facebook look to be following suit.
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10 Dec
How disinformation hijacked the ‘Leeds Hospital’ narrative
There is a very popular senior nursing sister at Leeds General Infirmary.
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9 Dec
Conservatives harness Facebook ads to take Ed Miliband’s Labour safe seat
In the last few days before the UK general election, the Conservatives have launched a string of highly targeted Facebook ads focused on key constituencies, with former Labour leader Ed Miliband’s Doncaster North constituency among the key targets.
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4 Dec
Amnesty finds clear appetite for regulating Big Tech
A survey carried out by Amnesty International has found a clear appetite for greater regulation of Big Tech.
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2 Dec
Digital privacy after death: What happens to social media accounts when we die
People have chased immortality since ancient times.
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29 Nov
Smartphone addiction symptoms found in a quarter of children
One in four children and young people are using their smartphone in a manner that is characteristic of behavioural addiction, according to research published today.
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28 Nov
Mob mentality: Research sheds light on how we make choices online
The role of online platforms in the spread of fake news and dissemination of extreme ideologies is an ongoing issue that can have serious real-world consequences, with the responsibility of those behind the platforms called into question.
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25 Nov
Contract for the Web: Tim Berners-Lee launches plan to combat “digital dystopia”
The creator of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has launched a plan to combat what he describes as an emerging “digital dystopia” called the Contract for the Web.
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22 Nov
Amnesty condemns “insidious” Facebook and Google surveillance
Amnesty International has slammed the “insidious” surveillance business models of Facebook and Google, warning that they pose an “unprecedented danger” to human rights.
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15 Nov
Christopher Wylie: US privacy law needed to control “reckless behaviour of the tech industry”
In 2018, Canadian data scientist Christopher Wylie found himself at the heart of an international scandal after exposing that Cambridge Analytica harvested the data of 87 million Facebook users without consent, using that data to target voters with political ads.
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14 Nov
Facebook deleted pro-vaccination adverts on political grounds, study finds
A landmark study into health-related advertising on Facebook has found that the social media giant has removed numerous adverts promoting vaccination on the grounds that they are political.
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13 Nov
Instagram Reels poses “real threat” to TikTok’s market dominance
The launch of Instagram Reels, a video remix feature bearing a close resemblance to TikTok, poses a serious threat to the Chinese social media brand, according to experts.
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11 Nov
Free internet essential to maintaining human rights, research finds
The internet should be made free to access for all as it now plays a vital role in upholding other human rights, according to research published today.
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8 Nov
Facebook political advertising is “not democracy”: Margrethe Vestager
Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, has slammed Facebook political advertising, arguing that the micro-targeted approach lacks oversight and is “not democracy”.
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6 Nov
Facebook Messenger launches new Privacy and Security Hub
After Facebook’s poor track record with user privacy came to light in 2018, the social media giant’s drive to improve its public image in this area continues.