TheNewsGuru

Tag: Facebook

  • Safer Internet Day: Facebook partners 9 NGOs to raise safety awareness

    Facebook says it is partnering nine non-profit organisations and government agencies within sub-Saharan Africa to raise awareness about internet safety and security.

    Jocelyne Muhutu-Rémy, Strategic Media Partnerships Manager for Facebook in sub-Saharan Africa said in a statement that the partnership was created to celebrate ‘Safer Internet Day’.

    The statement was made available to newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday.

    According to her, Facebook is working with Watoto Watch Network, Kenya; Paradigm Initiative, Nigeria; Child Online Africa, Ghana;Youth First Madagascar, Computing and Information Association, Tanzania.

    Muhutu-Rémy said others are: Asikana Network, Zambia; Digify Africa, South Africa; Phambano Technology Development Centre NPC of South Africa and Diana Schwarz Attorneys also from South Africa.

    “We are committed to ensuring that Facebook and Instagram are places for everyone, especially, the youth.

    “That is why we offer a range of tools on our platforms to give people full control over their experiences.

    “ Facebook is working with all these partners to drive awareness about the practices, resources and tools people can use to protect their online wellbeing.

    “We now have new tools on Instagram that filter comments that may be inappropriate, offensive or involve bullying,” she said.

    Muhutu-Rémy said that on Instagram, they had created new ways to help stop bullying before it happens.

    “If someone writes a comment or caption for a feed post that our AI detects as potentially offensive, they will receive a prompt that the language used is similar to language that has been reported for bullying,” she noted.

    Muhutu-Rémy said that the Instagram Safety Centre (instagram-together.com) was a place where one could learn more about the safety features on Instagram.

    She said that youths could also resource for topics on suicide prevention social resolution and bullying prevention from the safety centre.

    Muhutu-Rémy noted that Facebook had also created a Youth Portal, which was a central place for teens to get a better understanding of the company’s products.

    He also added that youths could hear from other peers, and get tips and advice on how they could control their experiences from the portal.

    Safer Internet Day (SID) is an international event which is celebrated on Feb. 11 annually.

    It is meant to promote a safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones by children and young people across the world.

    It was an initiative of the European Union {EU} 2004 SafeBorders project of 2004 and taken up by the Insafe Network, also co-funded by the EU.

    Safer Internet Day is currently being celebrated in no less than 150 countries worldwide, and across six of the world’s seven continents.

  • Facebook, Edo partner on online training for over 2,000 teachers, schools

    Facebook on Tuesday said it had partnered with the Edo Government to provide more access to online training for over 2,000 teachers and schools through its communication platform called ‘Workplace for Good’.

    Adaora Ikenze, Facebook’s Head of Public Policy for Anglophone West Africa, who made this known in a statement, said the company partnered with Edo as part of its ongoing commitment to building community and improving connectivity.

    She said that Workplace was Facebook’s communication platform, which transformed teams and organisations into connected, empowered and purposeful communities.

    Ikenze said the platform used familiar features like Live video calling, chat, feeds and Safety check to connect everyone and turn ideas into action.

    “In order to build on its Infrastructure and Connectivity projects for schools within the area, Facebook has also partnered with MainOne and Tizeti to provide fast, affordable, and reliable Internet through Facebook’s Express Wi-Fi programme.

    “The programme which started early 2019, now provides free connectivity for teachers in four schools within Edo,’’ she said.

    She noted that to further support the tech ecosystem, Facebook also invested in a meeting space in the South-South Innovation Hub for teacher training and local developer meet ups.

    Ikenze said the company was delighted to be pioneering such projects in Nigeria and across Africa.

    She noted that the partnership with Edo Government was a perfect example of how technology could positively impact education not only for students but teachers alike.

    “According to the Edo Basic Education Transformation Sector (Edo-BEST), one in five teachers do not receive relevant training to improve learning outcomes in their classrooms and that is why partnerships like this are critical in impacting positive change in classrooms,” she said.

    Adam Seldow, Director of Education Partnerships, at Facebook added that they were impressed to see that a number of partners had come together to help drive impact in the Edo programme including the Edo Government.

    “We are impressed to see our education partners re:Learn, and our infrastructure and connectivity partners MainOne and Tizeti coming together to impact in the Edo State programme.

    “We look forward to continuing our work in adding value to education in Edo State, with an additional 8,000 primary school teachers who will be added to this programme throughout 2020, but also further afield across Nigeria and Africa.”

    “Due to its current success, the Edo State Government has committed additional budget to connect 100 new schools in the State by leveraging on the fiber investments and Express Wi-Fi, ensuring that over 15,000 students and teachers will have continued internet access,” Seldow said

    Dr Joan Oviawe, Chairperson of the Edo State Universal Basic Education Board said the support from Facebook would assist the state government in preparing pupils to compete with their contemporaries not only in Nigeria, but across Africa.

    “We have to prepare the Edo child for a competitive world; a world without boundaries where they can build valuable skills for the future, using technology,’’ Oviawe said.

    The Chief Executive Officer of MainOne, Mrs Funke Opeke, said her company was committed to bridging the digital divide across Nigeria through continued investment in infrastructure that contributed to the growth of local economies.

    She commended the Edo Government for its commitment to empowering the next generation of digitally-enabled youths and teachers to transform education in the state.

  • Zuckerberg ‘mocks’ Twitter in leaked internal Facebook meetings

    Zuckerberg ‘mocks’ Twitter in leaked internal Facebook meetings

    Founder Mark Zuckerberg in leaked internal meetings of Facebook laughed over the investment status of Twitter, stressing that the microblogging platform can’t put in investment as does his social media platform.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Zuckerberg was addressing the issue of potential breakup of Facebook in one of the meetings when he said Facebook’s investment on safety is bigger than the whole revenue of Twitter, and then laughed.

    Parts of the leaked internal meetings read: “Well, I think you want to separate out a couple of things. I’m certainly more worried that someone is going to try to break up our company.

    “Now, there’s a separate question about, at the end of the day, there is the rule of law — which, for all of the concern about the direction the country is going in, as someone running a company that operates in a lot of different countries, I have to say one of the things that I love and appreciate about our country the most is that we have a really solid rule of law, which is very different from a lot of other places around the world.

    “So there might be a political movement where people are angry at the tech companies or are worried about concentration or worried about different issues and worried that they’re not being handled well.

    “That doesn’t mean that, even if there’s anger and that you have someone like Elizabeth Warren who thinks that the right answer is to break up the companies … I mean, if she gets elected president, then I would bet that we will have a legal challenge, and I would bet that we will win the legal challenge.

    “And does that still suck for us? Yeah. I mean, I don’t want to have a major lawsuit against our own government. I mean, that’s not the position that you want to be in when you’re, you know, I mean … it’s like, we care about our country and want to work with our government and do good things. But look, at the end of the day, if someone’s going to try to threaten something that existential, you go to the mat and you fight.

    “And I just think the case is not particularly strong on this … It’s just that breaking up these companies, whether it’s Facebook or Google or Amazon, is not actually going to solve the issues. And, you know, it doesn’t make election interference less likely. It makes it more likely because now the companies can’t coordinate and work together.

    “It doesn’t make any of the hate speech or issues like that less likely. It makes it more likely because now … all the processes that we’re putting in place and investing in, now we’re more fragmented.

    “It’s why Twitter can’t do as good of a job as we can. I mean, they face, qualitatively, the same types of issues. But they can’t put in the investment. Our investment on safety is bigger than the whole revenue of their company. [laughter] And yeah, we’re operating on a bigger scale, but it’s not like they face qualitatively different questions. They have all the same types of issues that we do.

    “So yes, I think that the direction of the discussion is concerning. I at least believe, I think, there are real issues. I don’t think that the antitrust remedies are going to solve them. But I understand that if we don’t help address those issues and help put in place a regulatory framework where people feel like there’s real accountability, and the government can govern our sector, then yeah, people are just going to keep on getting angrier and angrier.

    “And they’re going to demand more extreme measures, and, eventually, people just say, “Screw it, take a hammer to the whole thing.” And that’s when the rule of law comes in, and I’m very grateful that we have it”.

  • Sports Minister raises alarm over hacked Facebook Account

    Sports Minister raises alarm over hacked Facebook Account

    From Jonas Ike, Abuja

    The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare has drawn attention of the public to some mischievous scammers and fraudsters who specialize in hacking into social media platforms to perpetuate crime.
    The Honourable Minister stated this on Wednesday by the Ministry’s Director of Press Mr Lere Adams and confirms that fraudsters have hacked into his face book account impersonating him and soliciting for contracts from the Federal Government saying that this is totally false and misleading.
    For the records, the Ministry and indeed the Honourable Minister wish to notify the general public to carefully verify all information emanating from the Minister’s social media platforms, as these hackers are out to smear the image of Mr Sunday Dare, the Ministry and in effect the Federal Government of Nigeria.
    He added that the general public is kindly advised to be well guided.
  • U.S. Govt slams Facebook $5b fine over privacy breaches

    U.S. Govt slams Facebook $5b fine over privacy breaches

    Facebook Inc has been slammed with a hefty $5billion fine by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission following its investigation into the social media company’s handling of user data, multiple sources familiar with the situation said.
    The FTC has been investigating allegations Facebook inappropriately shared information belonging to 87 million users with the now-defunct British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. The probe has focused on whether the data sharing violated a 2011 consent agreement between Facebook and the regulator.
    Investors cheered news of the deal and pushed Facebook shares up 1.8%, while several powerful Democratic lawmakers in Washington condemned the proposed penalty as inadequate.
    The FTC is expected to include in the settlement other restrictions on how Facebook treats user privacy, according to the Wall Street Journal, which also said that the agency vote was along party lines, with three Republicans voting to approve it and two Democrats opposed.
    The settlement would be the largest civil penalty ever paid to the agency.
    The FTC and Facebook declined to comment.
    Representative David Cicilline, a Democrat and chair of a congressional antitrust panel, called the $5 billion penalty “a Christmas present five months early.”
    “This fine is a fraction of Facebook’s annual revenue. It won’t make them think twice about their responsibility to protect user data,” he said.
    Facebook’s revenue for the first quarter of this year was $15.1 billion while its net income was $2.43 billion. It would have been higher, but Facebook set aside $3 billion for the FTC penalty.
    While the deal resolves a major regulatory headache for Facebook, the Silicon Valley firm still faces further potential antitrust probes as the FTC and Justice Department undertake a wide-ranging review of competition among the biggest U.S. tech companies.
    It is also facing public criticism from President Donald Trump and others about its planned cryptocurrency Libra over concerns about privacy and money laundering.
    The Cambridge Analytica missteps, as well as anger over hate speech and misinformation on its platform, have also prompted calls from people ranging from presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren to a Facebook co-founder, Chris Hughes, for the government to force the social media giant to sell Instagram, which it bought in 2012, and WhatsApp, purchased in 2014.
    But the company’s core business has proven resilient, as Facebook blew past earnings estimates in the past two quarters.
    While details of the agreement are unknown, in a letter to the FTC earlier this year, Senators Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, and Josh Hawley, a Republican, told the agency that even a $5 billion civil penalty was too little and that top officials, potentially including founder Mark Zuckerberg, should be held personally responsible.
    FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra, a Democrat, has said the agency should hold executives responsible for violations of consent decrees if they participated in the violations. Chopra did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.
    The settlement still needs to be finalized by the Justice Department’s Civil Division and a final announcement could come as early as next week, the source said.
    A source knowledgeable about the settlement negotiations had told Reuters in May any agreement would put Facebook under 20 years of oversight.

  • Why Facebook’s digital currency ‘cannot go forward’

    Jerome Powell, US Federal Reserve Chairman has said Facebook’s digital currency called Libra, that the social media giant plans to build, “cannot go forward” until serious concerns are addressed.
    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Powell made this known on Wednesday during his semi-annual testimony on monetary policy before the US House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.
    Powell said any regulatory review of the project should be “patient and careful.” He noted that existing rules do not fit digital currencies.
    “Libra raises many serious concerns regarding privacy, money laundering, consumer protection and financial stability. I don’t think the project can go forward.
    “It’s something that doesn’t fit neatly or easily within our regulatory scheme but it does have potentially systemic scale. It needs a careful look, so I strongly believe we all need to be taking our time with this,” he said.
    Facebook, alongside 27 other Founding Members of the Libra Association, recently made the announcement of preparing to step into the world of finance with the new digital currency by 2020.
    The strong comments from the US financial regulator underscored the growing regulatory hurdles facing the proposed cryptocurrency, which has drawn scrutiny from policymakers globally.
    Meanwhile, Powell said the Fed has established a working group to follow the project and is coordinating with other central banks across the globe.
    He also expects a review from the US Financial Stability Oversight Council, a panel of regulators charged with identifying broad risks to the financial system.
    Powell noted that he supports financial innovation as long as appropriate risks are identified, but he said the massive platform enjoyed by Facebook immediately sets Libra apart from other digital currency projects.
    “Facebook has a couple billion-plus users, so I think you have for the first time the possibility of very broad adoption,” he said.
    Any problems that could emerge through Libra “would arise to systemically important levels just because of the mere size of Facebook.”
    Facebook officials are scheduled to testify about the project later this month in Congress, where senior lawmakers have raised data privacy and other concerns.

  • Libra: How Facebook aims to run it's digital coin

    Facebook is looking to hire a seasoned executive, who has the know-how of the complex government and central banking system, to run its digital coin ‘Libra’ project.
    David Marcus, Facebook’s vice president of messaging products and a key figure behind ‘Libra’ digital currency project, made this known in an interview.
    According to Marcus, someone with experience in government and central banking would be a great choice to oversee the currency.
    “We need someone who knows how economies tend to work, who understands how to operate in a very complex, decentralized governance type of environment,” Marcus told The Information on Friday.
    Sensing a multi-billion dollar opportunity to improve the cross-border payments system, Facebook has announced to launch its own digital coin called ‘Libra’ next year.
    “We need someone who has the gravitas to be able to carry the message on behalf of all the members — the 100 members and more of the association when this thing goes live — rather than have each and every one of us have piecemeal conversations left and right with all of the different governments and regulators that this whole network will be subject to,” Marcus elaborated.
    The new digital wallet for ‘Libra’ currency would be available in Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and as a standalone app in 2020.
    Facebook has tied up with 27 organisations around the world to start the non-profit Libra Association to create the new currency.
    Marcus denied reports that banks have rejected Facebook’s invitation to join the Libra Association.
    “We have had conversations with banks. We still have conversations with banks. And my expectation is that by the time this thing launches next year you will have banks that are going to be members of this,” Marcus was quoted as saying.
    According to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, “In addition to our efforts, many other companies will build their own services using Libra — from payment companies like Mastercard, PayPal, PayU, Stripe and Visa, to popular services like Booking, eBay, Farfetch, Lyft, Spotify, and Ubera.
    “A number of leading venture firms are also joining to help drive innovation on the Libra network. We’re hoping to have over 100 co-founding members of the Libra Association by the time the network launches next year,” Zuckerberg said.
    Facebook currently generates 99 percent of its revenue from advertisements and digital currency would help it reach billions of users across products — aiming to create another stable revenue stream and make cryptocurrency-based payments mainstream.

  • Doctored videos: Instagram head addresses ‘menace’ of deepfakes

    Doctored videos: Instagram head addresses ‘menace’ of deepfakes

    Instagram is working on a policy to address doctored videos, also known as deepfakes, Adam Mosseri, Head of the popular social media site has said in an interview with CBS on Tuesday.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports deepfakes use artificial intelligence technology to alter videos – and can go viral – of famous people so they appear as though they said something they did not.

    Recently, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was a victim of a deepfake that was slowed down to make her appear drunk or impaired. The video went viral.

    Also, a deepfake video of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg altered to show him bragging about controlling billions of people’s “stolen” personal data emerged.

    In the Zuckerberg’s video, he was manipulated to have said, “Imagine this for a second: One man, with total control of billions of people’s stolen data, all their secrets, their lives, their futures”.

    Mosseri said Instagram is working on a policy to address the menace, stressing “We are not going to make a one-off decision to take a piece of video down just because it’s of Mark and Mark happens to run this place. That would be really inappropriate and irresponsible”.

    He said, “We need to have defined principles and we need to be transparent about those principles. If a million people see a video like that in the first 24 hours or the first 48 hours, the damage is done.

    “The thing we are focused on right now, internally, is not if we take it down when we find it, but how do you find it more quickly. Once we can do that, then we can have the next debate about whether or not to take it down when we find it”.

    Mosseri said it’s an issue not only facing the company but something he struggles with on a personal level, too.

    “I don’t feel good about it,” he said.

  • ‘Prophet’ butchers 25-year-old housewife he met on Facebook for money rituals

    The Oyo State Police Command has arrested a “prophet” of Cherubim and Seraphim, Dotun Ogunlade (aka Arole Jesu), for allegedly killing a 25-year-old housewife, Bosede Oguntade, for money rituals.

    Ogunlade was said to have started a friendship with Mrs Oguntade on facebook.

    The police said the “prophet” allegedly strangled the woman on her arrival from Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, when she sought Ogunlade’s help for her spiritual problems.

    Police Commissioner Shina Olukolu, who led a team of policemen to where the woman was buried, said the head and arms of the victim were cut off before she was buried.

    Reliving how the victim was killed, the police chief said on her arrival in Igboora, the fake prophet told her to first get over the fatigue the stress of her trip from Ilorin to Igboora caused by taking sleeping drugs.

    He said Ogunlade allegedly injected her with an overdose of sleeping drugs and subsequently overpowered and strangled her.

    Olukolu said Mrs Oguntade head and arms were removed for rituals while the remaining body parts were buried in a shallow grave at Ogboja, Igboora.

    The police chief added that following credible information and diligent investigation, the command arrested the fake prophet and his accomplices.

    “Further investigation revealed that parts of her body were burnt and ground into powder for rituals to become powerful and rich. Two knives used to kill and cut her body parts, a white clothing bag containing substance inside a gourd where the alleged powdery parts were kept and a bottle of Stallion Schnapps were also recovered,” he said.

    Olukolu urged the residents to give timely and useful information to the police to enable them serve the state better.

    “The police will continue with their resolute determination to stamp out crimes and criminality in the society. Members of the public should be careful about having absolute trust in individuals or groups who are strangers, especially those they meet on the social media or those who claim to possess the power of clairvoyance or ability to combat and treat terminal diseases or possess solutions to social and marital challenges,” Olukolu said.

    Addressing reporters, Ogunlade said he gained experience from his former boss who was also a prophet of Cherubim and Seraphim.

    He said: “The woman and I have been chatting on facebook since January. I later invited her to Igboora.

    “Mutiu, a friend of mine, had told me about his challenges. He told me he was ready for money rituals. So, I decided to use the woman for money for him.

    “When the woman later arrived from Ilorin, I went to pick her and bring her to Igboora from Iseyin. On her arrival in my house on May 31, I gave her sleeping drugs after she complained of body pains. She slept off and I cut off her head and arms. Her head was later burnt to ashes for money rituals,” Ogunlade said.

  • Facebook sues over sale of ‘fake engagement services’ to users

    Facebook sues over sale of ‘fake engagement services’ to users

    Facebook is suing a company and three individuals, based in New Zealand, over allegations they sold fake likes, views and followers to users of its photo-sharing platform Instagram, it said on Friday.

    The company said it suspended accounts associated with the defendants, who had been formally warned they were in violation of the company’s terms of use.

    “However their activity persisted.

    “By filing the lawsuit, we are sending a message that this kind of fraudulent activity is not tolerated on our services and we will act to protect the integrity of our platform,’’ Facebook said in a statement.

    The company claimed that the defendants in the lawsuit, which was filed in a U.S. federal court, profited from a service which sold fake engagement services to Instagram users.

    Users with large numbers of followers are often able to attract lucrative sponsorship deals and sell products on their platform if they are considered to be influencers.

    In 2018, Instagram said it would step up its efforts against users artificially increasing their follower numbers as Facebook dealt with the aftermath of a number of scandals, including the Cambridge Analytica data-sharing one.

    The company has also been removing pages, groups and accounts showing “inauthentic behaviour’’ in countries including the Philippines, Russia and Iran.

    It followed accusations that the platform played a role in influencing 2016’s U.S. presidential election and Brexit referendum.