Blog Archive

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FaceTec Biometrics to Weed Out Bots from New Social Media Platform

“We’re creating an alternative for anyone disappointed that social media today puts ad revenue above authenticity. Using a trusted biometric identity solution that actually delivers is a key part of that. And it was clear FaceTec 3D Face Authentication delivers exactly what we needed.” – Salah Zalatimo, CEO, Voice

FaceTec Biometrics to Weed Out Bots from New Social Media Platform

A new social media startup is aiming to make sure that its users are all authentic human beings, and has opted for FaceTec‘s biometric 3D face authentication technology to accomplish that mission.

Called Voice, the platform is based on EOS.IO blockchain. That’s one piece of the puzzle: blockchain ledger accounting can help to ensure that all verified users have a unique and irrefutable digital identity. But to make sure that each user is a real person in the first place, Voice looked for a biometric authentication solution.

FaceTec’s 3D Face Authentication fit the bill. The solution lets end users confirm their

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Internet
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Parenting Kids in the Age of Screens, Social Media and Digital Devices

Pew Research Center has long studied the changing nature of parenting and family dynamics as well as the adoption of digital technologies. This report focuses on how children engage with digital technologies, screens and social media, as well as parents’ attitudes about these behaviors, their concerns about their child’s use of technology, and their own assessment of their parenting and experiences with digital tech. These findings are based on a survey conducted March 2-15, among 3,640 U.S. parents who have at least one child or children ages 17 and under. This includes those who took part as members of Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses, as well as respondents from the Ipsos KnowledgePanel. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

Recruiting ATP panelists by phone or

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Internet
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Turkey to restrict social media

Turkish lawmakers passed legislation Wednesday that would give the government sweeping new powers to regulate social media content.

The bill orders social media platforms with over 1 million daily users — such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube — to open offices in Turkey and imposes stiff penalties if the international companies refuse, including slowing the bandwidth of the sites and making them largely inaccessible.

These offices would be responsible for responding to the demands of the government and individuals to block or remove content hosted on their platforms that is deemed offensive. They would have 48 hours to comply and could be fined more than $700,000 if they fail to respond.

The new law, which is expected to go into effect Oct. 1, also requires the social media companies to store user data inside Turkey, raising privacy concerns.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his governing AKP party, having already taken

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Internet
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Malaysia opposition condemns applying old video law to social media

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – A decades-old Malaysian law requiring video or film productions to be licensed before being broadcast extends to social media, a minister said on Thursday, prompting an outcry from the opposition over its implications for freedom of expression.

FILE PHOTO: Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah speaks during an interview with Reuters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia April 23, 2019. REUTERS/Joseph Sipalan/File Photo

Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah told parliament that licences were needed “regardless of whether they are mainstream media agencies or personal media that broadcast films on social media or traditional channels”.

Opposition lawmakers accused the government of trying to cast a wide regulatory net on social media content using a 1981 National Film Development Corporation (FINAS) Act, which predates the internet.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said the minister’s interpretation was a “worrying development”, saying: “This is unreasonable and backwards. At the same time, the government

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Internet
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Asking the big social media companies to remove extremist content more quickly will do little to fight terrorism

'We believe doctors dealing with erectile dysfunction should also be asking about watching pornography,' researchers say: Getty
‘We believe doctors dealing with erectile dysfunction should also be asking about watching pornography,’ researchers say: Getty

Barely a day goes by when social media is not in the firing line from activists and advertisers over hate speech and racist rhetoric.

The controversy goes to the heart of the debate about the extent to which social media platforms should become the arbiter of content decisions and whether internet companies should be solely responsible for dealing with abhorrent content posted by users. Facebook and Twitter are both doing more than ever to reduce “online harms” – certainly much more than is legally mandated – but work carried out by Tech Against Terrorism shows that the majority of activity by terrorists and violent extremists has now shifted to the smaller, newer messaging apps, and niche social networks.

We need to acknowledge that, for all the understandable focus on the bigger platforms, it

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Internet
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Social media firms make $1bn a year from anti-vax followers, report says

Conspiracy theorists at Hyde Park Corner on 16 May 2020 in London: Getty
Conspiracy theorists at Hyde Park Corner on 16 May 2020 in London: Getty

Social media platforms are making up to $1bn a year from people following anti-vaccine misinformation that could cause “tens of thousands” of coronavirus deaths, researchers say.

The Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) said the number of people viewing pages and posts claiming that a Covid-19 vaccine is unnecessary or would pose a health risk had risen dramatically during the pandemic.

Despite pledges by Facebook and others to crack down on harmful posts, a report found that at least 57 million users now follow anti-vaxxers on mainstream platforms across the UK and US – up 7.7 million since the start of the outbreak.

A YouGov poll suggested that almost one in five British adults say they would refuse the injection if it becomes available, and a further 15 per cent are unsure.

The research suggested that people

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Technology
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Will the Facebook advertising boycott force the social media giant to change? Not likely

Hundreds of advertisers say they won’t spend money on Facebook in July or beyond over concerns the social media company isn’t doing enough to stop hate speech.  But the exodus of spenders may not be enough to push CEO Mark Zuckerberg to make the level of change that critics are demanding. 

Critics have an initial list of 10 recommendations that they say would help Facebook corral hate speech and make civil rights a priority when moderating content.

Zuckerberg and top executives, who have agreed to meet with the civil rights groups behind the Stop Hate for Profit boycott this week, plan to release the company’s third civil rights audit, which Facebook says will address many of the activists’ concerns, as well as other policy changes that were already under consideration.

The pressure on Facebook seems intense, but it may not be as powerful as the headlines make it appear.

Brands

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Technology
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Trump, Biden fight for primacy on social media platforms

WASHINGTON (AP) — On an average day, President Donald Trump sends about 14 posts to the 28 million Facebook followers of his campaign account. His Democratic rival, Joe Biden, delivers about half that many posts to an audience of just 2 million.

The numbers are similarly skewed in other spheres of the social media landscape.

On Twitter, Trump’s 82.4 million followers dwarf Biden’s 6.4 million. The president has spent years cultivating a ragtag digital “army” of meme makers and political influencers who retweet campaign messages hundreds of times daily. Trump is outspending Biden on Google and YouTube advertising by nearly 3 to 1.

As his reelection bid faces growing obstacles, his primacy in the dizzying digital world is one of his top advantages, giving him a massive platform to connect with supporters and push a message that ignores his vulnerabilities related to the pandemic, unemployment and race relations. Biden and

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Internet
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#BlackLivesMatter saw tremendous growth on social media. Now what?

#BlackLivesMatter saw tremendous growth on social media. Now what?
#BlackLivesMatter saw tremendous growth on social media. Now what?

Across the country and across the globe, a phrase boomeranged from the streets to social media and back again, over and over: Black Lives Matter.

For the 30 days since the police killing of George Floyd, the rallying cry had been mentioned more than 80 million times on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and blogs, according to data collected by the Social Media Analytics Center at the University of Connecticut. Mentions far eclipsed brands that typically dominate social media conversations, such as Nike and Starbucks. John Murphy, a University of Connecticut professor who heads the Social Media Analytics Center, tends to use these big brands as benchmarks to measure social media impact. This is unique, particularly for how long those three words have captivated the social media sphere, Murphy said.

Murphy has run social media analyses on brands, presidential elections, and global terrorism

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Software
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We signed up for Parler. Here’s what you’ll find on the right’s latest social media platform

Credit: Parler
Credit: Parler

A right-wing exodus from Twitter and Facebook following accusations of conservative censorship spiked a surge in downloads and new user accounts on Parler, which has branded itself “the free speech social network”.

Far-right figures banned from other platforms have found a new home on the app, where right-leaning or far-right users ridicule so-called “autonomous zones” and “safe spaces” while simultaneously revelling in their own.

Founded in 2018, Parler — describing itself as “unbiased social media focused on real user experiences and engagement” that allows “free expression without violence and no censorship” — has become an echo chamber of support for Donald Trump, whose campaign dominates a platform where conservative media personalities and outlets amplify his agenda.

The president is not on the app (yet), but his son Eric Trump and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany are, along with his Republican allies like Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan, Matt

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Software