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News on Regulation and Policy
On Sunday, Twitter deleted two tweets by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro because they contained false or misleading information about COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. “Twitter recently announced the expansion of its rules to cover content that could be against public health information provided by official sources and could put people at greater […]
By Ryan BroderickLast week, Netflix, Google, Facebook and others agreed to reduce the quality of their videos to avoid internet congestion in Europe. According to Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, this could be a turning point in how big platforms behave in the future. “It’s the first time tech companies act in such a strong way. They […]
By Laura KayaliAs the reality of life under quarantine in the age of coronavirus has crystalized, so has Big Tech’s top job in this new era: combatting a plague of misinformation. So far, things are off to a rocky start. Even prior to the World Health Organization’s decision on March 12 to label Covid-19 a pandemic, WHO […]
By Matt VellaWashington (CNN) – President Donald Trump says he has declared war on the coronavirus in an effort to contain the outbreak and its economic impact here at home, but on the world stage, his administration is engaged in another battle as the US and China fight to shape the narrative about the pandemic’s origins. Trump and senior members […]
By Zachary Cohen, Alex Marquardt, and Kylie AtwoodThe Federal Emergency Management Agency is trying to knock down a series of rumors and falsehoods that have been spreading along with the coronavirus pandemic. It launched a page on its website called Coronavirus Rumor Control to fight the misinformation as officials work to assure the public there is, in fact, no “national quarantine,” nor […]
By Author on SourceTwitter said Wednesday it would take renewed action to clamp down on misinformation on the site, requiring people to remove tweets that deny health recommendations or promote ineffective or misleading health claims. The change comes amid the ongoing spread of COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, that has infected more than 200,000 people.“As the entire world […]
By Nick VisserIn an unprecedented move to reassure customers and flag the potential for misinformation about COVID-19 on their platforms, all of the major social media companies and their parent corporations issued a joint statement on their efforts. “We invite other companies to join us as we work to keep our communities healthy and safe,” the statement […]
By Catherine Shu, Jonathan ShieberGoogle Tag Manager End Google Tag Manager This report, the first in a two-part series, articulates the connection between surveillance-based business models and the health of democracy. Drawing from Ranking Digital Rights’s extensive research on corporate policies and digital rights, we examine two overarching types of algorithms, give examples of how these technologies are used […]
By Nathalie Maréchal, Ellery Roberts BiddleSINGAPORE — At their sprawling Asia headquarters last month, Facebook executives considered the latest order from Singapore’s authorities: Disable local access to a page that the city-state’s government asserted contained false statements about its response to the coronavirus outbreak. Legal analysis gave the company little choice, Facebook concluded. If it did not comply, the company would be found guilty […]
By Shibani Mahtani On Tuesday, the public safety director of Newark, New Jersey warned that people who spread disinformation about the coronavirus could be criminally prosecuted. PEN America’s Nora Benavidez, director of U.S. free expression programs, issued the following statement: “Advising people to take care in sharing reliable and fact-based information about coronavirus makes good sense. Threatening criminal […]
By PEN AmericaBig tech companies are being confronted with the swift spread of online misinformation about the coronavirus—from dangerous health advice to racist conspiracies to scammy products—and the industry has launched what looks like all-out war to fight it. It’s a high-stakes test case for defense operations at companies including Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Twitter, and experts say their efforts appear more […]
By Kaveh Waddell