Following in the footsteps of fellow tech giants such as Facebook and LinkedIn, Google now has ambitious plans to help the Chinese government in its draconian censorship efforts, the Intercept has reported this week. The company hopes "to launch a censored version of its search engine in China that will blacklist websites and search terms … Continue reading Google plans censored search engine for China
Tag: twitter
If you're a regular internet user, you may have noticed that said internet is swarming with bots. Yet the extent of the presence of fake accounts on platforms like Twitter may be greater --and more organized-- than many previously thought. In a recent article titled "The Follower Factory," the New York Times goes on for … Continue reading Demand for fake followers drives bot black market
As controversy continues over investigations into Russian online disinformation programs, the business models of tech companies, and social media companies in particular, have become the target of a growing chorus of criticism. Last week, lawyers for Facebook, Google and Twitter testified on Capitol Hill about Russian purchases of political ads and manipulation of their platforms. … Continue reading Social media business models under fire
Every year the Federal Bureau of Investigation issues tens of thousands of "National Security Letters." These demands for information from communications service providers are a key component in the U.S. government's domestic surveillance apparatus, yet the details of how they are used were long kept largely secret from the public. This has begun to change … Continue reading Critics question FBI use of National Security Letters
Following Donald Trump's election win last week, many remain in a state of shock while others are celebrating. One group that is happy about the news, however, would probably not get along well with the kind of Trump supporters typically highlighted in the media, should their paths cross. Jihadists around the world apparently see a … Continue reading Jihadists see opportunity in Trump win
The American Civil Liberties Union of California revealed on Tuesday that it has obtained records from prominent social media companies showing that up until recently they had agreements with a controversial data mining company called Geofeedia that markets its social media surveillance services to law enforcement agencies. The companies named in the ACLU report -- … Continue reading Facebook let surveillance company monitor its favorite protest group
With a renewed focus on countering ISIS following the Orlando massacre, new tactics are being suggested for defeating the terror network and those it inspires. Among the suggestions are technologies to allegedly predict terrorist attacks and to automatically censor social media, although neither method is fully developed. The idea of predicting terrorist attacks using an … Continue reading Anti-Terror Algorithms Raise Ethics, Effectiveness Questions
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