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☆ Kids aren’t safe on social media, lawmakers say. Tech CEOs are back in DC this week to pledge (again) that they’ll handle it
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Brian Fung | Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Until now, the social platforms have largely had the same response: We’ll help teens and families make smart decisions themselves. But now, with growing claims that social media can hurt young users, including worries that it risks driving them to depression or even suicide, online safety advocates say that response falls far short. This month Meta announced a proposed blueprint for federal legislation calling for app stores, not social media companies, to verify users’ ages and enforce an age minimum. Safety action beyond CongressAs efforts to rein in tech platforms have ground to a standstill on Capitol Hill, much of the momentum for regulating social media has picked up outside the halls of Congress. Elsewhere, state-backed and consumer lawsuits against the companies are ramping up pressure to regulate tech platforms as the litigation reveals more about their inner workings.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Linda Yaccarino, Evan Spiegel, Jason Citron, ”, Jeff Chester, TikTok, ’, Meta, ’ Instagram, Frances Haugen, Josh Golin, Zamaan Qureshi, Qureshi, Elon Musk, X, ” Golin Organizations: CNN, —, Center for Digital Democracy, Meta, Center, ” Locations: —, Arkansas , Louisiana , Ohio , Utah, Austin , Texas

The network of nearly 4,800 fake accounts was attempting to build an audience when it was identified and eliminated by the tech company, which owns Facebook and Instagram. The accounts sported fake photos, names and locations as a way to appear like everyday American Facebook users weighing in on political issues. Meta often points to its efforts to shut down fake social media networks as evidence of its commitment to protecting election integrity and democracy. But critics say the platform's focus on fake accounts distracts from its failure to address its responsibility for the misinformation already on its site that has contributed to polarization and distrust. But 2024 poses new challenges, according to experts who study the link between social media and disinformation.

Persons: Meta, Ben Nimmo, Donald Trump, Trump, Democrat Joe Biden, Biden, Zamaan Qureshi, ”, Jennifer Stromer, Elon Musk, Kyle Morse, Nimmo, Meta's Organizations: WASHINGTON, Inc, Meta, Democrat, Real Facebook, Syracuse University, Twitter, Republicans, Tech, Ukraine Locations: China, U.S, India, Mexico, Ukraine, Pakistan, Taiwan, Menlo Park , California, Tibet, Iran, Russia

☆ Mark Zuckerberg ignored teen and user safety warnings from Meta executives
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The disclosures highlight Zuckerberg’s sway over decisions at Meta that can affect billions of users. And they also shed light on tensions that have occasionally arisen between Zuckerberg and other Meta officials who have pushed to enhance user well-being. In response to the newly unsealed communications, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said such image filters are commonly used in the industry. “These unreacted documents prove that Mark Zuckerberg is not interested in protecting anyone’s privacy or safety. “Clegg’s comments follow a pattern and practice at Meta where employees repeatedly flagged under-investment in well-being tools, despite having the research,” Qureshi said.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, —, Zuckerberg, Adam Mosseri, Global Affairs Nick Clegg, Karina Newton, Fidji Simo, Margaret Gould Stewart, Simo, Mosseri, Stewart, Newton, Andrew Bosworth, Andy Stone, ” Stone, “, Stone, Meta, Clegg, Frances, Instagram, Haugen, ” Zuckerberg, Susan Li, Li, David Ginsberg, Ginsburg, Li “, Arturo Bejar, Bejar, Instagram’s, ” Bejar, I’ve, ”, Sacha Haworth, Zamaan Qureshi, ” Qureshi Organizations: CNN —, Facebook, Global Affairs, Massachusetts, Meta, CNN, ” Tech, Technology, Tech Locations: Massachusetts, United States, Mosseri

The newly-formed Sustainable Media Center is intent on stopping companies from using algorithms to push damaging information to vulnerable youths, dark things like suicide methods. Political Cartoons View All 1199 ImagesThe Sustainable Media Center is not alone in this effort. Waituntil8th.org urges parents to not give children smartphones until they reach the eighth grade, and to keep them off social media until they're at least 16. He said he hoped the group could take some dramatic action to give the social media issue greater visibility. The Sustainable Media Center is working with Columbia University to do a comprehensive review of research on the issue, Rosenbaum said.

Persons: Bradley Tusk, Steven Rosenbaum, ” Rosenbaum, Vivek Murthy, Waituntil8th.org, Josh Golin, Fairplay, ” Golin, Tusk, Leo Hindery Jr, Roger McNamee, “, Eric Gertler, David Hornik, Rosenbaum, Emma Lembke, Zamaan Qureshi, Aidan Kohn, Murphy, Sen, Cory Booker, Booker, ” Tusk, he's, Gen, Golin, it's, ” Organizations: Sustainable Media, Venture, MTV, NYC Media, U.S, Sustainable Media Center, YES, Facebook, U.S . News, New, New Jersey Democrat, Columbia University Locations: U.S, New Jersey

☆ Senators unveil bipartisan legislation to ban kids under 13 from joining social media platforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The proposed legislation by a bipartisan group of US senators aims to address what policymakers, mental health advocates and critics of tech platforms say is a mental health crisis fueled by social media. “Social media companies have stumbled onto a stubborn, devastating fact,” Schatz said. But it would represent a potentially vast expansion of the government’s role in regulating websites where age verification is a requirement. Tech companies could still develop their own in-house age verification technology or hire third party companies to perform the verification, lawmakers said. Violations of the proposed law could mean millions of dollars in Federal Trade Commission fines for social media companies.

☆ Montana lawmakers vote to completely ban TikTok in the state
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Washington CNN —Montana became the first US state on Friday to pass legislation banning TikTok on all personal devices, sending a bill to Gov. Greg Gianforte prohibiting TikTok from operating within state lines and barring app stores from offering TikTok for downloads. The legislation marks the furthest step yet by a state government to restrict TikTok over perceived security concerns and comes as some federal lawmakers have called for a national ban of TikTok. Individual users of TikTok, meanwhile, would not be penalized for accessing TikTok. In December, Gianforte banned TikTok from state government devices and the following month urged the Montana University System to follow suit, which it did.

☆ Read Mark Zuckerberg's deposition about Facebook user data, released years later thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Mark Zuckerberg told the SEC in 2019 he'd heard news of Cambridge Analytica and the 2016 US election. He was "curious" to understand the group's use of Facebook then, per a newly released deposition. The deposition with the SEC was released thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request. A newly released deposition of Zuckerberg's questioning in 2019 by the US Securities and Exchange Commission is another piece of the puzzle. In a House hearing in 2018, Representative Anna Eshoo, a Democratic Representative from California, asked Zuckerberg pointedly about Cambridge Analytica.

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec 19 (Reuters) - Mark Zuckerberg considered saying in a 2017 speech that Facebook was looking into "organizations like Cambridge Analytica," according to details from a deposition of him by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Zuckerberg in the deposition also acknowledges asking colleagues in January 2017 to assess Cambridge's claims about its influence in elections. Media reports in March 2018 suggested that Cambridge kept leveraging Facebook data, prompting government investigations related to data protection practices that Facebook settled in the United States for at least $5.1 billion. In the draft obtained by the SEC, Zuckerberg proposed saying: "We are already looking into foreign actors including Russian intelligence, actors in other former Soviet states and organizations like Cambridge Analytica." Zamaan Qureshi, policy advisor for consumer advocacy group The Real Facebook Oversight Board, said the deposition should increase users' doubts of Meta.

☆ Zuckerberg weighed naming Cambridge Analytica as a concern in 2017, months before data leak was revealed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The data leak prompted a global outcry that led to hearings, an apology tour from Zuckerberg and Facebook’s $5 billion privacy settlement with the US government. Zuckerberg’s remarks in the deposition offer the clearest picture yet of what Zuckerberg knew about Cambridge Analytica, and when. But according to the court documents, Zuckerberg had originally proposed naming Russian foreign intelligence and Cambridge Analytica in the same breath. Zuckerberg testified that the reference to Cambridge Analytica was removed after a staffer recommended against naming specific organizations. But the improper sharing of Facebook data triggered a cascade of events that has culminated in numerous investigations and lawsuits.

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