Social Media Watch Thread

[ramana]

Received from an old time member

There used to be a Social Media Watch thread on the GDF before it was closed.
I think it might be time to revive it in an appropriate forum on BRF.
Views welcome

I agree especially how Social media played key role in the recent US elections, Shaheen Bagh and now Farmer Protests.
Plus "Data is new Oil" said NaMo on Houston.
There are GOI discussions on data localization issue.

Add to that there is a pending law suit in US on Facebook monopoly to remove Sec 230.

Please discuss trends and issues. No spamming with useless Sm links.

[kancha]

https://twitter.com/ETNOWlive/status/1336863238315794434

@ETNOWlive on Twitter:

Coalition Of 48 States & districts file parallel lawsuits against @Facebook. Could this injunction force @Facebook to sell off @instagram & Whatsapp?
#FacebookAntitrustLawsuit

Lawsuits accuse the social media behemoth of anti social behaviour

Facebook's 'Monopoly' must be split up, US and states say in major lawsuits

Lawsuit led by NY Attorney General Lelita James

US FTC seeking a permanent injunction in Federal Court that could force Facebook to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp

[kancha]

YouTube Employs Chinese Communist ‘State Secrecy Bureau’ Software Engineers

A host of software engineers for the platform have formerly worked for Chinese Communist Party-run institutions, raising the question as to why a revolving door exists between YouTube and the China-based universities.

A software engineer for the video platform since May of 2019,Tai Jinjiang, previously worked as a project manager for Guanghzou Shian Technology.

Jinjiang detailed his work for the China-based firm as playing a “major role in successful PLA certification of ShiAn terminal by Ministry of Public Security, State Secrecy Bureau, and IT Evaluation Center.”

In other words, Jinjiang led software efforts on behalf of the PLA – appearing to reference China’s People’s Liberation Army – and a host of Chinese government-led intelligence bodies. What’s more, he notes he “garnered numerous staff awards for excellent performance.”

Fan Yang, another YouTube software engineer since April 2017, interned for China Telecom, labeled by the U.S. Department of Defense as collaborating with the Chinese military for over two decades.

Yang later served as a research assistant at Fudan University, which recently cut “freedom of thought” from its charter under Chinese Communist Party demands. During Yang’s Fudan stint, five Chinese military-linked hackers based out of Fudan University were indicted for stealing U.S. secrets.

[kancha]

Facebook Fact-Checker Funded by Chinese Money Through TikTok

While Facebook portrays its army of fact-checkers as independent, the money behind at least one carries a distinct taint.

One such fact-checker, Lead Stories, is partly paid through a partnership with TikTok, a social media platform run by a Chinese company that owes its allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). TikTok currently is being probed by U.S. officials as a national security threat.

Moreover, the organization that’s supposed to oversee the quality of fact-checkers is run by Poynter Institute, another TikTok partner.

Lead Stories says it’s been contracted by ByteDance “for fact-checking-related work,” referring to TikTok’s announcement earlier this year that it has partnered with several organizations “to further aid our efforts to reduce the spread of misinformation,” particularly regarding the CCP virus pandemic, which originated in China and was exacerbated by the CCP regime’s coverup.

[IndraD]

https://twitter.com/CIR_Estee/status/13 ... 72257?s=20 Instagram has officially been sued for watching their users through their front cameras. As in when you’re on the app they’re streaming whatever is in view looool

[IndraD]

We launched WhatsApp Pay in India last month. This was possible because of UPI system & 140 banks which made it easy. India is the first country to do anything like this: Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO during 'Partnering for Digital India' with RIL Chairman & MD Mukesh Ambani https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1338744196954378240?s=20

[kancha]

Looks like Twitter has restored the 'Retweet' function as it used to be earlier, doing away with the compulsory 'Quote Tweet' feature that it had introduced some months ago. Many are attributing this to the US elections, but frankly, I am unable to see the connection.
Any thoughts on this?

[kancha]

No ‘Negative’ News: How China Censored the Coronavirus

[Cyrano]

Facebook Accused of Watching Instagram Users Through Cameras

[kancha]

Zoom faces its content moderation moment

When the pandemic turned Zoom into a much more prominent and frequent host of public-facing events and not just private video chats, it also confronted the company with knotty questions about moderating content similar to those faced by much larger companies, the company's policy chief told Axios.

"We are committed to a free exchange of thoughts and ideas, but we do it according to a set of rules that reflect our values," Kallmer said when asked about an incident in September, when Zoom decided not to to host a San Francisco State University event featuring Palestinian activist Leila Khaled, who had taken part in two plane hijackings.

[kancha]

U.S. charges China-based Zoom employee for disrupting Tiananmen commemoration event

A now-former Zoom executive based in China has been charged by the Justice Department with disrupting video meetings that commemorated the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, Zoom confirmed on Friday.

Zoom, which has faced scrutiny over security concerns and its ties to China as its growth has massively accelerated during the pandemic, acknowledged after Axios' report that it had received a request from the Chinese government.
The company claimed it only took action because the Chinese government informed the company that "this activity is illegal in China." and that meeting metadata showed "a significant number of mainland China participants." Free discussion of the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy movement is forbidden in China.

[ArjunPandit]

will frequent blocking of twitter handles upon sarcastic comments on GT, or paxi handles suitable to discuss here? are there other caves/nukkads available to discuss such suppression of such seriously woke parodies on freedom of speech.

[ramana]

If you discuss without abuse or name calling it would be knowledge sharing.

[ArjunPandit]

Of course ramana guru, BRF is sacred grounds. Over last 2 years I have seen many of my ids being bucthered esp on twitter. Now I am not abusive or anything. I suspect the following things affect in combination. In general there has been a pattern has been
1. Post velocity in last: if your posts in past few days is out of pattern
2. Browser change
3. API access: Twitter has been very strict on IDs with API access. My suggestion do not ever take that.
4. Account history
5. Account verification: they keep on asking you to verify the account number. A sign that you are prompted for MFA is a clear watch out sign. Twitter strike follows closely afterwards.
6. Follower count: I think there's a U-shaped curve based on a model. They shadow ban some posters with a very high count too.

I have strong reasons to believe that some obfuscated AI model, NN, etc is running under the garbs of fake news, hate news, SPAM profiles. There is quite likely a count of reportings etc on your account.

[kancha]

Link

Twitter caught on video deleting retweets from a user that posted a video

I'm very familiar with this, I've watched over & over on ALL my postings in my other account (now restricted). Twitter was deleting RTs, likes & followers, plus other forms of shadowbans

Via
@Maytag2727

Not that this is something entirely new, but here is someone who tracked it in real time and got it on video. Social media giants are no longer mere platforms for airing of views. Instead, they are peddlers of their own agendas.

[kancha]

Russia could ban Facebook, Twitter, YouTube for ‘censoring’ content

With active social engineering by these social media giants, pushback is inevitable.
Cannot underscore the importance of having an indigenous, homegrown social media platform enough.

[m_saini]

Putin targets U.S. social media, secret agent leaks and protests with new laws

President Vladimir Putin signed an array of laws on Wednesday handing Russia new powers to restrict U.S. social media giants, label individuals "foreign agents", and to crack down on the disclosure of its security officers' personal data.

A second law introduces hefty fines of up to 20% of their previous year's Russia-based turnover for sites that repeatedly fail to remove banned content, something that YouTube and Facebook have often failed to do according to Russian lawmakers.

A third law prohibits the disclosure of the personal data of Russian security officials, records that are sometimes leaked online and have been used by investigative journalists to track clandestine operations.

[IndraD]

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/s ... t-results/

doing rounds on wapp
Indian govt leaking patients covid tests results

[m_saini]

WhatsApp updates its Terms and Privacy Policy to mandate data-sharing with Facebook

.....talks about three key updates that affect how WhatsApp processes your data, how businesses can use Facebook hosted services to store and manage their WhatsApp chats, and how WhatsApp will soon partner with Facebook to offer deeper integrations across all of the latter’s products. It further reveals that these changes will go into effect on February 8th, and users will have no choice but to accept these changes if they wish to continue using WhatsApp.

[Cyrano]

Google, FB, WhatsApp, Twitter etc are heading for the "too big to let them get bigger" and will be forced to split up in the next year or two.

[IndraD]

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-styl ... 5.html?amp
Rush to join Signal app crashes it!

[IndraD]

BREAKING: Apple is currently threatening to ban Parler -- the free speech alternative to Twitter -- unless the service enacts draconian censorship policies demanded by left-wing Big Tech oligarchs, according to two sources familiar with Apple's threats.
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1347660160806825984

[IndraD]

Disclose.tv
BREAKING - Apple has given #Parler a 24 HOUR ULTIMATUM to implement a "moderation plan" or it's getting scrubbed from the app store.

@disclosetv
Expect Google's Play store to follow suit.

[mappunni]

Disclose.tv
BREAKING - Apple has given #Parler a 24 HOUR ULTIMATUM to implement a "moderation plan" or it's getting scrubbed from the app store.

@disclosetv
Expect Google's Play store to follow suit.

The current iPhone will most probably be the last Apple product. Already switch to Signal and Telegram. My high school group in Whatsapp is investigating a move to Telegram.

[IndraD]

what if google also starts blocking apps. Is there a way out?
Fully agree, will not buy next I Phone. Anyway it is struggling already
Due to ongoing FB vs Apple war, you can't post youtubes on whatsapp of I Phones, it doesn't generate preview link.

[IndraD]

https://twitter.com/BBCBreaking/status/ ... 43042?s=20
Twitter says it is permanently suspending Donald Trump's account 'due to the risk of further incitement of violence'

Welcome to an era where Jack is more powerful than Trump

[darshan]

All in all, it's India that seems to be the looser with no ecosystem of its own from phones to social media to AI to big data.

GoI needs to figure out a plan to handle these companies.

[mappunni]

Don't understand why BJP is soft-pedaling with the likes of FB, Twitter, and Google. They must be shown their rightful place which is a neutered SM!

MPs like Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Tejaswi Surya have written umpteen times to Ravishankar Prasad who is playing deaf!

@iyervval tweeted once again highlighting the fact that in 2024 there will be a replay of what happened in the United States in India, if BJP does not reign in the SM and at the same builds an India specific echo system for SM!

[Mort Walker]

^^^Agree completely. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp need to be banned like TikTok.

[mappunni]

^^^Agree completely. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp need to be banned like TikTok.

No need to ban just neuter them. Ban Twitter for violation of an unknown statute and then drag Jack to a Parliamentary hearing and humiliate him publicly. That will make the rest of the villains' situp and notice.

Then act like a bearer of FOE and un-ban Twitter with strict strings attached.

[kancha]

Google Playstore has banned Parler App. Doesn't look like Apple too will tolerate them for too long.
Seems like the Big Tech has grown a bit too big. Am expecting a major churn in the entire Big Tech ecosystem in mid to long term. In the short term, though, they will be able to do whatever they wish to

[kancha]

All in all, it's India that seems to be the looser with no ecosystem of its own from phones to social media to AI to big data.

GoI needs to figure out a plan to handle these companies.

There is absolutely no alternative to indigenous ecosystem. Just like the ban on Huawei prompted them to start working towards their own OS for mobiles, we too need to get something similar going without any delay.
What is happening now is just a small preview into what might already be happening in the background, with a few tech giants having monopoly over practically every aspect of our digital lives.

[mappunni]

Google Playstore has banned Parler App. Doesn't look like Apple too will tolerate them for too long.
Seems like the Big Tech has grown a bit too big. Am expecting a major churn in the entire Big Tech ecosystem in the mid to long term. In the short term, though, they will be able to do whatever they wish to

Parler is down on my iPhone. Exactly the short term victory with long term implications. I hope BJP will situp and realize the implications now. Just wrote a strongly worded letter to my Senators in Texas on the implications of 230 and the need to rescind it.

[Mort Walker]

^^^Agree completely. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp need to be banned like TikTok.

No need to ban just neuter them. Ban Twitter for violation of an unknown statute and then drag Jack to a Parliamentary hearing and humiliate him publicly. That will make the rest of the villains' situp and notice.

Then act like a bearer of FOE and un-ban Twitter with strict strings attached.

I disagree. These media companies are a national security threat to India. India must have its own SM platforms and those companies should be promoted. Let the American big tech SM companies fly a kite without Asia. Kill them now or the left will let them trample over India if elected to the center.

What is happening in the US is very much the same as MH govt. arresting Arnab and jailing him.

[vera_k]

Parler was suspended because a large march on DC is being organized for Jan 19th. Doubtful that suspending one app will prevent the march. Internet shutdowns may be coming up next if the situation continues to deteriorate.

[Skanda]

With Big Tech firmly in control of US, their monopoly will only increase in the new US administration. All this talk of breaking up FB is now passé.

Also, no point in demanding ban of Social Media in India without an alternative. Social Media gave an opportunity for Modi to put forth his views when he became a pariah of MSM. If Social Media is Banned, then the alternative is MSM which is like being thrown from the devil to the deep sea.

[Pratyush]

Don't understand why BJP is soft-pedaling with the likes of FB, Twitter, and Google. They must be shown their rightful place which is a neutered SM!

MPs like Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Tejaswi Surya have written umpteen times to Ravishankar Prasad who is playing deaf!

@iyervval tweeted once again highlighting the fact that in 2024 there will be a replay of what happened in the United States in India, if BJP does not reign in the SM and at the same builds an India specific echo system for SM!

The problem is that the center under BJP cannot start an Indian social media company. As the moment that happens the opposition will split. We need to have a channel that has all Indian voices on it government and opposition combined.

It will have to be done the way PayTM or Snapdeal or Flipkart, or IndiaMart happened. No overt government intervention. But maximum support from the Angle investor crowd supported in the background by the Indian government through data localization policies.

[IndraD]

With Big Tech firmly in control of US, their monopoly will only increase in the new US administration. All this talk of breaking up FB is now passé.

Also, no point in demanding ban of Social Media in India without an alternative. Social Media gave an opportunity for Modi to put forth his views when he became a pariah of MSM. If Social Media is Banned, then the alternative is MSM which is like being thrown from the devil to the deep sea.

india is much better placed than world for a centrist leader to put forward his views.
Zee, India TV, Republic ..local channels and many choices.
What we need is social media alternative of twitter/FB , our own platforms & apps .
Jumping from wapp to Signal is becoming Gulam 2.0 imho.
India needs to neuter thread posed by US tech giants in form of social media!
US can unravel from within .

[darshan]

Parler was suspended because a large march on DC is being organized for Jan 19th. Doubtful that suspending one app will prevent the march. Internet shutdowns may be coming up next if the situation continues to deteriorate.

Other way to look at it would be that the various bannings provide fuel for protests.

[darshan]

Start aarti. Jai Twitter bhagwan. Stop aarti.
US social media platforms that have no presence in china but comply to all chinese laws, don't show Tibet independent, etc. Kissinger and his followers are still alive.

Senior Youth Congress leader calls on Twitter to suspend accounts of BJP leaders after Trump’s suspension
https://www.opindia.com/2021/01/senior- ... p-leaders/

These social media platforms allow all sorts of genocidal islamists and chinese but can't allow US President.

Netizens speak out against censorship after Twitter suspends Donald Trump
https://www.opindia.com/2021/01/twitter ... p-outrage/