This week, YouTube announced an updated harassment policy aimed to punish YouTubers for going “too far.” After the announcement, swarms of creators and fans shared concerns that the vague definition of “harassment” would harm the site’s community. From the statement on the YouTube blog, “We’ve always removed videos that explicitly threaten someone, reveal confidential personal information, or […]
Yahoo announced this week it will sunset its Yahoo Groups platform. The announcement post says that on October 21, users will no longer be able to post new content on the site, and on December 14 all content will be permanently deleted. Yahoo Groups has been around since 2001, and has largely been abandoned in favor […]
In honor of the 27th annual World Mental Health Day Facebook and Pinterest want you to know they are striving to make positive impacts on the mental health of platform users who may be struggling with depression or suicidal ideations. Unlike many of the newly dreamt up ever-increasing list of random “I’ve-never-seen-that-on-a-calendar-before” days (National Pancake […]
A day after I reported on Facebook’s decision to exempt politicians from the platforms rules, I now have the task of writing more or less the same post about YouTube. POLITICO reports that YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki when speaking at The Atlantic Festival said, “When you have a political officer that is making information that […]
This week Facebook announced it will allow politicians to violate the companies policies. Nick Clegg, Facebook’s VP of Global Affairs and Communications, confirms the company will not fact check politicians’ speech or block their content if it’s newsworthy; Even when that content violates the companies policies. This was confirmed as part of the company’s plans […]
Facebook, who recently came under fire for collecting data from period tracking apps, has suspended “tens of thousands” of apps after a privacy investigation into app developers. Facebook says the suspended apps are associated with about 400 developers. Stressing that these apps being suspended wasn’t necessarily a sign the apps were a threat to users. […]
After getting roasted widely since yesterday’s announcement that the platform would be removing verification from a lot of creators. YouTube announced one day later that it won’t be de-verifying currently verified creators. “We heard loud and clear how much the badge means to you […] Channels that already have the verification badge will now keep it […]
Twitter says it suspended another batch of state-sponsored actors for disseminating misinformation on the platform. Today the company’s safety team announced the removal of 10,112 accounts across several countries; China / Hong Kong, Ecuador, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. These accounts were actively encouraging unrest by spreading misinformation in sensitive climates. Twitter […]
YouTube is overhauling its system for user verification. The company says these policy changes, set to start next month, will stop using subscription numbers to determine verification. YouTube will instead verify “prominent channels that have a clear need for proof of authenticity.” “Through our research, we found that viewers often associated the checkmark with an endorsement […]
Facebook released details of its plan for a “Supreme Court”, a board that can overturn the company’s own decisions for content moderation. The 11 to 40 person oversight board will review appeals of the company’s policy decisions, including content takedowns and make recommendations for changes. According to Facebook the board will eventually have 40 members […]