Facebook down: Will whistleblower revelations lead to regulation?
By DW
06 October 2021 |
1:23 pm
What did the planet learn from six hours without Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram? The glitch triggered by an update on servers went on long enough to remind us how much we put our lives in the hands of a single social media behemoth. It was a chance to realise that we depend on Facebook for everything from private messages to real-time business communications and even payments. Livelihoods depend on it.
In this article
Related
Related
2 Jun 2022
Sandberg helped transform the company into an over $100-billion-a-year powerhouse. She will continue to serve on the board of directors.
28 Jul 2022
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, among others, is facing several economic constraints. Mark Zuckerberg said he will "get more done with fewer resources."
15 Sep 2022
Twitter shareholders have approved Elon Musk's $44 billion offer to buy the social media platform, months after the billionaire tried to back out of the deal. The case will be heard by a US court in October. Meanwhile, a Senate panel has heard explosive testimony about security practices at Twitter. A whistleblower alleges that a Chinese agent was on Twitter's payroll and that management routinely ignored warnings about data security. Also in the show, US inflation hovers near 40-year highs.
3 Oct 2022
Amnesty International accuses Facebook of exacerbating human rights violations in Myanmar. It claims the social network proactively "amplified" anti-Rohingya content back in 2017, when the country's military launched a deadly crackdown on the ethnic minority.
19 Oct 2022
The French porn industry is facing its moment of reckoning. A two-year police investigation has blown the lid off widespread abuse of vulnerable women. A Senate report is now aiming to improve conditions by bringing about stricter controls. In this show, we meet three women who are trying to change the way the adult film industry in France operates.
9 Nov 2022
Meta Platforms Inc META.O said on Wednesday it will let go of 13% of its workforce, or more than 11,000 employees, in one of the biggest layoffs this year as the Facebook parent battles soaring costs and a weak advertising market.
20 Dec 2022
The EU's competition watchdog has accused tech giant Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, of breaching antitrust rules. An early analysis says the firm distorted competition in the online classified ads business.
22 Jan
"The bird is freed," tech billionaire Elon Musk wrote upon acquiring Twitter in October of last year. EU Commissioner Thierry Breton shot back: "In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules." That early exchange exposed two starkly different views of social media: a haven of free speech, as Musk would have it; or a place where freedom goes hand in hand with protecting users from illegal content – the EU's approach.
26 Jan
The former US president had been blocked from the social media platforms since the January 6, 2021 insurrection. Meta said it was taking measures to prevent "repeat offenders" from violating its rules.
6 Feb
Facebook has been under scrutiny before, for failing to curb hate speech on its platform in Ethiopia. The son of a man killed after calls for his murder appeared on the platform argues that Facebook treats Africa differently to Europe and the US.
19 Feb
Germany is among eight EU members that have been referred to the European Court of Justice for failure to implement the bloc's directives on protecting whistleblowers.
25 Feb
"Meta Verified" follows Twitter and other social media companies attempting to instill confidence in their services by asking users to pay to prove their identities.
Latest
3 hours ago
For more than six months, Russia has been waging war against Ukraine not only with soldiers and bullets, but also in the media - with fakes, disinformation and a broad-based propaganda strategy. We show what's behind it.
3 hours ago
As the UN's annual climate summit gets underway in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, one underlying question is set to top the agenda: can the world finally agree to ditch fossil fuels? Down to Earth takes a closer look.
4 hours ago
A spate of attacks on drivers using GPS navigation systems prompted South Africa to ask Google Maps to exclude a notorious crime hotspot. The intervention comes as the authorities battle to remedy widespread crime.
4 hours ago
For the first time, a South African court has sentenced a man to 12 years in prison for inciting unrest. More than 350 people died during days of unrest in 2021 sparked by the incarceration of ex-president Jacob Zuma. Also, with COP28 is set to begin, we see how Kenya is leading the way in the fight against climate change.
4 hours ago
Two weeks ago, powerful waters washed away two dams and left much of the coastal city of Derna in ruins. Nearly 4,000 people are known to have been killed in the region, but with many others still missing, the death toll could be much higher.
6 hours ago
While Palestinians in the Middle East have different legal statuses and integration levels, for the majority, the common pursuit remains a two-state solution and the ability to exercise a right to return.
×

Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.