Allen, a data scientist, and Massachi, a software engineer, worked for nearly four years at Facebook on some of the uglier aspects of social media, combating scams and election meddling. They didn’t know each other but both quit in 2019, frustrated at feeling a lack of support from executives. “The work that teams like the…
This morning, the US House of Representatives voted to essentially ban TikTok, unless Chinese-owned Bytedance divests from the app entirely. If passed in the Senate, TikTok would have about six months to untangle itself from its China-based owner. In speeches leading up to the vote on H.R. 7521, known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign…
In 2024, social media will get small. Not small in influence, of course. As the US weathers an election likely to be both divisive and often divorced from reality, social media will again be a battleground for public opinion and perception. But the platforms on which these conversations will take place will be smaller in…
For researchers, social media has always represented greater access to data, more democratic involvement in knowledge production, and great transparency about social behavior. Getting a sense of what was happening—especially during political crises, major media events, or natural disasters—was as easy as looking around a platform like Twitter or Facebook. In 2024, however, that will…
Peter Kafka: You got it all. Lauren Goode: What’s your favorite part of the episode? Peter Kafka: Well, this is a very inside joke. Has anyone here heard of a Cheetah Girl? Anyone? No. Kate Knibbs: Aren’t they like a Disney Channel, yeah. Peter Kafka: Thank you, Kate. We’ve had a long-running debate about whether…
When Elon Musk took over Twitter in October 2022, experts warned that his proposed changes—including less content moderation and a subscription-based verification system—would lead to an exodus of users and advertisers. A year later, those predictions have largely borne out. Advertising revenue on the platform has declined 55 percent since Musk’s takeover, and the number…
Meta’s Oversight Board wants the company to revise its policies to prevent it from incentivizing creators who post about dangerous extreme diets. As of now, creators posting through Meta’s Partner Monetization Program can earn ad revenues off of content that describes people trying to survive on only juice or no food at all for extended…
On multiple days over the course of the past week, a Turkish streamer who claims to represent Palestinians battled a Greek-Georgian streamer who claims to represent Israelis. In case there was any doubt about who each was supposedly representing, each had the flag of their respective adopted sides onscreen during the battles. In all of…
In 2019, Instagram’s top executive, Adam Mosseri, went on TV to describe how the Meta-owned social media app was “rethinking the whole experience” to prioritize the “well-being” of users above all else. Today, a bipartisan group of attorneys general representing 42 US states alleged in a series of lawsuits that Mosseri’s remarks were part of…
Photo: Zach Gibson (Getty Images) A bipartisan coalition of 33 state attorneys general sued Meta for allegedly designing and deploying harmful features on Instagram and Facebook that addicted a generation of young people. Russian Court Says Meta Is “Extremist Organization” The federal lawsuit is a culmination of an investigation into Meta’s social media platforms that…
