Microsoft&nbsp;Corp said on Monday it would&nbsp;remove&nbsp;Russian state-owned media outlet RT's mobile apps from the Windows App store and ban advertisements on&nbsp;Russian state-sponsored media, as global tech firms respond to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The company said it would not display any state-sponsored RT and Sputnik content, de-rank their search results on Bing and not place any ads from its ad network on those sites.

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Western tech companies, including Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google, have placed restrictions on&nbsp;Russia's state-controlled media outlets in Ukraine and around the world.

Google has banned downloads of RT's mobile app on Ukrainian territory after barring&nbsp;Russia's state-owned media outlet RT and other channels from receiving money for ads on their websites, apps and YouTube videos.

Facebook is barring&nbsp;Russian state media from running ads or monetizing on its platform anywhere in the world.

Watch |&nbsp;World Bank Prez David Malpass criticized Microsoft's $69 billion deal as poor countries struggle

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/world-bank-prez-david-malpass-criticized-microsofts-69-billion-deal-as-poor-countries-struggle-446131/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

"(We) will make ongoing adjustments to strengthen our detection and disruption mechanisms to avoid the spread of disinformation and promote instead independent and trusted content,"&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;said in a blog.

A growing list of companies are also looking to exit&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;as sanctions from Western countries tighten.

Microsoft Corp said on Monday it would remove Russian state-owned media outlet RT's mobile apps from the Windows App store and ban advertisements on Russian state-sponsored media, as global tech firms respond to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Microsoft Corp said on Monday it would remove Russian state-owned media outlet RT's mobile apps from the Windows App store and ban advertisements on Russian state-sponsored media, as global tech firms respond to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The company said it would not display any state-sponsored RT and Sputnik content, de-rank their search results on Bing and not place any ads from its ad network on those sites. Also read | Here's what Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates doing in Pakistan Western tech companies, including Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google, have placed restrictions on Russia's state-controlled media outlets in Ukraine and around the world. Google has banned downloads of RT's mobile app on Ukrainian territory after barring Russia's state-owned media outlet RT and other channels from receiving money for ads on their websites, apps and YouTube videos. Facebook is barring Russian state media from running ads or monetizing on its platform anywhere in the world. Watch | World Bank Prez David Malpass criticized Microsoft's $69 billion deal as poor countries struggle "(We) will make ongoing adjustments to strengthen our detection and disruption mechanisms to avoid the spread of disinformation and promote instead independent and trusted content," Microsoft said in a blog. A growing list of companies are also looking to exit Russia as sanctions from Western countries tighten.

Microsoft to remove RT apps, ban Russian state-owned media ads

TikTok&nbsp;on Monday began letting users upload&nbsp;videos&nbsp;as long as 10 minutes, ramping up the young platform's&nbsp;challenge&nbsp;to veteran titan&nbsp;YouTube.

TikTok, owned by ByteDance in China, launched with a one-minute limit on uploaded&nbsp;videos, but bumped the cap to three minutes last year.

"Today we are happy to start rolling out the ability to upload&nbsp;videos&nbsp;up to 10 minutes long,"&nbsp;TikTok&nbsp;said in response to an AFP inquiry.

"We hope this will further stimulate the creativity of our creators around the world."

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TikTok&nbsp;more than tripling the length of&nbsp;videos&nbsp;comes as&nbsp;YouTube&nbsp;and Facebook-parent Meta strive to counter the rival with short-form content options and incentives to creators whose posts draw audiences.

"YouTube&nbsp;is still ahead of&nbsp;TikTok&nbsp;in terms of time spent, but its not immune to the 'TikTok&nbsp;effect'," Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg told AFP.

"The gap in time spent between the two platforms is narrow, and&nbsp;longer&nbsp;videos&nbsp;could help&nbsp;TikTok&nbsp;catch up in terms of both eyeballs and engagement."

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Longer&nbsp;videos&nbsp;could also enable&nbsp;TikTok&nbsp;creators make more money and boost the platform's advertising business, the analyst added.

YouTube&nbsp;recently laid out goals for this year that included making the lives of creators easier and boosting a popular format that rivals&nbsp;TikTok.

The video-sharing platform is investing in short-form and live video, along with tools to help creators make money and produce fresh content, according to chief product officer Neal Mohan.

"YouTube&nbsp;creators are the heart and soul of the platform," Mohan said in a blog post.

"To give them every opportunity possible, we'll continue to invest across our multiple formats."

Watch |&nbsp;YouTube blocks Russia-backed channels as Russia-Ukraine Conflict rages on

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Short-form content like the video snippets that are a winning ingredient at&nbsp;TikTok&nbsp;are incredibly popular.&nbsp;YouTube's take on the concept, called "Shorts," has logged more than five trillion all-time views, according to Mohan.

Short&nbsp;videos, typically made using smartphones, can be as long as 60 seconds, with music and comedy as popular themes.

Facebook and Instagram parent Meta has its own spin on the offering called Reels, which chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said is a priority for the tech firm and growing fast.

TikTok on Monday began letting users upload videos as long as 10 minutes, ramping up the young platform's challenge to veteran titan YouTube. TikTok, owned by ByteDance in China, launched with a one-minute limit on uploaded videos, but bumped the cap to three minutes last year.

TikTok on Monday began letting users upload videos as long as 10 minutes, ramping up the young platform's challenge to veteran titan YouTube. TikTok, owned by ByteDance in China, launched with a one-minute limit on uploaded videos, but bumped the cap to three minutes last year. "Today we are happy to start rolling out the ability to upload videos up to 10 minutes long," TikTok said in response to an AFP inquiry. "We hope this will further stimulate the creativity of our creators around the world." Also read | YouTube’s AI algorithm adds explicit language in captions to children's clips TikTok more than tripling the length of videos comes as YouTube and Facebook-parent Meta strive to counter the rival with short-form content options and incentives to creators whose posts draw audiences. "YouTube is still ahead of TikTok in terms of time spent, but its not immune to the 'TikTok effect'," Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg told AFP. "The gap in time spent between the two platforms is narrow, and longer videos could help TikTok catch up in terms of both eyeballs and engagement." Also read | Google temporarily disables Google Maps live traffic data in Ukraine Longer videos could also enable TikTok creators make more money and boost the platform's advertising business, the analyst added. YouTube recently laid out goals for this year that included making the lives of creators easier and boosting a popular format that rivals TikTok. The video-sharing platform is investing in short-form and live video, along with tools to help creators make money and produce fresh content, according to chief product officer Neal Mohan. "YouTube creators are the heart and soul of the platform," Mohan said in a blog post. "To give them every opportunity possible, we'll continue to invest across our multiple formats." Watch | YouTube blocks Russia-backed channels as Russia-Ukraine Conflict rages on Short-form content like the video snippets that are a winning ingredient at TikTok are incredibly popular. YouTube's take on the concept, called "Shorts," has logged more than five trillion all-time views, according to Mohan. Short videos, typically made using smartphones, can be as long as 60 seconds, with music and comedy as popular themes. Facebook and Instagram parent Meta has its own spin on the offering called Reels, which chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said is a priority for the tech firm and growing fast.

TikTok videos get longer in challenge to YouTube

With accusation of "censoring" domestic media, Russian government on Friday said that it was partially limiting access to Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The Russian government has also increased pressure on domestic media by issuing warning to block reports containing what it describes as "false information" over Ukraine conflict. &nbsp;

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The state communications regulator of Russia said that Facebook ignored its demands to lift restrictions on four Russian media outlets on its platform, such as the Defence Ministry's Zvezda TV, RIA news agency and websites, gazeta.ru and lenta.ru. &nbsp;

In a statement on Twitter, Meta's head of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said, "Yesterday, Russian authorities ordered us to stop the independent fact-checking and labelling of content posted to Facebook by four Russian state-owned media organisations. We refused. As a result, they have announced they will be restricting the use of our services." &nbsp;&nbsp;

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Clegg added that "ordinary Russians" were using Meta's apps, which include WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger and Facebook, to "express themselves and organise for action" and that the firm wanted them to continue to do so. &nbsp;

In a statement, the regulator, Roskomnadzor, said, "In accordance with the decision of the General Prosecutor's Office, starting from February 25, partial access restrictions are being imposed by Roskomnadzor on the Facebook social network." &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

With accusation of "censoring" domestic media, Russian government on Friday said that it was partially limiting access to Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook. The Russian government has also increased pressure on domestic media by issuing warning to block reports containing what it describes as "false information" over Ukraine conflict.

With accusation of "censoring" domestic media, Russian government on Friday said that it was partially limiting access to Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook. The Russian government has also increased pressure on domestic media by issuing warning to block reports containing what it describes as "false information" over Ukraine conflict. Also Read | Ukraine conflict: US, EU, UK sanction Russian President, top officials The state communications regulator of Russia said that Facebook ignored its demands to lift restrictions on four Russian media outlets on its platform, such as the Defence Ministry's Zvezda TV, RIA news agency and websites, gazeta.ru and lenta.ru. In a statement on Twitter, Meta's head of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said, "Yesterday, Russian authorities ordered us to stop the independent fact-checking and labelling of content posted to Facebook by four Russian state-owned media organisations. We refused. As a result, they have announced they will be restricting the use of our services." Also Read | Explainer: Why is Chernobyl nuclear power plant important? Clegg added that "ordinary Russians" were using Meta's apps, which include WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger and Facebook, to "express themselves and organise for action" and that the firm wanted them to continue to do so. In a statement, the regulator, Roskomnadzor, said, "In accordance with the decision of the General Prosecutor's Office, starting from February 25, partial access restrictions are being imposed by Roskomnadzor on the Facebook social network." (With inputs from agencies)

For 'censoring' domestic media, Russian government partially limits access to Facebook

An investigation by the BBC has revealed a shocking possibility that children may get access to strip clubs on Metaverse, touted to be 'future of internet' by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. UK's National Society for the Prevention of Crtuelty to Children (NSPCC) has reacted sharply to this.

As per the BBC report, a researcher working with the media corporation, posed as a 13-year-old on a Metaverse app VRChat. The app had minimum age rating of 13 years. The researcher, using the avatar she had created, was able to visit virtual reality rooms where avatars used by other people were simulating sex. She was reportedly shown condoms, sex toys and was approached by adult men.

The VRChat app on the platform has virtual rooms where people can meet. Some such rooms are innocent enough, like restaurants. But there are also the ones which have strippers and pole dance.

As per the BBC, the researcher was told by a man that avatars can "get naked and do unspeakable things". Others talked about "erotic role-play".

"This is a product that is dangerous by design, because of oversight and neglect. We are seeing products rolled out without any suggestion that safety has been considered," said an official of the NSPCC told BBC.

An investigation by the BBC has revealed a shocking possibility that children may get access to strip clubs on Metaverse, touted to be 'future of internet' by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.

An investigation by the BBC has revealed a shocking possibility that children may get access to strip clubs on Metaverse, touted to be 'future of internet' by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. UK's National Society for the Prevention of Crtuelty to Children (NSPCC) has reacted sharply to this. As per the BBC report, a researcher working with the media corporation, posed as a 13-year-old on a Metaverse app VRChat. The app had minimum age rating of 13 years. The researcher, using the avatar she had created, was able to visit virtual reality rooms where avatars used by other people were simulating sex. She was reportedly shown condoms, sex toys and was approached by adult men. The VRChat app on the platform has virtual rooms where people can meet. Some such rooms are innocent enough, like restaurants. But there are also the ones which have strippers and pole dance. As per the BBC, the researcher was told by a man that avatars can "get naked and do unspeakable things". Others talked about "erotic role-play". "This is a product that is dangerous by design, because of oversight and neglect. We are seeing products rolled out without any suggestion that safety has been considered," said an official of the NSPCC told BBC.

Children can easily get access to Metaverse strip clubs, investigation reveals

The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, referred to his employees as “Metamates," while unveiling a list of new principles for work at Meta Platforms Inc. Zuckerberg laid out his vision for internal culture through an employee memo.&nbsp;

"Meta, Metamates, Me is about being good stewards of our company and mission," he wrote.&nbsp;

He said that it is now “a distributed company” as he said that “we will continue hiring around the world.”

The Move Fast motto remains. However, it is now joined by Build Awesome Things, Live in the Future, Focus on Long-Term Impact and Be Direct and Respect Your Colleagues.

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He mentioned the employee label in his conclusion and wrote, “It’s about the sense of responsibility we have for our collective success and to each other as teammates."

While some hailed his efforts, others claimed that the slogan put the company first and the worker last.&nbsp;

"Focus on long-term impact’ emphasises long-term thinking and encourages us to extend the timeline for the impact we have, rather than optimising for near-term wins,” Zuckerberg wrote.

In the end, he concluded by emphasising that values are not what you write on a website but "what we hold each other accountable for every day."&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, referred to his employees as “Metamates," while unveiling a list of new principles for work at Meta Platforms Inc. Zuckerberg laid out his vision for internal culture through an employee memo.

The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, referred to his employees as “Metamates," while unveiling a list of new principles for work at Meta Platforms Inc. Zuckerberg laid out his vision for internal culture through an employee memo. "Meta, Metamates, Me is about being good stewards of our company and mission," he wrote. He said that it is now “a distributed company” as he said that “we will continue hiring around the world.” The Move Fast motto remains. However, it is now joined by Build Awesome Things, Live in the Future, Focus on Long-Term Impact and Be Direct and Respect Your Colleagues. Also read | Twitter CEO Parag to go for parental leave, decision appreciated by fellow dads He mentioned the employee label in his conclusion and wrote, “It’s about the sense of responsibility we have for our collective success and to each other as teammates." While some hailed his efforts, others claimed that the slogan put the company first and the worker last. "Focus on long-term impact’ emphasises long-term thinking and encourages us to extend the timeline for the impact we have, rather than optimising for near-term wins,” Zuckerberg wrote. In the end, he concluded by emphasising that values are not what you write on a website but "what we hold each other accountable for every day." (With inputs from agencies)

Zuckerberg refers to his staff as 'Metamates' in a memo laying out new principles

In a major blow for Facebook, Texas attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the social media giant's parent company Meta for allegedly violating state privacy protections with facial recognition technology.

Social media giant Facebook sued over biometric data use

Meta Platforms Inc has threatened the European Union that it will be forced to pull Facebook and Instagram if the bloc fails to scrap the privacy pact.

''The simple reality is that Meta, and many other businesses, organisations and services, rely on data transfers between the EU and the US in order to operate global services,'' the firm said in a statement.

Europe's top court in 2020 scrapped a transatlantic data transfer deal known as the Privacy Shield and relied on by thousands of companies for services ranging from cloud infrastructure to payroll and finance because of similar concerns.

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The United States and the EU have been trying to come up with a new pact in the two years since then. US&nbsp;Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she was confident there would be a new accord which takes into account the EU court's concerns.

"If a new transatlantic data transfer framework is not adopted... we will likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe," Meta wrote in its Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

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The social media giant recently saw its worst-ever plunge in market value, after disappointing quarterly results that raised questions about its future.

The huge drop, erasing over $200 billion from Meta's market capitalization and around $29 billion from Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg's net worth, spilled over to the broader technology sector and dragged the Nasdaq Composite Index lower.

Fewer people checked their Facebook every day per quarter than they did the year before for the first time ever during the last three months of 2021, as per Meta.

Meta Chief Financial Officer Dave Wehner told financial analysts part of the usage decrease for the main Facebook app and website came from fewer COVID-19 lockdowns, which have tended to generate a boom in online activity.

He also blamed rising internet costs for consumers in India and increasing interest in ByteDance Inc's video-sharing app TikTok.

(With inputs from agencies)

Meta Platforms Inc has threatened the European Union that it will be forced to pull Facebook and Instagram if the bloc fails to scrap the privacy pact. ''The simple reality is that Meta, and many other businesses, organisations and services, rely on data transfers between the EU and the US in order to operate global services,'' the firm said in a statement.

Meta Platforms Inc has threatened the European Union that it will be forced to pull Facebook and Instagram if the bloc fails to scrap the privacy pact. ''The simple reality is that Meta, and many other businesses, organisations and services, rely on data transfers between the EU and the US in order to operate global services,'' the firm said in a statement. Europe's top court in 2020 scrapped a transatlantic data transfer deal known as the Privacy Shield and relied on by thousands of companies for services ranging from cloud infrastructure to payroll and finance because of similar concerns. The United States and the EU have been trying to come up with a new pact in the two years since then. US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she was confident there would be a new accord which takes into account the EU court's concerns. "If a new transatlantic data transfer framework is not adopted... we will likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe," Meta wrote in its Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Also read | Assaulted in Metaverse: Woman alleges 'gang rape' 60 seconds after joining Meta's virtual world The social media giant recently saw its worst-ever plunge in market value, after disappointing quarterly results that raised questions about its future. The huge drop, erasing over $200 billion from Meta's market capitalization and around $29 billion from Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg's net worth, spilled over to the broader technology sector and dragged the Nasdaq Composite Index lower. Fewer people checked their Facebook every day per quarter than they did the year before for the first time ever during the last three months of 2021, as per Meta. Meta Chief Financial Officer Dave Wehner told financial analysts part of the usage decrease for the main Facebook app and website came from fewer COVID-19 lockdowns, which have tended to generate a boom in online activity. He also blamed rising internet costs for consumers in India and increasing interest in ByteDance Inc's video-sharing app TikTok. (With inputs from agencies)

Meta threatens EU to pull Facebook, Instagram on failure to scrap privacy pact

Facebook owner Meta Platforms shares plunge 26% late on Wednesday after the social media company posted a weaker-than-expected forecast, blaming Apple's privacy changes and increased competition for users from rivals like TikTok.

Meta shares plunge 26%, Facebook reports a decline in daily active users

Meta's shares plummet 26% after Facebook reports a decline in daily active users

Facebook owner Meta Platforms shares plunged more than 20% late on Wednesday after the social media company posted a weaker-than-expected forecast, blaming Apple's privacy changes and increased competition for users from rivals like TikTok.

Meta shares plunge 20%, faces heat from Apple, TikTok

A 43-year-old from London was gang-raped on Facebook's metaverse platform - 60 minutes after logging on. Is it time for governments to step in and regulate virtual interactions? Will the metaverse become a dark underbelly of the real world? Palki Sharma has a report

Gravitas: Woman gang-raped in Facebook's metaverse

Indian officials have held a heated exchange with the US tech giants Google, Twitter and Facebook for not proactively removing fake news from their platforms.

India grills US tech giants for inaction on Fake News, seeks tougher crackdown

Facebook parent&nbsp;Meta&nbsp;Platforms Inc said on Monday that its research team has built a new artificial intelligence supercomputer that it thinks will be the fastest in the world when completed in mid-2022.

Meta&nbsp;said in a blog post that its new AI Research SuperCluster (RSC) would help the company build better AI models that can learn from trillions of examples, work across hundreds of languages, and analyze text, images and video together to determine if the content was harmful.

"This research will not only help keep people safe on our services today, but also in the future, as we build for the&nbsp;metaverse," the company said in a blog post.

The social media company changed its name in October to&nbsp;Meta&nbsp;to reflect its focus on the&nbsp;metaverse, which it thinks will be the successor to the mobile internet.

The&nbsp;metaverse, a broad term which has generated a lot of Silicon Valley buzz in recent months, refers to the idea of shared virtual environments which people can access through different devices and where they can work, play and socialize.

"The experiences we're building for the&nbsp;metaverse require enormous compute power (quintillions of operations/second!) and RSC will enable new AI models that can learn from trillions of examples, understand hundreds of languages, and more,"&nbsp;Meta&nbsp;Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post on Monday.

The company said it believed the supercomputer was currently among the fastest AI supercomputers running.

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc said on Monday that its research team has built a new artificial intelligence supercomputer that it thinks will be the fastest in the world when completed in mid-2022.

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc said on Monday that its research team has built a new artificial intelligence supercomputer that it thinks will be the fastest in the world when completed in mid-2022. Meta said in a blog post that its new AI Research SuperCluster (RSC) would help the company build better AI models that can learn from trillions of examples, work across hundreds of languages, and analyze text, images and video together to determine if the content was harmful. "This research will not only help keep people safe on our services today, but also in the future, as we build for the metaverse," the company said in a blog post. The social media company changed its name in October to Meta to reflect its focus on the metaverse, which it thinks will be the successor to the mobile internet. The metaverse, a broad term which has generated a lot of Silicon Valley buzz in recent months, refers to the idea of shared virtual environments which people can access through different devices and where they can work, play and socialize. "The experiences we're building for the metaverse require enormous compute power (quintillions of operations/second!) and RSC will enable new AI models that can learn from trillions of examples, understand hundreds of languages, and more," Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post on Monday. The company said it believed the supercomputer was currently among the fastest AI supercomputers running.

Meta says its new AI supercomputer will be world's fastest

The United States is using platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp to help the agencies spy on users in secret, Forbes reported citing newly-unsealed court documents show.

The United States is using platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp to help the agencies spy on users in secret, Forbes reported citing newly-unsealed court documents show. As per the report, the US federal agencies have been using a 35-year-old American surveillance law in order to track users on WhatsApp. It was mentioned in the report that there was no explanation for why was it done. Also, it was reportedly done without knowing who they are targeting. ALSO READ | One in ten COVID-19 patients could be infectious even after 10 days The report talks about a recently-unsealed government surveillance application that revealed that in November 2021. As per the report, the DEA investigators demanded the Facebook-owned messaging company to track seven users based in China and Macau. The application revealed that the DEA has no idea about the identities of any of the targets. However, they asked WhatsApp to monitor the IP addresses and numbers. The Forbes report mentioned that such surveillance is done using a technology known as a "pen register" - under the 1986 Pen Register Act. ALSO READ | India’s main cities record sharp fall in Covid infections It is understood that the 'pen registers' are surveillance devices that capture the phone numbers dialled on outgoing telephone calls. It traps and traces devices to capture the numbers identifying incoming calls. They are not supposed to reveal the content of communications and as mentioned by the Forbed report, the application doesn't seek any message content. On the other hand, WhatsApp couldn’t provide content, as it is end-to-end encrypted. Spyware Recently, Poland's ruling party leader admitted that the country bought Israeli spyware but dismissed claims it was used against the opposition. Recent allegations about the use of Pegasus software have rocked Poland, drawing comparisons to the Watergate investigation that led to US president Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974. Pegasus can turn smartphones into pocket spying devices, allowing the user to read the target's messages, track their location, and even turn on their camera and microphone without their knowledge.

Did US government agencies ask WhatsApp to help agencies spy on users in secret?

A new lawsuit has claimed that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai colluded in online ad sales.

According to an amended antitrust complaint filed by Texas and 15 other states, the two tech giants teamed up and hammered out the terms of the agreement.

The deal was allegedly struck as part of Google's effort to counter header bidding, which publishers wanted to use to make more money from advertising placed on their websites, the filing said.

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"Google quickly realised that this innovation substantially threatened its exchange’s ability to demand a very large&nbsp;19 to 22 per cent,&nbsp;cut on all advertising transactions," the filing said.

"Following the agreement, Facebook curtailed its involvement with header bidding in return for Google giving Facebook information, speed, and other advantages."

Facebook, which has since become Meta Platforms Inc, said in a statement that the deal was not exclusive to Google and that other agreements have increased competition for ad placements. It said it was better for advertisers "while fairly compensating publishers."

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Facebook’s former chief operating officer&nbsp;Sheryl Sandberg was “explicit that ‘this is a big deal strategically’” in a 2018 email thread about the deal that included Zuckerberg.

“We’re nearly ready to sign and need your approval to move forward,” the email read, according to the complaint. Zuckerberg wanted to meet with Sandberg and his other executives before making a decision, the complaint states.

In a statement, Google spokesperson Peter Schottenfels said the lawsuit is “full of inaccuracies and lacks legal merit.”

Meta spokesperson Chris Sgro said Friday that the company’s ad bidding agreement with Google and similar agreements it has with other bidding platforms “have helped to increase competition for ad placements.”

“These business relationships enable Meta to deliver more value to advertisers while fairly compensating publishers, resulting in better outcomes for all,” Sgro said.

(With inputs from agencies)

A new lawsuit has claimed that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai colluded in online ad sales. According to an amended antitrust complaint filed by Texas and 15 other states, the two tech giants teamed up and hammered out the terms of the agreement.

A new lawsuit has claimed that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai colluded in online ad sales. According to an amended antitrust complaint filed by Texas and 15 other states, the two tech giants teamed up and hammered out the terms of the agreement. The deal was allegedly struck as part of Google's effort to counter header bidding, which publishers wanted to use to make more money from advertising placed on their websites, the filing said. Also see | From meatless meat to Web 3.0: Here are the tech trends that can dominate in 2022 "Google quickly realised that this innovation substantially threatened its exchange’s ability to demand a very large 19 to 22 per cent, cut on all advertising transactions," the filing said. "Following the agreement, Facebook curtailed its involvement with header bidding in return for Google giving Facebook information, speed, and other advantages." Facebook, which has since become Meta Platforms Inc, said in a statement that the deal was not exclusive to Google and that other agreements have increased competition for ad placements. It said it was better for advertisers "while fairly compensating publishers." Also read| Facebook, Google slapped with huge fines in France over 'cookies' Facebook’s former chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg was “explicit that ‘this is a big deal strategically’” in a 2018 email thread about the deal that included Zuckerberg. “We’re nearly ready to sign and need your approval to move forward,” the email read, according to the complaint. Zuckerberg wanted to meet with Sandberg and his other executives before making a decision, the complaint states. In a statement, Google spokesperson Peter Schottenfels said the lawsuit is “full of inaccuracies and lacks legal merit.” Meta spokesperson Chris Sgro said Friday that the company’s ad bidding agreement with Google and similar agreements it has with other bidding platforms “have helped to increase competition for ad placements.” “These business relationships enable Meta to deliver more value to advertisers while fairly compensating publishers, resulting in better outcomes for all,” Sgro said. (With inputs from agencies)

New lawsuit alleges Facebook and Google colluded in online ad sales

Facebook is facing a 3.2 billion dollar plus class-action suit in Britain for allegations that it has abused its market dominance by exploiting the personal data of almost about 44 million users.

Facebook is facing a 3.2 billion dollar class-action lawsuit in Britain

Social media giant Facebook is facing a $3.2 billion class-action lawsuit for allegedly exploiting user data in the United Kingdom. It has been accused of abusing its market dominance by exploiting the personal data of nearly 44 million users.

Liza Lovdahl Gormsen, who happens to be the senior adviser to the British watchdog group Financial Conduct Authority,&nbsp;is suing Meta on behalf of people who used Facebook in between 2015 to 2019.

Lovdahl Gornsen said, "In the 17 years since it was created, Facebook became the sole social network in the UK where you could be sure to connect with friends and family in one place."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/scaling-new-milestone-chinas-trade-surplus-reaches-6764-billion-in-2021-444661">Also read |&nbsp;Scaling new milestone? China's trade surplus reaches $676.4 billion in 2021</a>

She further added, "Yet, there was a dark side to Facebook; it abused its market dominance to impose unfair terms and conditions on ordinary Britons, giving it the power to exploit their personal data."

The lawsuit will be heard by London's Competition Appeal Tribunal. As per Lovdahl Gornsen, Facebook collected data within its platform using tools like the Facebook pixel.&nbsp;

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart &amp; Sullivan is the law firm representing Lovdahl Gormsen. The firm has notified Facebook of the claim. 
Responding to the allegation, Facebook said that people used its services because they were valued as "they have meaningful control of what information they share on Meta's platforms and who with."&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/facebook-is-facing-a-32-billion-dollar-class-action-lawsuit-in-britain-444595/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo">&nbsp;</div>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo">(With inputs from agencies)</div>

Social media giant Facebook is facing a $3.2 billion class-action lawsuit for allegedly exploiting user data in the United Kingdom. It has been accused of abusing its market dominance by exploiting the personal data of nearly 44 million users.

Social media giant Facebook is facing a $3.2 billion class-action lawsuit for allegedly exploiting user data in the United Kingdom. It has been accused of abusing its market dominance by exploiting the personal data of nearly 44 million users. Liza Lovdahl Gormsen, who happens to be the senior adviser to the British watchdog group Financial Conduct Authority, is suing Meta on behalf of people who used Facebook in between 2015 to 2019. Lovdahl Gornsen said, "In the 17 years since it was created, Facebook became the sole social network in the UK where you could be sure to connect with friends and family in one place." Also read | Scaling new milestone? China's trade surplus reaches $676.4 billion in 2021 She further added, "Yet, there was a dark side to Facebook; it abused its market dominance to impose unfair terms and conditions on ordinary Britons, giving it the power to exploit their personal data." The lawsuit will be heard by London's Competition Appeal Tribunal. As per Lovdahl Gornsen, Facebook collected data within its platform using tools like the Facebook pixel. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan is the law firm representing Lovdahl Gormsen. The firm has notified Facebook of the claim. Responding to the allegation, Facebook said that people used its services because they were valued as "they have meaningful control of what information they share on Meta's platforms and who with." (With inputs from agencies)

Here is why social media giant Facebook is facing $3.2 billion class-action lawsuit in UK

France hits Google and Facebook with hefty fines over privacy concerns that include cookie breaches.

Google, Facebook fined for cookie breaches by France

Tech giants Google and Facebook have been fined multi-million dollars by France's data privacy watchdog. The tech giants have been accused of making it difficult for internet users to refuse online trackers or cookies.

Google and Facebook fined for cookie breaches

When Jennifer Chen travelled back to her hometown in central China last winter for Lunar New Year, she thought little about Twitter. She had around 100 followers on an account she believed to be anonymous.

While living in China, she retweeted news and videos, and occasionally made comments censored on Chinese platforms, like voicing her support for Hong Kong’s protesters and her solidarity with minorities who have been interned.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough for the authorities to go after her. The police knocked on her parents’ door when she was visiting. She said they had summoned her to the station, questioned her and then commanded her to delete her Twitter posts and account. They continued to track her when she went overseas to study, calling her and her mother to ask if Chen had recently visited any human rights websites.

The Chinese government, which has built an extensive digital infrastructure and security apparatus to control dissent on its own platforms, is going to even greater lengths to extend its internet dragnet to unmask and silence those who criticize the country on Twitter, Facebook and other international social media.

These new investigations, targeting sites blocked inside China, are relying on sophisticated technological methods to expand the reach of Chinese authorities and the list of targets, according to a New York Times examination of government procurement documents and legal records, as well as interviews with one government contractor and six people pressured by the police.

To hunt people, security forces use advanced investigation software, public records and databases to find all their personal information and international social media presence. The operations sometimes target those living beyond China’s borders. Police officers are pursuing dissidents and minor critics like Chen, as well as Chinese people living overseas and even citizens of other nations.

The digital manhunt represents the punitive side of the government’s vast campaign to counter negative portrayals of China. In recent years, the Communist Party has raised bot armies, deployed diplomats and marshalled influencers to push its narratives and drown out criticism. The police have taken it a step further, hounding and silencing those who dare to talk back.

With growing frequency, the authorities are harassing critics both inside and outside China, as well as threatening relatives, in an effort to get them to delete content deemed criminal. One video recording, provided by a Chinese student living in Australia, showed how the police in her hometown had summoned her father, called her with his phone and pushed her to remove her Twitter account.

The new tactics raise questions about the spread of powerful investigative software and bustling data markets that can make it easy to track even the most cautious social media user on international platforms. U.S. regulators have repeatedly blocked Chinese deals to acquire American technology companies over the access they provide to personal data. They have done much less to control the widespread availability of online services that offer location data, social media records and personal information.

For Chinese security forces, the effort is a daring expansion of a remit that previously focused on Chinese platforms and the best-known overseas dissidents. Now, violations as simple as a post of a critical article on Twitter — or in the case of 23-year-old Chen, quoting, “I stand with Hong Kong” — can bring swift repercussions.

Actions against people for speaking out on Twitter and Facebook have increased in China since 2019, according to an online database aggregating them. The database, compiled by an anonymous activist, records cases based on publicly available verdicts, police notices and news reports, although information is limited in China.

“The net has definitely been cast wider overseas during the past year or so,” said Yaxue Cao, editor of ChinaChange.org, a website that covers civil society and human rights. The goal is to encourage already widespread self-censorship among Chinese people on global social media, she said, likening the purging of critics to an overactive lawn mower.

“They cut down the things that look spindly and tall — the most outspoken,” she said. “Then they look around, the taller pieces of grass no longer cover the lower ones. They say, ‘Oh these are problematic too, let’s mow them down again.’”

Chinese security authorities are bringing new technical expertise and funding to the process, according to publicly available procurement documents, police manuals and the government contractor, who is working on overseas internet investigations.

In 2020, when the police in the western province of Gansu sought companies to help monitor international social media, they laid out a grading system. One criterion included a company’s ability to analyze Twitter accounts, including tweets and lists of followers. The police in Shanghai offered $1,500 to a technology firm for each investigation into an overseas account, according to a May procurement document.

Such work often begins with a single tweet or Facebook post that has attracted official attention, according to the contractor, who declined to be named because he was not approved to speak publicly about the work. A specialist in tracking people living in the United States, he said he used voter registries, driver’s license records and hacked databases on the dark web to pinpoint the people behind the posts. Personal photos posted online can be used to infer addresses and friends.

A Chinese police manual and examination for online security professionals detailed and ranked the types of speech crimes that investigators seek out, labelling them with a one, two or three depending on the severity of the violation. One denotes criticism of top leadership or plans to politically organize or protest; two includes the promotion of liberal ideology and attacks on the government; and three, the least urgent, refers to content ranging from libel to pornography. The manual specifically called for monitoring activity on foreign websites.

The contractor said he used the rankings to classify infractions on dossiers he submitted to his bosses in China’s security apparatus. In a sample document reviewed by The Times, he listed key details about each person he looked into, including personal and career information and professional and family connections to China, as well as a statistical analysis of the reach of the person’s account. His approach was corroborated by procurement documents and guides for online security workers.

Over the past year, he said, he had been assigned to investigate a mix of Chinese undergraduates studying in the United States, a Chinese American policy analyst who is a U.S. citizen and journalists who previously worked in China.

Those caught up in the dragnet are often baffled at how the authorities linked them to anonymous social media accounts on international platforms.

The Chinese student in Australia, who provided the video recording from her police questioning, recalled the terror she had felt when she first received a call from her father in China in spring 2020. The police told him to go to a local station over a parody account she had created to mock China’s leader, Xi Jinping. She declined to be named over concerns about reprisals.

In an audio recording she also provided, the police told her via her father’s phone that they knew her account was being used from Australia. Her distraught father instructed her to listen to the police.

Three weeks later, they summoned him again. This time, calling her via video chat, they told her to report to the station when she returned to China and asked how much longer her Australian visa was valid. Fearful, she denied owning the Twitter account but filmed the call and kept the account up. A few months later, Twitter suspended it.

After an inquiry from The Times, Twitter restored the account without explaining why it had taken it down.

Consequences can be steep. When a Chinese student living in Taiwan criticized China this year, he said, both of his parents disappeared for 10 days. His social media accounts within China were also immediately shut down.

The student, who declined to be named out of fear of further reprisals, said he still did not know what had happened to his parents. He doesn’t dare to ask because they told him that local security forces were monitoring them.

“Those who live abroad are also very scared,” said Eric Liu, a censorship analyst at China Digital Times, a website that monitors Chinese internet controls. He said that Chinese users on Twitter were becoming increasingly careful and that many set their accounts to private mode out of fear. Liu's account is public, but he screens new followers, looking for Chinese security officials who might be watching him.

For Chen, the police harassment has continued even after she moved to Europe this fall for graduate school. She has struggled with feelings of shame and powerlessness as she has weighed the importance of expressing her political views against the risks that now entails. It has driven a rift in her relationship with her mother, who was adamant that she change her ways.

Chen said that as long as she held a Chinese passport she would worry about her safety. As a young person with little work experience and less influence, she said it was frustrating to have her voice taken away: “I feel weak, like there’s no way for me to show my strength, no way to do something for others.”

Even so, she said she would continue to post, albeit with more caution.

“Even though it is still dangerous, I have to move forward step by step,” she said. “I can’t just keep censoring myself. I have to stop cowering.”

When Jennifer Chen travelled back to her hometown in central China last winter for Lunar New Year, she thought little about Twitter. She had around 100 followers on an account she believed to be anonymous.

When Jennifer Chen travelled back to her hometown in central China last winter for Lunar New Year, she thought little about Twitter. She had around 100 followers on an account she believed to be anonymous. While living in China, she retweeted news and videos, and occasionally made comments censored on Chinese platforms, like voicing her support for Hong Kong’s protesters and her solidarity with minorities who have been interned. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for the authorities to go after her. The police knocked on her parents’ door when she was visiting. She said they had summoned her to the station, questioned her and then commanded her to delete her Twitter posts and account. They continued to track her when she went overseas to study, calling her and her mother to ask if Chen had recently visited any human rights websites. The Chinese government, which has built an extensive digital infrastructure and security apparatus to control dissent on its own platforms, is going to even greater lengths to extend its internet dragnet to unmask and silence those who criticize the country on Twitter, Facebook and other international social media. These new investigations, targeting sites blocked inside China, are relying on sophisticated technological methods to expand the reach of Chinese authorities and the list of targets, according to a New York Times examination of government procurement documents and legal records, as well as interviews with one government contractor and six people pressured by the police. To hunt people, security forces use advanced investigation software, public records and databases to find all their personal information and international social media presence. The operations sometimes target those living beyond China’s borders. Police officers are pursuing dissidents and minor critics like Chen, as well as Chinese people living overseas and even citizens of other nations. The digital manhunt represents the punitive side of the government’s vast campaign to counter negative portrayals of China. In recent years, the Communist Party has raised bot armies, deployed diplomats and marshalled influencers to push its narratives and drown out criticism. The police have taken it a step further, hounding and silencing those who dare to talk back. With growing frequency, the authorities are harassing critics both inside and outside China, as well as threatening relatives, in an effort to get them to delete content deemed criminal. One video recording, provided by a Chinese student living in Australia, showed how the police in her hometown had summoned her father, called her with his phone and pushed her to remove her Twitter account. The new tactics raise questions about the spread of powerful investigative software and bustling data markets that can make it easy to track even the most cautious social media user on international platforms. U.S. regulators have repeatedly blocked Chinese deals to acquire American technology companies over the access they provide to personal data. They have done much less to control the widespread availability of online services that offer location data, social media records and personal information. For Chinese security forces, the effort is a daring expansion of a remit that previously focused on Chinese platforms and the best-known overseas dissidents. Now, violations as simple as a post of a critical article on Twitter — or in the case of 23-year-old Chen, quoting, “I stand with Hong Kong” — can bring swift repercussions. Actions against people for speaking out on Twitter and Facebook have increased in China since 2019, according to an online database aggregating them. The database, compiled by an anonymous activist, records cases based on publicly available verdicts, police notices and news reports, although information is limited in China. “The net has definitely been cast wider overseas during the past year or so,” said Yaxue Cao, editor of ChinaChange.org, a website that covers civil society and human rights. The goal is to encourage already widespread self-censorship among Chinese people on global social media, she said, likening the purging of critics to an overactive lawn mower. “They cut down the things that look spindly and tall — the most outspoken,” she said. “Then they look around, the taller pieces of grass no longer cover the lower ones. They say, ‘Oh these are problematic too, let’s mow them down again.’” Chinese security authorities are bringing new technical expertise and funding to the process, according to publicly available procurement documents, police manuals and the government contractor, who is working on overseas internet investigations. In 2020, when the police in the western province of Gansu sought companies to help monitor international social media, they laid out a grading system. One criterion included a company’s ability to analyze Twitter accounts, including tweets and lists of followers. The police in Shanghai offered $1,500 to a technology firm for each investigation into an overseas account, according to a May procurement document. Such work often begins with a single tweet or Facebook post that has attracted official attention, according to the contractor, who declined to be named because he was not approved to speak publicly about the work. A specialist in tracking people living in the United States, he said he used voter registries, driver’s license records and hacked databases on the dark web to pinpoint the people behind the posts. Personal photos posted online can be used to infer addresses and friends. A Chinese police manual and examination for online security professionals detailed and ranked the types of speech crimes that investigators seek out, labelling them with a one, two or three depending on the severity of the violation. One denotes criticism of top leadership or plans to politically organize or protest; two includes the promotion of liberal ideology and attacks on the government; and three, the least urgent, refers to content ranging from libel to pornography. The manual specifically called for monitoring activity on foreign websites. The contractor said he used the rankings to classify infractions on dossiers he submitted to his bosses in China’s security apparatus. In a sample document reviewed by The Times, he listed key details about each person he looked into, including personal and career information and professional and family connections to China, as well as a statistical analysis of the reach of the person’s account. His approach was corroborated by procurement documents and guides for online security workers. Over the past year, he said, he had been assigned to investigate a mix of Chinese undergraduates studying in the United States, a Chinese American policy analyst who is a U.S. citizen and journalists who previously worked in China. Those caught up in the dragnet are often baffled at how the authorities linked them to anonymous social media accounts on international platforms. The Chinese student in Australia, who provided the video recording from her police questioning, recalled the terror she had felt when she first received a call from her father in China in spring 2020. The police told him to go to a local station over a parody account she had created to mock China’s leader, Xi Jinping. She declined to be named over concerns about reprisals. In an audio recording she also provided, the police told her via her father’s phone that they knew her account was being used from Australia. Her distraught father instructed her to listen to the police. Three weeks later, they summoned him again. This time, calling her via video chat, they told her to report to the station when she returned to China and asked how much longer her Australian visa was valid. Fearful, she denied owning the Twitter account but filmed the call and kept the account up. A few months later, Twitter suspended it. After an inquiry from The Times, Twitter restored the account without explaining why it had taken it down. Consequences can be steep. When a Chinese student living in Taiwan criticized China this year, he said, both of his parents disappeared for 10 days. His social media accounts within China were also immediately shut down. The student, who declined to be named out of fear of further reprisals, said he still did not know what had happened to his parents. He doesn’t dare to ask because they told him that local security forces were monitoring them. “Those who live abroad are also very scared,” said Eric Liu, a censorship analyst at China Digital Times, a website that monitors Chinese internet controls. He said that Chinese users on Twitter were becoming increasingly careful and that many set their accounts to private mode out of fear. Liu's account is public, but he screens new followers, looking for Chinese security officials who might be watching him. For Chen, the police harassment has continued even after she moved to Europe this fall for graduate school. She has struggled with feelings of shame and powerlessness as she has weighed the importance of expressing her political views against the risks that now entails. It has driven a rift in her relationship with her mother, who was adamant that she change her ways. Chen said that as long as she held a Chinese passport she would worry about her safety. As a young person with little work experience and less influence, she said it was frustrating to have her voice taken away: “I feel weak, like there’s no way for me to show my strength, no way to do something for others.” Even so, she said she would continue to post, albeit with more caution. “Even though it is still dangerous, I have to move forward step by step,” she said. “I can’t just keep censoring myself. I have to stop cowering.”

A Digital manhunt: How Chinese police track critics on Twitter and Facebook

Social media giant Meta, formerly known as Facebook, ran a massive crackdown on spy firms on its platform as it suspended over 1,500 accounts.

Social media giant Meta crackdowns on spy firms on its platform & suspends over 1,500 accounts

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, banned an array of "cyber mercenary" groups on Thursday, alerting 50,000 users who may have been targeted by firms that spy on activists, dissidents, and journalists.

Meta bans array of 'cyber mercenary' groups, warns 50,000 people that were targeted

Facebook's parent company Meta crackdown on spy firm on its platform as it suspends 1,500 accounts for targeting 50,000 people.

Meta crackdown on spy firms: 1,500 accounts suspended

After the head of Instagram was grilled for compromising children safety on social media, Instagram plans an updated version of the app that shows users chronological feed instead of an algorithm-based one.

Instagram to reintroduce chronological feed option, is Meta finally listening to its users?

At least 300 Scientists & researchers have written an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg. They want the Meta CEO to open the company's doors to independent investigators. They want Facebook to clarify how its posts impact the mental health of teens.

300 researchers slam Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg

300 Scientists & researchers have written an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg. They want the Meta CEO to open the company's doors to independent investigators. They want Facebook to clarify how its posts impact the mental health of teens. Palki Sharma has a report.

Gravitas: An open letter to Mark Zuckerberg

Meta poses threat to mental health? Will Mark Zuckerberg come clean?

Thousands of Rohingya refugees in the United Kingdom and the United States have filed a $150 billion lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc, formerly known as Facebook, for enabling hate speech against them that led to violence against the persecuted minority.

Rohingya Muslims sue social media giant Facebook for $150 billion for allowing hate speech

In a recent incident, which has left the netizens&nbsp;in splits, a young mom from England listed her baby for sale accidentally on a local Facebook group.&nbsp;

Lucy Nicola Battle from Leeds was trying to put an image of her sofa for sale but instead, she somehow put an image of her son with a caption that said she needs it "gone today."

She became aware of her mistake after people from all over Leeds commented on that post.&nbsp;

<img alt="20-year-old mom accidentally lists her baby for sale" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1641e7c7-44c0-424f-9ed7-abb543fd9a17" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%281%29_220.jpg" />

Lucy, who is 20-years-old, had posted pictures of her brown sofa but she did not realise that she had also included a smiling image of his seven-months old baby boy Oscar.&nbsp;

While speaking to Leeds Live, Lucy said, "I just somehow managed to upload the wrong photo when I was choosing them from my camera roll and unfortunately it was of Oscar!"

“It worked out though because one of the messages was someone actually enquiring about the sofa!"

She further explained how most of the people were making jokes about her giving away her son. She told Leeds Live, "I didn’t expect it to go so far."

The post garnered tons of likes and comments from netizens. As per reports by Mirror, one person commented saying, "Can I swap for a teenager?", &nbsp;while another person wrote, "How's he at washing up?"

However, the 20-year-old mother soon realised her mistake and clarified that she meant the sofa and not her baby Oscar. She said, “Thanks all for being nice though and understanding this was a genuine mistake. I don’t want to give away my child.”

(With inputs from agencies)

In a recent incident, which has left the netizens in splits, a young mom from England listed her baby for sale accidentally on a local Facebook group. Lucy Nicola Battle from Leeds was trying to put an image of her sofa for sale but instead, she somehow put an image of her son with a caption that said she needs it "gone today.

In a recent incident, which has left the netizens in splits, a young mom from England listed her baby for sale accidentally on a local Facebook group. Lucy Nicola Battle from Leeds was trying to put an image of her sofa for sale but instead, she somehow put an image of her son with a caption that said she needs it "gone today." She became aware of her mistake after people from all over Leeds commented on that post. Lucy, who is 20-years-old, had posted pictures of her brown sofa but she did not realise that she had also included a smiling image of his seven-months old baby boy Oscar. While speaking to Leeds Live, Lucy said, "I just somehow managed to upload the wrong photo when I was choosing them from my camera roll and unfortunately it was of Oscar!" “It worked out though because one of the messages was someone actually enquiring about the sofa!" She further explained how most of the people were making jokes about her giving away her son. She told Leeds Live, "I didn’t expect it to go so far." The post garnered tons of likes and comments from netizens. As per reports by Mirror, one person commented saying, "Can I swap for a teenager?", while another person wrote, "How's he at washing up?" However, the 20-year-old mother soon realised her mistake and clarified that she meant the sofa and not her baby Oscar. She said, “Thanks all for being nice though and understanding this was a genuine mistake. I don’t want to give away my child.” (With inputs from agencies)

Baby for sale? 20-year-old mom accidentally puts her baby up for sale on Facebook

Meta, the guardian organisation of Facebook and Instagram has taken down a Chinese language misinformation community that tried to unfold claims about COVID-19 utilising a faux Swiss biologist.

Facebook takes down Chinese network behind fake Swiss biologist COVID claims

After more than a week sleeping in a frigid encampment on the border between Belarus and Poland, and an abortive foray across the frontier repelled by pepper spray and police batons, Mohammad Faraj gave up this month and retreated to a warm hotel in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

Soon after, however, he watched with surprise and excitement a video report on Facebook claiming that Poland was about to open its border and urging all those who wanted to enter the European Union to gather at a gas station near the encampment that the migrants had nicknamed “the jungle.”

Faraj, a 35-year-old ethnic Kurd from Iraq, rushed back to the squalid camp he had just left, traveling 190 miles from Minsk to the gas station just in time for the opening of the border in early November that he had heard about on Facebook.

The Polish border, of course, remained tightly shut, and Faraj spent the next 10 days back in what he described as “like something out of a horror movie.”

The EU, offering robust support to Poland’s hard-line stand against migrants, has blamed the traumas of recent weeks on its eastern border on the authoritarian leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

Belarusian authorities certainly have helped stoke the crisis, offering easy tourist visas to thousands of Iraqis and easing their way to the border with Poland.

But social media, particularly Facebook, also have given Lukashenko a vital assist, as an unpredictable accelerant to the hopes and illusions of people who have fallen prey to the empty promises of profiteers and charlatans on the internet.

Some were in it for money, promising to smuggle migrants across borders for hefty fees; some appeared to bask in the attention they received as online “influencers” for sharing information; others seemed motivated by a genuine desire to help people suffering. There has been no evidence to suggest a coordinated campaign by Lukashenko to target migrants with fake information online.

Fake news on Facebook, said Faraj, who last week was moved from the border encampment along with 2,000 other denizens of “the jungle,” to a giant nearby warehouse converted into a migrant holding center, “poured mud on our heads and destroyed our lives.”

Since July, activity on Facebook in Arabic and Kurdish related to migration to the EU through Belarus has been “skyrocketing,” said Monika Richter, head of research and analysis for Semantic Visions, an intelligence firm that tracked social media activity related to the crisis.

“Facebook exacerbated this humanitarian crisis, and now you have all these people who were brought over and explicitly misled and ripped off,” Richter said.

Researchers said smugglers openly shared their phone numbers and advertised their services on Facebook, including video testimonials from people said to have reached Germany successfully via Belarus and Poland. In one post, a smuggler advertised “daily trips from Minsk to Germany with only a 20 km walking distance.” The journey, a writer warned in another post Oct. 19, is “not suitable for children due to the cold.” Another smuggler with the Facebook username “Visa Visa” pitched trips to Germany from Belarus through Poland. The smuggler said the trip would take eight to 15 hours but added a warning: “Don’t call if you are afraid.”

Friday, despite the bitter experience of so many promises on Facebook that turned out to be false, a ripple of excitement swept across despondent people huddled in the warehouse after reports on social media that it was still possible to get into Europe — for anyone willing to pay $7,000 to a guide who claimed to know any easy route across the Belarus-Poland frontier and through massed ranks of Polish soldiers and border guards on the other side.

Rekar Hamid, a former math teacher in Iraqi Kurdistan who had already paid around $10,000 to travel agents in Iraq for a “package tour” that was supposed to get himself, his wife and young child to Europe but only got them locked up in a warehouse, scoffed at the latest offer as yet another scam. “They keep saying the door is opening, but look where we all are now,” he said, gesturing toward a mass of people huddled on the concrete floor.

Musa Hama, another Kurd from Iraq confined to the warehouse, lamented that no amount of fact-checking would prevent people grasping at straws of hope provided by Facebook. “People are desperate so they believe anything,” he said.

The stampede by migrants to Belarus in the hope of getting into the EU began earlier this year when the authoritarian former Soviet republic relaxed tightfisted visa policies for certain countries, notably Iraq. The relaxation was ostensibly an effort to boost tourism at a time when most Westerners were staying away following a brutal crackdown by Lukashenko in response a contested presidential election.

Sensing a lucrative business opportunity, travel companies in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdistan Region started advertising on Facebook and other platforms about the availability of visas to Belarus. Smugglers used social media to pitch Belarus as an easy backdoor to Europe.

Since July, Semantic Visions has identified dozens of Facebook groups created to share information about migration routes and used by smugglers to advertise their services.

A private group titled “Migration of the powerful from Belarus to Europe” exploded from 13,600 members in early September to roughly 30,000 currently, according to Semantic Visions. Another group, “Belarus Online,” grew from 7,700 members to 23,700 during the same period. On Telegram, a messaging and chat room platform, channels devoted to Belarus as a route to Europe have also attracted thousands of members.

“Our findings reveal the extent to which social media platforms — particularly Facebook — have been used as a de facto market for smuggling into the European Union,” Semantic Visions concluded in a recent report that has been circulated among EU officials.

Facebook, now officially known as Meta after a corporate name change, said it prohibited material that facilitates or promotes human smuggling and has dedicated teams to monitor and detect material related to the crisis. It added that the company was working with law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental organizations to counter the flood of fake news relating to migration.

“People smuggling across international borders is illegal and ads, posts, pages or groups that provide, facilitate or coordinate this activity are not allowed on Facebook,” the company said in an emailed statement. “We remove this content as soon as we become aware of it.”

But the events in Belarus have exposed how, even after Facebook experienced a similar abuse of its services during the European migration crisis in 2015, the company still struggles to keep banned material off its platform, especially in non-English languages.

“Facebook is not taking their responsibility seriously, and as a direct consequence of that we see desperate people in the cold, in the mud, in the forest in Belarus, in a desperate situation, all because they believe the misinformation that was provided to them through Facebook,” said Jeroen Lenaers, a member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands who is a leader on the legislature’s committee that handles migration issues.

It is unclear what, if any, steps Facebook has taken to deal with misleading and potentially dangerous information.

One Kurdish-German influencer widely known online as Karwan Rawanduzy is a popular figure among would-be migrants to Europe, but his online videos and other reports frequently promote bogus stories, like the claim that Poland would open its border in early November.

Rawanduzy’s live posts on a Facebook page named Kurdisch News had more than 100,000 followers before it was disabled in November after the Kurdish-German influencer said a Polish politician had publicly accused him of helping to fuel the crisis. The page also featured videos sent by hungry and cold migrants trapped along the border.

Reached by phone in Hamburg, Germany, Rawanduzy said he was repeating information about pressure on Poland to open the border that he said had been reported by German media. He blamed smugglers and countries including Poland for the misery faced by migrants and that he was simply trying to help the asylum-seekers.

Rawanduzy, 42, describes himself as an immigration activist and a former refugee who left Iraq in 2009, two years after a suicide bombing in Irbil wounded him.

Faraj is still furious that he followed the advice of Rawanduzy, widely known by his first name, Karwan, by rushing from Minsk back to the border. “Everyone knows him, and everyone follows him,” he said. He added: “Karwan tricked us all on Facebook.”

Rawanduzy, who also owns a restaurant, said it was “not for me to feel bad or guilty” about people persuaded by his posts. “It is up to the Iraqi and Kurdish government to feel bad for all the reasons people want to escape.”

After more than a week sleeping in a frigid encampment on the border between Belarus and Poland, and an abortive foray across the frontier repelled by pepper spray and police batons, Mohammad Faraj gave up this month and retreated to a warm hotel in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

After more than a week sleeping in a frigid encampment on the border between Belarus and Poland, and an abortive foray across the frontier repelled by pepper spray and police batons, Mohammad Faraj gave up this month and retreated to a warm hotel in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Soon after, however, he watched with surprise and excitement a video report on Facebook claiming that Poland was about to open its border and urging all those who wanted to enter the European Union to gather at a gas station near the encampment that the migrants had nicknamed “the jungle.” Faraj, a 35-year-old ethnic Kurd from Iraq, rushed back to the squalid camp he had just left, traveling 190 miles from Minsk to the gas station just in time for the opening of the border in early November that he had heard about on Facebook. The Polish border, of course, remained tightly shut, and Faraj spent the next 10 days back in what he described as “like something out of a horror movie.” The EU, offering robust support to Poland’s hard-line stand against migrants, has blamed the traumas of recent weeks on its eastern border on the authoritarian leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. Belarusian authorities certainly have helped stoke the crisis, offering easy tourist visas to thousands of Iraqis and easing their way to the border with Poland. But social media, particularly Facebook, also have given Lukashenko a vital assist, as an unpredictable accelerant to the hopes and illusions of people who have fallen prey to the empty promises of profiteers and charlatans on the internet. Some were in it for money, promising to smuggle migrants across borders for hefty fees; some appeared to bask in the attention they received as online “influencers” for sharing information; others seemed motivated by a genuine desire to help people suffering. There has been no evidence to suggest a coordinated campaign by Lukashenko to target migrants with fake information online. Fake news on Facebook, said Faraj, who last week was moved from the border encampment along with 2,000 other denizens of “the jungle,” to a giant nearby warehouse converted into a migrant holding center, “poured mud on our heads and destroyed our lives.” Since July, activity on Facebook in Arabic and Kurdish related to migration to the EU through Belarus has been “skyrocketing,” said Monika Richter, head of research and analysis for Semantic Visions, an intelligence firm that tracked social media activity related to the crisis. “Facebook exacerbated this humanitarian crisis, and now you have all these people who were brought over and explicitly misled and ripped off,” Richter said. Researchers said smugglers openly shared their phone numbers and advertised their services on Facebook, including video testimonials from people said to have reached Germany successfully via Belarus and Poland. In one post, a smuggler advertised “daily trips from Minsk to Germany with only a 20 km walking distance.” The journey, a writer warned in another post Oct. 19, is “not suitable for children due to the cold.” Another smuggler with the Facebook username “Visa Visa” pitched trips to Germany from Belarus through Poland. The smuggler said the trip would take eight to 15 hours but added a warning: “Don’t call if you are afraid.” Friday, despite the bitter experience of so many promises on Facebook that turned out to be false, a ripple of excitement swept across despondent people huddled in the warehouse after reports on social media that it was still possible to get into Europe — for anyone willing to pay $7,000 to a guide who claimed to know any easy route across the Belarus-Poland frontier and through massed ranks of Polish soldiers and border guards on the other side. Rekar Hamid, a former math teacher in Iraqi Kurdistan who had already paid around $10,000 to travel agents in Iraq for a “package tour” that was supposed to get himself, his wife and young child to Europe but only got them locked up in a warehouse, scoffed at the latest offer as yet another scam. “They keep saying the door is opening, but look where we all are now,” he said, gesturing toward a mass of people huddled on the concrete floor. Musa Hama, another Kurd from Iraq confined to the warehouse, lamented that no amount of fact-checking would prevent people grasping at straws of hope provided by Facebook. “People are desperate so they believe anything,” he said. The stampede by migrants to Belarus in the hope of getting into the EU began earlier this year when the authoritarian former Soviet republic relaxed tightfisted visa policies for certain countries, notably Iraq. The relaxation was ostensibly an effort to boost tourism at a time when most Westerners were staying away following a brutal crackdown by Lukashenko in response a contested presidential election. Sensing a lucrative business opportunity, travel companies in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdistan Region started advertising on Facebook and other platforms about the availability of visas to Belarus. Smugglers used social media to pitch Belarus as an easy backdoor to Europe. Since July, Semantic Visions has identified dozens of Facebook groups created to share information about migration routes and used by smugglers to advertise their services. A private group titled “Migration of the powerful from Belarus to Europe” exploded from 13,600 members in early September to roughly 30,000 currently, according to Semantic Visions. Another group, “Belarus Online,” grew from 7,700 members to 23,700 during the same period. On Telegram, a messaging and chat room platform, channels devoted to Belarus as a route to Europe have also attracted thousands of members. “Our findings reveal the extent to which social media platforms — particularly Facebook — have been used as a de facto market for smuggling into the European Union,” Semantic Visions concluded in a recent report that has been circulated among EU officials. Facebook, now officially known as Meta after a corporate name change, said it prohibited material that facilitates or promotes human smuggling and has dedicated teams to monitor and detect material related to the crisis. It added that the company was working with law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental organizations to counter the flood of fake news relating to migration. “People smuggling across international borders is illegal and ads, posts, pages or groups that provide, facilitate or coordinate this activity are not allowed on Facebook,” the company said in an emailed statement. “We remove this content as soon as we become aware of it.” But the events in Belarus have exposed how, even after Facebook experienced a similar abuse of its services during the European migration crisis in 2015, the company still struggles to keep banned material off its platform, especially in non-English languages. “Facebook is not taking their responsibility seriously, and as a direct consequence of that we see desperate people in the cold, in the mud, in the forest in Belarus, in a desperate situation, all because they believe the misinformation that was provided to them through Facebook,” said Jeroen Lenaers, a member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands who is a leader on the legislature’s committee that handles migration issues. It is unclear what, if any, steps Facebook has taken to deal with misleading and potentially dangerous information. One Kurdish-German influencer widely known online as Karwan Rawanduzy is a popular figure among would-be migrants to Europe, but his online videos and other reports frequently promote bogus stories, like the claim that Poland would open its border in early November. Rawanduzy’s live posts on a Facebook page named Kurdisch News had more than 100,000 followers before it was disabled in November after the Kurdish-German influencer said a Polish politician had publicly accused him of helping to fuel the crisis. The page also featured videos sent by hungry and cold migrants trapped along the border. Reached by phone in Hamburg, Germany, Rawanduzy said he was repeating information about pressure on Poland to open the border that he said had been reported by German media. He blamed smugglers and countries including Poland for the misery faced by migrants and that he was simply trying to help the asylum-seekers. Rawanduzy, 42, describes himself as an immigration activist and a former refugee who left Iraq in 2009, two years after a suicide bombing in Irbil wounded him. Faraj is still furious that he followed the advice of Rawanduzy, widely known by his first name, Karwan, by rushing from Minsk back to the border. “Everyone knows him, and everyone follows him,” he said. He added: “Karwan tricked us all on Facebook.” Rawanduzy, who also owns a restaurant, said it was “not for me to feel bad or guilty” about people persuaded by his posts. “It is up to the Iraqi and Kurdish government to feel bad for all the reasons people want to escape.”

How fake news on Facebook helped fuel a border crisis in Europe

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