Indian President Pranab Mukherjee&#39;s daughter,&nbsp;Sharmishtha Mukherjee, claimed on Saturday that a man&nbsp;harassed her by sending lewd messages and put up screenshots of the texts on her Facebook page. 
 
Mukherjee said she received the messages on Friday night and decided to go public thinking her silence will encourage the sender to harass other women. 
 
&quot;The person is completely unknown to me and he sent me dirty sexual messages last night. I first thought of ignoring him and blocking him but then (I) thought my silence will encourage him to find other victims,&quot; she said, identifying the man as Partha Mandal. 
 
In her Facebook post, she said, &quot;I strongly feel such ppl shd be publicly exposed &amp; humiliated. I&#39;m posting screenshots of his profile &amp; messages he sent me. I&#39;m also tagging him. Pls share this post &amp; tag this rat as a msg that these pervert acts will not be taken lightly (sic).&quot;&nbsp; 
 
Mukherjee, who is also the&nbsp;Delhi congress spokesperson,&nbsp;lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime unit of Delhi Police&#39;s Economic Offences Wing (EoW). 
 
&quot;We are in the process of registering a case and launching investigation to catch the culprit,&quot; said Anyesh Roy, deputy commisioner of police (Cyber Crime). 
 
Police said the &quot;lewd&quot; messages were sent to the complainant through Facebook Messenger. The profile of the man mentions him as a resident of the eastern state of West Bengal. 
 
&quot;Police might have thousands of such cases with them. I will fight as an ordinary woman and do not require any preferential treatment as a daughter of the President of India. Police must work all such cases with equal&nbsp;diligence,&quot; she said. 
 
(PTI)

Sharmishtha Mukherjee posted a screenshot of lewd texts sent to her and said such people should be 'publicly exposed and humiliated'

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee's daughter, Sharmishtha Mukherjee, claimed on Saturday that a man harassed her by sending lewd messages and put up screenshots of the texts on her Facebook page. Mukherjee said she received the messages on Friday night and decided to go public thinking her silence will encourage the sender to harass other women. "The person is completely unknown to me and he sent me dirty sexual messages last night. I first thought of ignoring him and blocking him but then (I) thought my silence will encourage him to find other victims," she said, identifying the man as Partha Mandal. In her Facebook post, she said, "I strongly feel such ppl shd be publicly exposed & humiliated. I'm posting screenshots of his profile & messages he sent me. I'm also tagging him. Pls share this post & tag this rat as a msg that these pervert acts will not be taken lightly (sic)." Mukherjee, who is also the Delhi congress spokesperson, lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime unit of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EoW). "We are in the process of registering a case and launching investigation to catch the culprit," said Anyesh Roy, deputy commisioner of police (Cyber Crime). Police said the "lewd" messages were sent to the complainant through Facebook Messenger. The profile of the man mentions him as a resident of the eastern state of West Bengal. "Police might have thousands of such cases with them. I will fight as an ordinary woman and do not require any preferential treatment as a daughter of the President of India. Police must work all such cases with equal diligence," she said. (PTI)

Indian President's daughter shames stalker on Facebook

Facebook on Monday dismissed complaints by German officials that it had not been helpful in fighting terrorism and urged authorities to better formulate their requests. 
 
Following a rash of attacks in southern Germany in late July, several state officials called for websites such as Facebook to be legally required to immediately hand over user data if information relevant to an attack is posted. 
 
They complained that the US-based social network had supplied answers to only about 37 per cent of requests by German security authorities over the last three years, Welt am Sonntag newspaper said on Sunday. 
 
Facebook said in a statement that it was committed to working with officials. 
 
&quot;We have zero tolerance for terrorism on Facebook. We have and will continue to support law enforcement investigations to fight terrorism in Germany,&quot; it said. 
 
&quot;This sometimes means proactively providing information to law enforcement officials that will help them respond to emergencies, including potential terrorist threats.&quot; 
 
But it also said many of the official applications to Facebook failed to comply with German law and it was working with police to train them on how to submit the requests . 
 
In July, the German state of Bavaria suffered two attacks carried out by asylum seekers and claimed by the Islamic State group -- an axe rampage on a train in Wuerzburg and a suicide bombing in Ansbach. 
 
And in the Bavarian capital Munich, a teenager with a history of mental illness shot nine people dead at a shopping mall before turning the gun on himself. 
 
All three attackers were active on Facebook, and the Munich assailant created a fake account to lure victims to a McDonald&#39;s restaurant with promises of discounts. 
 
The head of Germany&#39;s domestic intelligence force, Hans-Georg Maassen, said it was crucial for law enforcement to boost its ties with sites such as Facebook. 
 
&quot;Social networks are an important means of communication for jihadists,&quot; he told the daily Rheinische Post. 
 
(AFP)

Officials complained the social network had supplied answers to only about 37% of requests over the last 3 years

Facebook on Monday dismissed complaints by German officials that it had not been helpful in fighting terrorism and urged authorities to better formulate their requests. Following a rash of attacks in southern Germany in late July, several state officials called for websites such as Facebook to be legally required to immediately hand over user data if information relevant to an attack is posted. They complained that the US-based social network had supplied answers to only about 37 per cent of requests by German security authorities over the last three years, Welt am Sonntag newspaper said on Sunday. Facebook said in a statement that it was committed to working with officials. "We have zero tolerance for terrorism on Facebook. We have and will continue to support law enforcement investigations to fight terrorism in Germany," it said. "This sometimes means proactively providing information to law enforcement officials that will help them respond to emergencies, including potential terrorist threats." But it also said many of the official applications to Facebook failed to comply with German law and it was working with police to train them on how to submit the requests . In July, the German state of Bavaria suffered two attacks carried out by asylum seekers and claimed by the Islamic State group -- an axe rampage on a train in Wuerzburg and a suicide bombing in Ansbach. And in the Bavarian capital Munich, a teenager with a history of mental illness shot nine people dead at a shopping mall before turning the gun on himself. All three attackers were active on Facebook, and the Munich assailant created a fake account to lure victims to a McDonald's restaurant with promises of discounts. The head of Germany's domestic intelligence force, Hans-Georg Maassen, said it was crucial for law enforcement to boost its ties with sites such as Facebook. "Social networks are an important means of communication for jihadists," he told the daily Rheinische Post. (AFP)

Facebook dismisses German complaints it's unhelpful in fight against terror

Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon.com Inc, has become the world&#39;s third-richest person as of the market close for the first time, Forbes magazine said, passing Warren Buffett, the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 
 
Bezos&#39; fortune was $65.3 billion as of 4:30 pm EDT on Thursday, compared with Buffett&#39;s $64.9 billion. 
 
Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates remained the world&#39;s richest person, at $77.7 billion, while Spain&#39;s Amancio Ortega, who founded the Zara clothing chain&#39;s owner Inditex SA, was second at $72.7 billion. Facebook Inc co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was fifth, at $54 billion. 
 
Bezos, 52, owns close to 18 per cent of Amazon. Its stock has risen by roughly 50 per cent since early February, as the world&#39;s largest online retailer continued to upend retailing as more people took to the Web rather than the mall to shop. 
 
Amazon&#39;s share price rose further in after-hours trading, after the Seattle-based company reported better-than-expected second-quarter results. 
 
Buffett, 85, owns close to 18 per cent of Berkshire, but his donation this month of $2.86 billion of Berkshire stock to the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation and four family charities led to his drop to fourth place. He has donated more than $24.3 billion to the Gates Foundation and family charities since 2006. 
 
Berkshire is based in Omaha, Nebraska, and has roughly 90 business units including Geico car insurance, the BNSF railroad and Dairy Queen ice cream. 
 
In June, Buffett called Bezos a &quot;classic example&quot; of how a business owner could thrive, by having focused at Amazon on how to &quot;delight&quot; customers, and keep them coming back, rather than simply process their orders. 
 
(Reuters)

Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates remained the world's richest person, at $77.7 billion

Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon.com Inc, has become the world's third-richest person as of the market close for the first time, Forbes magazine said, passing Warren Buffett, the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Bezos' fortune was $65.3 billion as of 4:30 pm EDT on Thursday, compared with Buffett's $64.9 billion. Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates remained the world's richest person, at $77.7 billion, while Spain's Amancio Ortega, who founded the Zara clothing chain's owner Inditex SA, was second at $72.7 billion. Facebook Inc co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was fifth, at $54 billion. Bezos, 52, owns close to 18 per cent of Amazon. Its stock has risen by roughly 50 per cent since early February, as the world's largest online retailer continued to upend retailing as more people took to the Web rather than the mall to shop. Amazon's share price rose further in after-hours trading, after the Seattle-based company reported better-than-expected second-quarter results. Buffett, 85, owns close to 18 per cent of Berkshire, but his donation this month of $2.86 billion of Berkshire stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four family charities led to his drop to fourth place. He has donated more than $24.3 billion to the Gates Foundation and family charities since 2006. Berkshire is based in Omaha, Nebraska, and has roughly 90 business units including Geico car insurance, the BNSF railroad and Dairy Queen ice cream. In June, Buffett called Bezos a "classic example" of how a business owner could thrive, by having focused at Amazon on how to "delight" customers, and keep them coming back, rather than simply process their orders. (Reuters)

Bezos passes Buffett, becomes third-richest person: Forbes

Facebook said on Thursday it had completed a successful test flight of a solar-powered drone that it hopes will help it extend internet connectivity to every corner of the planet. 
 
Aquila, Facebook&#39;s lightweight, high-altitude aircraft, flew at a few thousand feet for 96 minutes in Yuma, Arizona, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post on his Facebook page. The company ultimately hopes to have a fleet of Aquilas that can fly for at least three months at a time at 60,000 feet (18,290 metres) and communicate with each other to deliver internet access. 
 
Google parent Alphabet Inc has also poured money into delivering internet access to underserved areas through Project Loon, which aims to use a network of high-altitude balloons to made the internet available to remote parts of the world. 
 
Yael Maguire, Facebook&#39;s engineering director and head of its Connectivity Lab, said in an interview that the company initially hoped Aquila would fly for 30 minutes. 
 
&quot;We&#39;re thrilled about what happened with our first flight,&quot; Maguire said. &quot;There are still a lot of technical challenges that need to be addressed for us to achieve the whole mission.&quot; He said he hoped the system might be brought into service &quot;in the near future&quot;. 
 
Zuckerberg laid out the company&#39;s biggest challenges in flying a fleet of Aquilas, including making the plane lighter so it can fly for longer periods, getting it to fly at 60,000 feet and creating communications networks that allow it to rapidly transfer data and accurately beam down lasers to provide internet connections. 
 
Maguire said Aquila will go through several more test flights and hopes it will soon break the world record for the longest solar-powered unmanned aircraft flight, which currently stands at two weeks. 
 
Facebook, which has more than 1.6 billion users, has invested billions of dollars in getting more people online, both through an initiative called internet.org - which offers a pared-down version of the internet to poor areas - and by building drones. 
 
(Reuters)

Aquila, the lightweight and high-altitude aircraft, aims to provide internet connectivity around the globe

Facebook said on Thursday it had completed a successful test flight of a solar-powered drone that it hopes will help it extend internet connectivity to every corner of the planet. Aquila, Facebook's lightweight, high-altitude aircraft, flew at a few thousand feet for 96 minutes in Yuma, Arizona, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post on his Facebook page. The company ultimately hopes to have a fleet of Aquilas that can fly for at least three months at a time at 60,000 feet (18,290 metres) and communicate with each other to deliver internet access. Google parent Alphabet Inc has also poured money into delivering internet access to underserved areas through Project Loon, which aims to use a network of high-altitude balloons to made the internet available to remote parts of the world. Yael Maguire, Facebook's engineering director and head of its Connectivity Lab, said in an interview that the company initially hoped Aquila would fly for 30 minutes. "We're thrilled about what happened with our first flight," Maguire said. "There are still a lot of technical challenges that need to be addressed for us to achieve the whole mission." He said he hoped the system might be brought into service "in the near future". Zuckerberg laid out the company's biggest challenges in flying a fleet of Aquilas, including making the plane lighter so it can fly for longer periods, getting it to fly at 60,000 feet and creating communications networks that allow it to rapidly transfer data and accurately beam down lasers to provide internet connections. Maguire said Aquila will go through several more test flights and hopes it will soon break the world record for the longest solar-powered unmanned aircraft flight, which currently stands at two weeks. Facebook, which has more than 1.6 billion users, has invested billions of dollars in getting more people online, both through an initiative called internet.org - which offers a pared-down version of the internet to poor areas - and by building drones. (Reuters)

Facebook's solar-powered drone successfully completes test flight

A judge on Tuesday suspended the WhatsApp smartphone messaging service across Brazil, where it is hugely popular, for failing to surrender user data in a police investigation, the court said. 
 
&quot;WhatsApp is blocked across the whole national territory,&quot; a spokesman for the court in Rio de Janeiro told AFP. 
 
WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, has clashed several times with Brazilian courts after refusing to give access to police. 
 
The 19-page ruling said that Brazilian telephone operators must &quot;immediately suspend&quot; WhatsApp services and also said that continued non-compliance would see the Facebook company fined 50,000 Reais ($15,265) a day. 
 
The decision by Judge Daniela Barbosa Assun??o de Souza in the southeastern state of Rio de Janeiro applies to Brazil&#39;s five wireless carriers. The reason for the order was not known due to legal secrecy in an ongoing case, and will only be lifted once Facebook surrenders data, Souza&#39;s office said. 
 
Shortly after the ruling was filed, WhatsApp messaging continued to function in Rio, however. It was not clear how quickly the order would be fulfilled. 
 
A spokeswoman for WhatsApp said she had no immediate comment. 
 
(Agencies)

The reason for the order was not known due to legal secrecy in an ongoing case and will only be lifted once Facebook surrenders data

A judge on Tuesday suspended the WhatsApp smartphone messaging service across Brazil, where it is hugely popular, for failing to surrender user data in a police investigation, the court said. "WhatsApp is blocked across the whole national territory," a spokesman for the court in Rio de Janeiro told AFP. WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, has clashed several times with Brazilian courts after refusing to give access to police. The 19-page ruling said that Brazilian telephone operators must "immediately suspend" WhatsApp services and also said that continued non-compliance would see the Facebook company fined 50,000 Reais ($15,265) a day. The decision by Judge Daniela Barbosa Assun??o de Souza in the southeastern state of Rio de Janeiro applies to Brazil's five wireless carriers. The reason for the order was not known due to legal secrecy in an ongoing case, and will only be lifted once Facebook surrenders data, Souza's office said. Shortly after the ruling was filed, WhatsApp messaging continued to function in Rio, however. It was not clear how quickly the order would be fulfilled. A spokeswoman for WhatsApp said she had no immediate comment. (Agencies)

Brazil blocks Facebook's WhatsApp

An Australian man who filmed himself biting off the head of a live rat and posted the video on Facebook was banned today from owning pets for three years and ordered to do community service. 
 
Matthew Maloney, known as &quot;Mad Matt&quot;, was charged following a raid by RSPCA investigators after the bizarre stunt in January, which attracted hundreds of thousands of online views. 
 
The 25-year-old admitted one count of animal cruelty in Brisbane Magistrates Court and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, while being slapped with the pet ban. 
 
Magistrate Suzette Coates described him as a &quot;narcissist&quot; and he expressed remorse, although he told reporters outside court that his actions &quot;weren&#39;t that bad&quot;, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 
 
The video shows Maloney storming into a room, biting off the rat&#39;s head and washing it down with three shots of vodka. He then gets punched in the face and has a chair broken over his back before saying &quot;beat that&quot;. 
 
The clip was reportedly an attempt to create a disturbing new social-media challenge. 
 
He was unrepentant at the time after a string of comments branding him disgusting. 
 
&quot;All your comments are cracking me up and not one person out there will be able to say anything that will make me feel bad or make me regret what i did,&quot; he wrote on Facebook. 
 
&quot;Its mother nature and mans gotta eat!&quot;&nbsp; 
 
(AFP)

The video attracted hundreds of thousands online views

An Australian man who filmed himself biting off the head of a live rat and posted the video on Facebook was banned today from owning pets for three years and ordered to do community service. Matthew Maloney, known as "Mad Matt", was charged following a raid by RSPCA investigators after the bizarre stunt in January, which attracted hundreds of thousands of online views. The 25-year-old admitted one count of animal cruelty in Brisbane Magistrates Court and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, while being slapped with the pet ban. Magistrate Suzette Coates described him as a "narcissist" and he expressed remorse, although he told reporters outside court that his actions "weren't that bad", according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The video shows Maloney storming into a room, biting off the rat's head and washing it down with three shots of vodka. He then gets punched in the face and has a chair broken over his back before saying "beat that". The clip was reportedly an attempt to create a disturbing new social-media challenge. He was unrepentant at the time after a string of comments branding him disgusting. "All your comments are cracking me up and not one person out there will be able to say anything that will make me feel bad or make me regret what i did," he wrote on Facebook. "Its mother nature and mans gotta eat!" (AFP)

Aussie who bit off rat's head banned from owning pets for 3 years

Tech giant Facebook has come up with a new feature that can help nonprofits and charity organisations to raise money for the causes they care about, the company said. 
 
Several months after the social network launched a new &quot;fundraiser&quot; feature for nonprofits to collect donations, Facebook announced it has expanded the tool to individual users. 
 
The tool is now available to 1 per cent of US users, standard for new Facebook products in order to gather feedback and make sure there are not any bugs. But it will roll out to all US users in the coming weeks. 
 
The new fundraisers are the latest feature from Facebook&#39;s Social Good team, which officially launched in September 2015 and is the force behind tools like &#39;Safety Check&#39; and &#39;Amber Alerts&#39;. 
 
Focusing on products aimed at crisis response and charitable giving, the team now hopes to break down barriers and empower people to use the tools it is building. 
 
&quot;We had Facebook fundraising for nonprofits with International Medical Corps in Nepal and then last year... nonprofits could fundraise for themselves,&quot; Naomi Gleit, Vice President of product management for social good at Facebook, said in a statement. 
 
&quot;But the real vision has always been people fundraising for nonprofits,&quot; he said.&nbsp; 
 
The inspiration for the tool came from the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which went viral in 2014. Facebook saw people raising money and awareness, but the ALS Association told Facebook that it couldn&#39;t handle the volume of traffic to its website, nor could it accept international currencies. 
 
US users create fundraisers, people around the world donate&nbsp; 
 
Now, users will be able to donate directly through Facebook or start their own campaigns. 
 
Any US-based nonprofit that holds a 501(c)3 status, has a verified Facebook page and agrees to the Facebook Pages Terms can sign up for the programme. 
 
As part of the initial rollout on Thursday, fundraiser creators can choose from nearly 100 charities, such as the Nature Conservancy, Alzheimer&#39;s Association and Oxfam. 
 
&quot;Before we actually disburse funds to them, depending on how much money it is, we will do some more quality control,&quot; Gleit said about the nonprofits overall. 
 
&quot;We just want to make sure there&#39;s no fraud, so there&#39;s an additional layer of vetting,&quot; Gleit added. 
 
While only US users can create fundraisers, people around the world can donate.&nbsp; 
 
(PTI) 
&nbsp;

Any US-based nonprofit that holds a 501(c)3 status, has verified Facebook page and agrees to Facebook Pages Terms can sign up for programme

Tech giant Facebook has come up with a new feature that can help nonprofits and charity organisations to raise money for the causes they care about, the company said. Several months after the social network launched a new "fundraiser" feature for nonprofits to collect donations, Facebook announced it has expanded the tool to individual users. The tool is now available to 1 per cent of US users, standard for new Facebook products in order to gather feedback and make sure there are not any bugs. But it will roll out to all US users in the coming weeks. The new fundraisers are the latest feature from Facebook's Social Good team, which officially launched in September 2015 and is the force behind tools like 'Safety Check' and 'Amber Alerts'. Focusing on products aimed at crisis response and charitable giving, the team now hopes to break down barriers and empower people to use the tools it is building. "We had Facebook fundraising for nonprofits with International Medical Corps in Nepal and then last year... nonprofits could fundraise for themselves," Naomi Gleit, Vice President of product management for social good at Facebook, said in a statement. "But the real vision has always been people fundraising for nonprofits," he said. The inspiration for the tool came from the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which went viral in 2014. Facebook saw people raising money and awareness, but the ALS Association told Facebook that it couldn't handle the volume of traffic to its website, nor could it accept international currencies. US users create fundraisers, people around the world donate Now, users will be able to donate directly through Facebook or start their own campaigns. Any US-based nonprofit that holds a 501(c)3 status, has a verified Facebook page and agrees to the Facebook Pages Terms can sign up for the programme. As part of the initial rollout on Thursday, fundraiser creators can choose from nearly 100 charities, such as the Nature Conservancy, Alzheimer's Association and Oxfam. "Before we actually disburse funds to them, depending on how much money it is, we will do some more quality control," Gleit said about the nonprofits overall. "We just want to make sure there's no fraud, so there's an additional layer of vetting," Gleit added. While only US users can create fundraisers, people around the world can donate. (PTI)

Facebook's new feature to allow charities to raise money online

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is examining Facebook Inc over its transfer of various rights associated with its worldwide business to a holding company in Ireland, according to court papers. 
 
The US Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco seeking to enforce IRS summonses served on Facebook and to force the world&#39;s largest social network to produce various documents as part of the probe. 
 
The lawsuit said the documents relate to an IRS examination of the company&#39;s tax liability for 2010, when Facebook&#39;s tax return reported royalty income from transfers of intangible property to Facebook Ireland Holdings Unlimited. 
 
&quot;Facebook complies with all applicable rules and regulations in the countries where we operate,&quot; Anteneh Daniel, a spokesperson for the company, said in a statement on Thursday. 
 
Facebook transferred to the Irish company rights associated with its worldwide business, with the exception of the United States and Canada, the lawsuit said. 
 
Facebook reduces its tax bill by having non-US&nbsp;clients pay advertising fees directly to an Irish subsidiary called Facebook Ireland Ltd. 
 
This subsidiary reported revenues of 4.8 billion Euros in 2014, the last year for which accounts are available. 
 
But Facebook Ireland Ltd reports low taxable profit, of just 13 million Euros in 2014, because it pays a significant chunk of its revenue to another Irish-registered company called Facebook Ireland Holdings, in return for the use of the Facebook platform. 
 
The lawsuit said Facebook retained accounting firm Ernst &amp; Young to value the transfers for tax purposes, but noted that information gathered by the IRS to date suggested that the valuation approach was &#39;problematic&#39;. 
 
(Reuters)

Non-US?clients pay advertising fees to an Irish subsidiary, which reported revenues of 4.8 billion Euros but only paid 13 million in taxes

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is examining Facebook Inc over its transfer of various rights associated with its worldwide business to a holding company in Ireland, according to court papers. The US Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco seeking to enforce IRS summonses served on Facebook and to force the world's largest social network to produce various documents as part of the probe. The lawsuit said the documents relate to an IRS examination of the company's tax liability for 2010, when Facebook's tax return reported royalty income from transfers of intangible property to Facebook Ireland Holdings Unlimited. "Facebook complies with all applicable rules and regulations in the countries where we operate," Anteneh Daniel, a spokesperson for the company, said in a statement on Thursday. Facebook transferred to the Irish company rights associated with its worldwide business, with the exception of the United States and Canada, the lawsuit said. Facebook reduces its tax bill by having non-US clients pay advertising fees directly to an Irish subsidiary called Facebook Ireland Ltd. This subsidiary reported revenues of 4.8 billion Euros in 2014, the last year for which accounts are available. But Facebook Ireland Ltd reports low taxable profit, of just 13 million Euros in 2014, because it pays a significant chunk of its revenue to another Irish-registered company called Facebook Ireland Holdings, in return for the use of the Facebook platform. The lawsuit said Facebook retained accounting firm Ernst & Young to value the transfers for tax purposes, but noted that information gathered by the IRS to date suggested that the valuation approach was 'problematic'. (Reuters)

IRS probes Facebook over Ireland asset transfer

Bangladeshi police are trying to confirm the names of Islamist militants who attacked a Dhaka restaurant, killing 20 people, checking whether the identification of some by friends on social media is correct, officials said on Monday. 
 
Islamic State (IS) posted pictures of five fighters it said were involved in Friday&#39;s killings in Dhaka&#39;s diplomatic zone. Most of the victims, according to reports, were from Italy, Japan, India and the United States. 
 
&quot;Let the people of the crusader countries know that there is no safety for them as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims,&quot; it said in a statement. 
 
Posts on Facebook identified three of the five, whose grinning images appeared in front of a black flag, as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz and Meer Saameh Mubasheer. 
 
Police have said all six gunmen killed were locals and five were on a government militant watchlist. But they also said they were holding off before confirming their identities. 
 
Whoever was responsible, Friday&#39;s attack marked a major escalation in scale and brutality by militants demanding Islamic rule in Bangladesh, whose 160 million people are mostly Muslim. 
&nbsp;
<div> 
Majority of attackers came from elite backgrounds&nbsp; 
 
Some of the men went to an elite public school in Dhaka, Scholastic, and then college at North South University in the capital and Monash University in Malaysia, according to the posts. Masudur Rahman, deputy police commissioner of Dhaka police, said officers were probing those links. 
 
&quot;A majority of the boys who attacked the restaurant came from very good educational institutions. Some went to sophisticated schools. Their families are relatively well-to-do people,&quot; Bangladeshi information minister Hasanul Haq Inu told India&#39;s NDTV. 
 
Police arrested a seventh man at the restaurant who they suspect played a role in the attack. He is currently in hospital. 
 
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan believes home-grown militants are responsible for a wave of killings against minority groups in the past year and a half were to blame for Friday&#39;s bloodshed. 
 
The plan is to look for family members of the gunmen, conduct DNA tests and investigate their links to international groups, Rahman said. 
 
Bangladesh&#39;s $26 billion garment industry is braced for the fallout from the killings, fearing major retailers from Uniqlo to Marks and Spencer and Gap Inc could rethink their investment. 
 
Japan&#39;s Fast Retailing Co, owner of the Uniqlo casual-wear brand, will suspend all but critical travel to Bangladesh and has told staff there to stay home. 
 
US secretary of state John Kerry has offered Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina help in the investigation. 
 
&quot;The secretary (Kerry) encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI,&quot; US state department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. 
 
(Reuters)</div>

Whoever was responsible, Friday's attack marked a major escalation in scale and brutality by militants demanding Islamic rule in Bangladesh

Bangladeshi police are trying to confirm the names of Islamist militants who attacked a Dhaka restaurant, killing 20 people, checking whether the identification of some by friends on social media is correct, officials said on Monday. Islamic State (IS) posted pictures of five fighters it said were involved in Friday's killings in Dhaka's diplomatic zone. Most of the victims, according to reports, were from Italy, Japan, India and the United States. "Let the people of the crusader countries know that there is no safety for them as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims," it said in a statement. Posts on Facebook identified three of the five, whose grinning images appeared in front of a black flag, as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz and Meer Saameh Mubasheer. Police have said all six gunmen killed were locals and five were on a government militant watchlist. But they also said they were holding off before confirming their identities. Whoever was responsible, Friday's attack marked a major escalation in scale and brutality by militants demanding Islamic rule in Bangladesh, whose 160 million people are mostly Muslim. Majority of attackers came from elite backgrounds Some of the men went to an elite public school in Dhaka, Scholastic, and then college at North South University in the capital and Monash University in Malaysia, according to the posts. Masudur Rahman, deputy police commissioner of Dhaka police, said officers were probing those links. "A majority of the boys who attacked the restaurant came from very good educational institutions. Some went to sophisticated schools. Their families are relatively well-to-do people," Bangladeshi information minister Hasanul Haq Inu told India's NDTV. Police arrested a seventh man at the restaurant who they suspect played a role in the attack. He is currently in hospital. Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan believes home-grown militants are responsible for a wave of killings against minority groups in the past year and a half were to blame for Friday's bloodshed. The plan is to look for family members of the gunmen, conduct DNA tests and investigate their links to international groups, Rahman said. Bangladesh's $26 billion garment industry is braced for the fallout from the killings, fearing major retailers from Uniqlo to Marks and Spencer and Gap Inc could rethink their investment. Japan's Fast Retailing Co, owner of the Uniqlo casual-wear brand, will suspend all but critical travel to Bangladesh and has told staff there to stay home. US secretary of state John Kerry has offered Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina help in the investigation. "The secretary (Kerry) encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI," US state department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. (Reuters)

Dhaka cafe siege: Bangladesh police try to confirm identity of assailants from FB posts

Israel&#39;s minister of internal security on Saturday accused Facebook and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, of not doing enough to prevent incitement against Israel and said the social network was &quot;sabotaging&quot; Israeli police work. 
 
Israel has in the past said Facebook is used to encourage attacks and the government is drafting legislation to enable it to order Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media to remove online postings it deems incite terrorism. 
 
But the comments made by Gilad Erdan, a cabinet minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#39;s Right-wing coalition that oversees law enforcement, were particularly biting. 
 
He said Zuckerberg was responsible for Facebook policy and called on &quot;the citizens of Israel to flood him in every possible place with the demand to monitor the platform he established and from which he earns billions&quot;. 
 
A spokesman for Facebook in Israel said the company was not commenting on the minister&#39;s assertions. 
 
During an interview on Channel 2 television, Erdan said, &quot;Facebook today, which brought an amazing, positive revolution to the world, sadly, we see this since the rise of Daesh (Islamic State) and the wave of terror, it has simply become a monster.&quot; 
 
&quot;Facebook today sabotages, it should be known, sabotages the work of the Israeli police, because when the Israeli police approach them, and it is regarding a resident of Judea and Samaria, Facebook does not cooperate,&quot; he said, referring to the area of the West Bank. 
 
&quot;It also sets a very high bar for removing inciteful content and posts,&quot; Erdan said. 
 
Since October, Palestinians have killed 34 Israelis and two visiting US citizens in a wave of street attacks, mostly stabbings. Israeli forces have shot dead at least 201 Palestinians, 137 of whom Israel has said were assailants. Others were killed in clashes and protests. 
 
Palestinian leaders say assailants have acted out of desperation over the collapse of peace talks in 2014 and Israeli settlement expansion in occupied territory that Palestinians seek for an independent state. Most countries view the settlements as illegal. Israel disputes this. 
 
Israel says incitement in the Palestinian media and personal problems at home have been important factors that have spurred assailants, often teenagers, to launch attacks. 
 
Tensions over Jewish access to a contested Jerusalem holy site, revered by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and Jews as Temple Mount, have also fuelled the violence. 
 
(Reuters)

Gilad Erdam blamed Mark Zuckerberg for Facebook policy and called on Israeli citizens to demand monitoring of the social network

Israel's minister of internal security on Saturday accused Facebook and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, of not doing enough to prevent incitement against Israel and said the social network was "sabotaging" Israeli police work. Israel has in the past said Facebook is used to encourage attacks and the government is drafting legislation to enable it to order Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media to remove online postings it deems incite terrorism. But the comments made by Gilad Erdan, a cabinet minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Right-wing coalition that oversees law enforcement, were particularly biting. He said Zuckerberg was responsible for Facebook policy and called on "the citizens of Israel to flood him in every possible place with the demand to monitor the platform he established and from which he earns billions". A spokesman for Facebook in Israel said the company was not commenting on the minister's assertions. During an interview on Channel 2 television, Erdan said, "Facebook today, which brought an amazing, positive revolution to the world, sadly, we see this since the rise of Daesh (Islamic State) and the wave of terror, it has simply become a monster." "Facebook today sabotages, it should be known, sabotages the work of the Israeli police, because when the Israeli police approach them, and it is regarding a resident of Judea and Samaria, Facebook does not cooperate," he said, referring to the area of the West Bank. "It also sets a very high bar for removing inciteful content and posts," Erdan said. Since October, Palestinians have killed 34 Israelis and two visiting US citizens in a wave of street attacks, mostly stabbings. Israeli forces have shot dead at least 201 Palestinians, 137 of whom Israel has said were assailants. Others were killed in clashes and protests. Palestinian leaders say assailants have acted out of desperation over the collapse of peace talks in 2014 and Israeli settlement expansion in occupied territory that Palestinians seek for an independent state. Most countries view the settlements as illegal. Israel disputes this. Israel says incitement in the Palestinian media and personal problems at home have been important factors that have spurred assailants, often teenagers, to launch attacks. Tensions over Jewish access to a contested Jerusalem holy site, revered by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and Jews as Temple Mount, have also fuelled the violence. (Reuters)

Israel minister terms Facebook 'monster' for hindering security

The Belgian data protection authority lost a legal battle with Facebook on Wednesday in which it sought to stop the company from tracking online activities of non-Facebook users in Belgium who visit the site&#39;s pages. 
 
The Belgian Privacy Commission said that the Brussels Appeals Court had dismissed its case on the grounds that the regulator has no jurisdiction over Facebook Inc, which has its European headquarters in Ireland. 
 
That marks a victory for the US company, which staunchly maintained that only the Irish Data Protection Commissioner has jurisdiction over how it uses Europeans&#39; data. 
 
Facebook has had run-ins with a number of European privacy watchdogs over its use of user generated data. 
 
Belgium&#39;s data protection regulator took Facebook to court a year ago, accusing it of violating EU privacy law by tracking people without a Facebook account without their consent. 
 
The court ruled in favour of the regulator and ordered Facebook to stop tracking non-Facebook users when they visited a Facebook page or face a 250,000 euros ($277,000) fine per day. 
 
Facebook appealed the ruling. In the meantime, it said it would comply and stop using the so-called &#39;datr&#39; cookie which it places on user&#39;s browsers when they visit a Facebook.com site or click a Facebook &#39;Like&#39; button on other websites, allowing it to track the online activities of that browser. 
 
&quot;We are pleased with the court&#39;s decision and look forward to bringing all our services back online for the people in Belgium,&quot; a Facebook spokeswoman said. 
 
The Belgian regulator said it would look into launching a final appeal with the Court of Cassation, which can throw out previous judgments but not deliver new ones. 
 
&quot;Today&#39;s decision simply and purely means that the Belgian citizen cannot obtain the protection of his private life through the courts and tribunals when it concerns foreign actors,&quot; the regulator said in a statement. 
 
It added that the Court of Cassation had previously overruled the Court of Appeal on matters of jurisdiction over foreign companies. 
 
&quot;Thus the citizen is also exposed to massive violations of private life,&quot; said Willem Debeuckelaere, president of the Belgian privacy commission. 
 
The Brussels appeals court also threw out the Belgian privacy commission&#39;s claim that the case was urgent and required expedited procedure. 
 
(Reuters)

The Belgian body had sought to prevent Facebook from accessing data on non-Facebook users in the country via it's datr cookie

The Belgian data protection authority lost a legal battle with Facebook on Wednesday in which it sought to stop the company from tracking online activities of non-Facebook users in Belgium who visit the site's pages. The Belgian Privacy Commission said that the Brussels Appeals Court had dismissed its case on the grounds that the regulator has no jurisdiction over Facebook Inc, which has its European headquarters in Ireland. That marks a victory for the US company, which staunchly maintained that only the Irish Data Protection Commissioner has jurisdiction over how it uses Europeans' data. Facebook has had run-ins with a number of European privacy watchdogs over its use of user generated data. Belgium's data protection regulator took Facebook to court a year ago, accusing it of violating EU privacy law by tracking people without a Facebook account without their consent. The court ruled in favour of the regulator and ordered Facebook to stop tracking non-Facebook users when they visited a Facebook page or face a 250,000 euros ($277,000) fine per day. Facebook appealed the ruling. In the meantime, it said it would comply and stop using the so-called 'datr' cookie which it places on user's browsers when they visit a Facebook.com site or click a Facebook 'Like' button on other websites, allowing it to track the online activities of that browser. "We are pleased with the court's decision and look forward to bringing all our services back online for the people in Belgium," a Facebook spokeswoman said. The Belgian regulator said it would look into launching a final appeal with the Court of Cassation, which can throw out previous judgments but not deliver new ones. "Today's decision simply and purely means that the Belgian citizen cannot obtain the protection of his private life through the courts and tribunals when it concerns foreign actors," the regulator said in a statement. It added that the Court of Cassation had previously overruled the Court of Appeal on matters of jurisdiction over foreign companies. "Thus the citizen is also exposed to massive violations of private life," said Willem Debeuckelaere, president of the Belgian privacy commission. The Brussels appeals court also threw out the Belgian privacy commission's claim that the case was urgent and required expedited procedure. (Reuters)

Facebook wins privacy case against Belgian data protection authority

Algerian internet users flocked back to social media&nbsp;on Friday&nbsp;following several days of blackout as the government sought to prevent a repeat of leaks of high school test papers. 
 
A leak of the papers on social media meant 555,000 out of 800,000 high school leavers who took their final exams at the start of June had to retake them between&nbsp;Sunday&nbsp;and&nbsp;Thursday. 
 
Djamila, 45, a sales executive, said she was delighted to be able to connect &quot;normally&quot; at last. Social networks allow her, like many Algerians, to stay in touch with relatives overseas. 
 
From&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;to&nbsp;Thursday, Algerians were blocked from accessing Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. 
 
Fraud in the exams &quot;cannot justify what happened,&quot; Ali Kahlane, an expert on information technology and communication, told AFP. 
 
&quot;This caused the blocking of a whole country,&quot; he said. 
 
Many tech-savvy Algerians were able to get around the block, connecting via VPN, a type of &quot;secure tunnel&quot; in the internet that allows users to appear to be connecting from a different country. 
 
As well as the social media block, internet access in general was slow and faced interruptions. The government denied having disrupted the country&#39;s entire internet service. 
 
But the cuts also hurt businesses. Hassen Khelifati, chief of an insurance company, said he had lost 50 per cent of his turnover for the week due to difficulties getting online. 
 
&quot;The problem is the surprise. We weren&#39;t prepared for the internet to be cut. The two first days, there was a total blackout,&quot; he said. 
 
Algeria has around 20 million internet users including 16 million who use mobile services. Sharing of messages, photos and video has become wildly popular since the launch of 3G services in 2013. 
 
(AFP)

Social media sites were blocked in Algeria after cheats uploaded baccalaureate exam papers online forcing half the students to retake exams

Algerian internet users flocked back to social media on Friday following several days of blackout as the government sought to prevent a repeat of leaks of high school test papers. A leak of the papers on social media meant 555,000 out of 800,000 high school leavers who took their final exams at the start of June had to retake them between Sunday and Thursday. Djamila, 45, a sales executive, said she was delighted to be able to connect "normally" at last. Social networks allow her, like many Algerians, to stay in touch with relatives overseas. From Saturday to Thursday, Algerians were blocked from accessing Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Fraud in the exams "cannot justify what happened," Ali Kahlane, an expert on information technology and communication, told AFP. "This caused the blocking of a whole country," he said. Many tech-savvy Algerians were able to get around the block, connecting via VPN, a type of "secure tunnel" in the internet that allows users to appear to be connecting from a different country. As well as the social media block, internet access in general was slow and faced interruptions. The government denied having disrupted the country's entire internet service. But the cuts also hurt businesses. Hassen Khelifati, chief of an insurance company, said he had lost 50 per cent of his turnover for the week due to difficulties getting online. "The problem is the surprise. We weren't prepared for the internet to be cut. The two first days, there was a total blackout," he said. Algeria has around 20 million internet users including 16 million who use mobile services. Sharing of messages, photos and video has become wildly popular since the launch of 3G services in 2013. (AFP)

Algerians celebrate return of social media after blackout

Microsoft said in May that it was providing funding to a computer scientist to develop a technology that could identify terrorist content

Some of the web's biggest destinations for watching videos have quietly started using automation to remove extremist content from their sites, according to two people familiar with the process. The move is a major step forward for internet companies that are eager to eradicate violent propaganda from their sites and are under pressure to do so from governments around the world as attacks by extremists proliferate, from Syria to Belgium and the United States. YouTube and Facebook are among the sites deploying systems to block or rapidly take down Islamic State videos and other similar material, the sources said. The technology was originally developed to identify and remove copyright-protected content on video sites. It looks for "hashes," a type of unique digital fingerprint that internet companies automatically assign to specific videos, allowing all content with matching fingerprints to be removed rapidly. Such a system would catch attempts to repost content already identified as unacceptable, but would not automatically block videos that have not been seen before. The companies would not confirm that they are using the method or talk about how it might be employed, but numerous people familiar with the technology said that posted videos could be checked against a database of banned content to identify new postings of, say, a beheading or a lecture inciting violence. The two sources would not discuss how much human work goes into reviewing videos identified as matches or near-matches by the technology. They also would not say how videos in the databases were initially identified as extremist. Use of the new technology is likely to be refined over time as internet companies continue to discuss the issue internally and with competitors and other interested parties. In late April, amid pressure from US President Barack Obama and other US and European leaders concerned about online radicalisation, internet companies including Alphabet Inc`s YouTube, Twitter Inc , Facebook Inc and CloudFlare held a call to discuss options, including a content-blocking system put forward by the private Counter Extremism Project, according to one person on the call and three who were briefed on what was discussed. The discussions underscored the central but difficult role some of the world's most influential companies now play in addressing issues such as terrorism, free speech and the lines between government and corporate authority. None of the companies at this point has embraced the anti-extremist group's system, and they have typically been wary of outside intervention in how their sites should be policed. “It’s a little bit different than copyright or child pornography, where things are very clearly illegal,” said Seamus Hughes, deputy director of George Washington University’s Program on Extremism. Extremist content exists on a spectrum, Hughes said, and different web companies draw the line in different places. Most have relied until now mainly on users to flag content that violates their terms of service, and many still do. Flagged material is then individually reviewed by human editors who delete postings found to be in violation. The companies now using automation are not publicly discussing it, two sources said, in part out of concern that terrorists might learn how to manipulate their systems or that repressive regimes might insist the technology be used to censor opponents. “There's no upside in these companies talking about it,” said Matthew Prince, chief executive of content distribution company CloudFlare. “Why would they brag about censorship?” The two people familiar with the still-evolving industry practise confirmed it to Reuters after the Counter Extremism Project publicly described its content-blocking system for the first time last week and urged the big internet companies to adopt it. WARY OF OUTSIDE SOLUTION The April call was led by Facebook's head of global policy management, Monika Bickert, sources with knowledge of the call said. On it, Facebook presented options for discussion, according to one participant, including the one proposed by the non-profit Counter Extremism Project. The anti-extremism group was founded by, among others, Frances Townsend, who advised former president George W. Bush on homeland security, and Mark Wallace, who was deputy campaign manager for the Bush 2004 re-election campaign. Three sources with knowledge of the April call said that companies expressed wariness of letting an outside group decide what defined unacceptable content. Other alternatives raised on the call included establishing a new industry-controlled nonprofit or expanding an existing industry-controlled nonprofit. All the options discussed involved hashing technology. The model for an industry-funded organisation might be the nonprofit National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which identifies known child pornography images using a system known as PhotoDNA. The system is licensed for free by Microsoft Corp . Microsoft announced in May it was providing funding and technical support to Dartmouth College computer scientist Hany Farid, who works with the Counter Extremism Project and helped develop PhotoDNA, "to develop a technology to help stakeholders identify copies of patently terrorist content." Facebook’s Bickert agreed with some of the concerns voiced during the call about the Counter Extremism Project`s proposal, two people familiar with the events said. She declined to comment publicly on the call or on Facebook's efforts, except to note in a statement that Facebook is “exploring with others in industry ways we can collaboratively work to remove content that violates our policies against terrorism.” In recent weeks, one source said, Facebook has sent out a survey to other companies soliciting their opinions on different options for industry collaboration on the issue. William Fitzgerald, a spokesman for Alphabet`s Google unit, which owns YouTube, also declined to comment on the call or about the company's automated efforts to police content. A Twitter spokesman said the company was still evaluating the Counter Extremism Project`s proposal and had "not yet taken a position." A former Google employee said people there had long debated what else besides thwarting copyright violations or sharing revenue with creators the company should do with its Content ID system. Google`s system for content-matching is older and far more sophisticated than Facebook`s, according to people familiar with both. Lisa Monaco, senior adviser to the US president on counterterrorism, said in a statement that the White House welcomed initiatives that seek to help companies “better respond to the threat posed by terrorists’ activities online. (Reuters

Google, Facebook quietly move toward automatic blocking of extremist videos

China&#39;s Internet regulator has launched a new campaign to clean up the comments sections on websites to prevent the spread of what it calls harmful information and to encourage what it considers more helpful, well-intentioned comments to appear. 
 
The Chinese government already exercises widespread controls over the Internet and has sought to codify that policy in Law. 
 
In a statement late on Tuesday, the Cyberspace Administration of China said the crackdown on comments sections was aimed at tackling &quot;outstanding problems&quot;. 
 
Deputy head of the administration, Ren Xianliang, was quoted as saying in a statement that they wanted to carry out a large-scale &quot;cleanse&quot; of the comments sections and make it easier for people to report illegal or harmful content. 
 
&quot;Proactively foster a healthy, positive internet culture, and let cultured comment, rational posts and well-intentioned responses become the order of the day online,&quot; Ren said. 
 
Online media must make sure their stories are not simply &quot;click-bait&quot; and that they fulfil their responsibilities to society and make sure they properly control online comments to &quot;allow the Internet to better benefit the people&quot;, Ren added. 
 
Officials say internet restrictions, including the blocking of popular foreign sites like Google and Facebook, are needed to ensure security in the face of rising threats, such as terrorism. 
 
Foreign governments and business groups have pointed to restrictions on the Internet as a broader trade issue. 
 
(Reuters)

Beijing says the idea is to 'proactively foster a healthy, positive internet culture'

China's Internet regulator has launched a new campaign to clean up the comments sections on websites to prevent the spread of what it calls harmful information and to encourage what it considers more helpful, well-intentioned comments to appear. The Chinese government already exercises widespread controls over the Internet and has sought to codify that policy in Law. In a statement late on Tuesday, the Cyberspace Administration of China said the crackdown on comments sections was aimed at tackling "outstanding problems". Deputy head of the administration, Ren Xianliang, was quoted as saying in a statement that they wanted to carry out a large-scale "cleanse" of the comments sections and make it easier for people to report illegal or harmful content. "Proactively foster a healthy, positive internet culture, and let cultured comment, rational posts and well-intentioned responses become the order of the day online," Ren said. Online media must make sure their stories are not simply "click-bait" and that they fulfil their responsibilities to society and make sure they properly control online comments to "allow the Internet to better benefit the people", Ren added. Officials say internet restrictions, including the blocking of popular foreign sites like Google and Facebook, are needed to ensure security in the face of rising threats, such as terrorism. Foreign governments and business groups have pointed to restrictions on the Internet as a broader trade issue. (Reuters)

China Internet regulator to eliminate online comments

Algerian authorities have temporarily blocked access to Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to try to stop cheats posting high school exam papers online, state media reported on Sunday. 
 
Tens of thousands of high school students were retaking part of their baccalaureate exams after details were shared over social media. 
 
&quot;The cut in social media is directly related to the partial baccalaureate exams that are taking place on Sunday,&quot; an official source told the APS state news agency. 
 
&quot;This is to protect students from the publication of false papers for these exams.&quot; 
 
Access to the internet through 3G mobile network also appeared to be disrupted on Sunday. 
 
Earlier this month, authorities said police arrested dozens of people, including officials working in national education offices and printers, as part of an investigation into how parts of the 2016 high school exams were leaked onto social media. 
(Reuters)

Tens of thousands of students need to retake part of their exams after details were shared over social media

Algerian authorities have temporarily blocked access to Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to try to stop cheats posting high school exam papers online, state media reported on Sunday. Tens of thousands of high school students were retaking part of their baccalaureate exams after details were shared over social media. "The cut in social media is directly related to the partial baccalaureate exams that are taking place on Sunday," an official source told the APS state news agency. "This is to protect students from the publication of false papers for these exams." Access to the internet through 3G mobile network also appeared to be disrupted on Sunday. Earlier this month, authorities said police arrested dozens of people, including officials working in national education offices and printers, as part of an investigation into how parts of the 2016 high school exams were leaked onto social media. (Reuters)

Algeria blocks Facebook and Twitter to keep cheats from posting high school exam papers online

Facebook Inc on Thursday launched a feature that allows users to upload photos with 360-degree views. 
 
Apart from photos taken from 360-degree cameras, panoramic photos taken on a mobilephone can be converted to a 360-degree view on the newsfeed, the company said on Thursday. 
 
The photos can also be seen in virtual reality compatible devices, Facebook said. 
 
Facebook rolled out a similar service for video last September. 
&nbsp;

The social media giant on Thursday launched a feature that allows users to upload photos with 360-degree views

Facebook Inc on Thursday launched a feature that allows users to upload photos with 360-degree views. Apart from photos taken from 360-degree cameras, panoramic photos taken on a mobilephone can be converted to a 360-degree view on the newsfeed, the company said on Thursday. The photos can also be seen in virtual reality compatible devices, Facebook said. Facebook rolled out a similar service for video last September.

Facebook adds 360-degree photos to newsfeed

Facebook Inc&#39;s board has proposed removing Mark Zuckerberg&#39;s majority voting control in the event of the social media giant&#39;s chief executive and founder deciding to exit management at some point in future. 
 
In a proxy filing on Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook&#39;s board said it will ask shareholders to vote on a proposal that would convert Zuckerberg&#39;s Class B shares into Class A shares if he is no longer in a leadership position. 
 
As of June 2, Zuckerberg owned about 4 million Class A shares and about 419 million Class B shares, collectively representing about 53.8 percent of total outstanding voting power and 14.8 percent of total outstanding economic interests. 
 
The proposed move - to be voted on at Facebook&#39;s annual general meeting on June 20 - is designed to make sure a future Facebook chief&#39;s management powers aren&#39;t limited, said&nbsp;the board . 
 
&quot;These new terms thus ensure that we will not remain a founder-controlled company after we cease to be a founder-led company,&quot; the board said in the filing. 
 
Under current provisions, Zuckerberg is allowed to hold Class B shares and exercise majority voting control even if leaves the company. Zuckerberg would also be allowed to pass his Class B shares, and possibly his majority voting control, to descendants after his death.

As of June 2, Mark Zuckerberg owned about 4 million Class A shares and about 419 million Class B shares representing about 53.8 per cent of total outstanding voting power and 14.8 per cent of total outstanding economic interests

Facebook Inc's board has proposed removing Mark Zuckerberg's majority voting control in the event of the social media giant's chief executive and founder deciding to exit management at some point in future. In a proxy filing on Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook's board said it will ask shareholders to vote on a proposal that would convert Zuckerberg's Class B shares into Class A shares if he is no longer in a leadership position. As of June 2, Zuckerberg owned about 4 million Class A shares and about 419 million Class B shares, collectively representing about 53.8 percent of total outstanding voting power and 14.8 percent of total outstanding economic interests. The proposed move - to be voted on at Facebook's annual general meeting on June 20 - is designed to make sure a future Facebook chief's management powers aren't limited, said the board . "These new terms thus ensure that we will not remain a founder-controlled company after we cease to be a founder-led company," the board said in the filing. Under current provisions, Zuckerberg is allowed to hold Class B shares and exercise majority voting control even if leaves the company. Zuckerberg would also be allowed to pass his Class B shares, and possibly his majority voting control, to descendants after his death.

Facebook board seeks curb in Zuckerberg control in event of founder's departure

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft have unveiled a code of conduct with the European Commission that pledges to combat online hate speech.

In a press release, the EU Commissioners for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality pointed out the need for increased monitoring following the spate of terror attacks that have rocked Europe. 
 
&quot;The recent terror attacks have reminded us of the urgent need to address illegal online hate speech,&quot; said Vera Jourova in a statement.

&quot;Social media is unfortunately one of the tools that terrorist groups use to radicalize young people, and racists use to spread violence and hatred. This agreement is an important step forward to ensure that the internet remains a place of free and democratic expression, where European values and laws are respected.&quot;

The code of conduct outlines a raft of measures the IT companies have agreed to respect, including the commitment to remove illegal hate speech in less than 24 hours after being notified.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube & Microsoft have signed an agreement to battle hate speech online.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft have unveiled a code of conduct with the European Commission that pledges to combat online hate speech. In a press release, the EU Commissioners for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality pointed out the need for increased monitoring following the spate of terror attacks that have rocked Europe. "The recent terror attacks have reminded us of the urgent need to address illegal online hate speech," said Vera Jourova in a statement. "Social media is unfortunately one of the tools that terrorist groups use to radicalize young people, and racists use to spread violence and hatred. This agreement is an important step forward to ensure that the internet remains a place of free and democratic expression, where European values and laws are respected." The code of conduct outlines a raft of measures the IT companies have agreed to respect, including the commitment to remove illegal hate speech in less than 24 hours after being notified.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube & Microsoft join hands to fight hate speech

Facebook, Twitter, Google&#39;s YouTube and Microsoft today agreed to an EU code of conduct to tackle online hate speech within 24 hours in Europe.

EU governments have been trying in recent months to get social platforms to crack down on rising online racism following the refugee crisis and terror attacks, with some even threatening action against the companies.

As part of the pledge agreed with the European Commission, the web giants will review the majority of valid requests for removal of illegal hate speech in less than 24 hours and remove or disable access to the content if necessary.

They will also strengthen their cooperation with civil society organisations who help flag hateful content when it goes online and promote &quot;counter-narratives&quot; to hate speech.

&quot;The recent terror attacks have reminded us of the urgent need to address illegal online hate speech. Social media is unfortunately one of the tools that terrorist groups use to radicalise young people,&quot; EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said.

Germany got Google, Facebook and Twitter to agree to delete hate speech from their websites within 24 hours last year and even launched an investigation into the European head of Facebook over its alleged failure to remove racist hate speech.

&quot;There&#39;s no place for hate speech on Facebook,&quot; said Monika Bickert, Head of Global Policy Management at Facebook.

&quot;With a global community of 1.6 billion people,&nbsp;we work hard to balance giving people the power to express themselves whilst ensuring we provide a respectful environment.&quot;

The code of conduct is largely a continuation of efforts that the companies already take to counter hate speech on their websites, such as developing tools for people to report hateful content and training staff to handle such requests.

Twitter has suspended over 125,000 accounts since the middle of 2015 for threatening or promoting terror acts, primarily related to Islamic State.

The United States has undertaken similar efforts to entice the cooperation of tech companies in combating online radicalisation, focusing on promoting &quot;counter-narratives&quot; to extremist content.

EU ministers had called for cooperation with tech companies to be stepped up after the Brussels attacks in March.

Jewish lobbyists, frequently the target of hate speech, welcomed the code of conduct.

&quot;This a historic agreement that could not arrive at a better time,&rdquo; said Dr. Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress.

Following migrant refugee crisis and terror attacks, governments have been trying to crack down on inflammatory online content.

Facebook, Twitter, Google's YouTube and Microsoft today agreed to an EU code of conduct to tackle online hate speech within 24 hours in Europe. EU governments have been trying in recent months to get social platforms to crack down on rising online racism following the refugee crisis and terror attacks, with some even threatening action against the companies. As part of the pledge agreed with the European Commission, the web giants will review the majority of valid requests for removal of illegal hate speech in less than 24 hours and remove or disable access to the content if necessary. They will also strengthen their cooperation with civil society organisations who help flag hateful content when it goes online and promote "counter-narratives" to hate speech. "The recent terror attacks have reminded us of the urgent need to address illegal online hate speech. Social media is unfortunately one of the tools that terrorist groups use to radicalise young people," EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said. Germany got Google, Facebook and Twitter to agree to delete hate speech from their websites within 24 hours last year and even launched an investigation into the European head of Facebook over its alleged failure to remove racist hate speech. "There's no place for hate speech on Facebook," said Monika Bickert, Head of Global Policy Management at Facebook. "With a global community of 1.6 billion people, we work hard to balance giving people the power to express themselves whilst ensuring we provide a respectful environment." The code of conduct is largely a continuation of efforts that the companies already take to counter hate speech on their websites, such as developing tools for people to report hateful content and training staff to handle such requests. Twitter has suspended over 125,000 accounts since the middle of 2015 for threatening or promoting terror acts, primarily related to Islamic State. The United States has undertaken similar efforts to entice the cooperation of tech companies in combating online radicalisation, focusing on promoting "counter-narratives" to extremist content. EU ministers had called for cooperation with tech companies to be stepped up after the Brussels attacks in March. Jewish lobbyists, frequently the target of hate speech, welcomed the code of conduct. "This a historic agreement that could not arrive at a better time,” said Dr. Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Microsoft back EU hate speech rules

facebook

Facebook, News on Facebook, stories on Facebook, articles on Facebook, Facebook stories at Wion, Facebook news, Facebook latest news