Facebook Inc confirmed Tuesday it had briefly blocked White House social media director Dan Scavino from replying to comments from a reader, saying it was aimed at stopping "automated bots" and had apologized to him.

The social media company said in an emailed statement that it caps "the amount of identical, repetitive activity coming from one account in a short period of time, such as @mentioning people. These limits can have the unintended consequence of temporarily preventing real people like Dan Scavino from engaging in such activity but lift in an hour or two, which is what happened in this case. We’ve been in touch with him and have apologized for the inconvenience."

Earlier Tuesday US&nbsp;President Donald Trump said&nbsp;he will look into Facebook's decision to block public comments by White House social media director Dan Scavino.

Scavino posted a screenshot late on Monday of a message from Facebook saying he was temporarily blocked from making public comments because some of his comments had been reported as spam.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/facebook-restores-services-after-global-outage-203386">Facebook </a>said the issue was an "unintended consequence" of the platform's policy on scam, adding, it has been in touch with Scavino and has apologized to him.

Explaining the error, Facebook said it caps the amount of identical, repetitive activity coming from one account in a short period of time as to stop automated bots.

"These limits can have the unintended consequence of temporarily preventing real people like Dan Scavino from engaging in such activity, but lift in an hour or two, which is what happened in this case," a Facebook spokesperson said.

"Dear Facebook—AMAZING. WHY ARE YOU STOPPING ME from replying to comments followers have left me - on my own Facebook Page!!?? People have the right to know. Why are you silencing me??? Please LMK!" Scavino said in his post earlier.

Trump pounced on the issue. "I will be looking into this!" Trump said in a Twitter post.

Facebook said the issue is "content-agnostic and is solely about addressing potentially scammy repetitive behaviour."

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump accused social media platforms Facebook, YouTube and Twitter of favouring his Democratic opponents over him and his fellow Republicans. Alphabet Inc's Google owns YouTube.

Twitter declined to comment while Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Facebook Inc confirmed Tuesday it had briefly blocked White House social media director Dan Scavino from replying to comments from a reader, saying it was aimed at stopping "automated bots" and had apologized to him.

Facebook Inc confirmed Tuesday it had briefly blocked White House social media director Dan Scavino from replying to comments from a reader, saying it was aimed at stopping "automated bots" and had apologized to him. The social media company said in an emailed statement that it caps "the amount of identical, repetitive activity coming from one account in a short period of time, such as @mentioning people. These limits can have the unintended consequence of temporarily preventing real people like Dan Scavino from engaging in such activity but lift in an hour or two, which is what happened in this case. We’ve been in touch with him and have apologized for the inconvenience." Earlier Tuesday US President Donald Trump said he will look into Facebook's decision to block public comments by White House social media director Dan Scavino. Scavino posted a screenshot late on Monday of a message from Facebook saying he was temporarily blocked from making public comments because some of his comments had been reported as spam. Facebook said the issue was an "unintended consequence" of the platform's policy on scam, adding, it has been in touch with Scavino and has apologized to him. Explaining the error, Facebook said it caps the amount of identical, repetitive activity coming from one account in a short period of time as to stop automated bots. "These limits can have the unintended consequence of temporarily preventing real people like Dan Scavino from engaging in such activity, but lift in an hour or two, which is what happened in this case," a Facebook spokesperson said. "Dear Facebook—AMAZING. WHY ARE YOU STOPPING ME from replying to comments followers have left me - on my own Facebook Page!!?? People have the right to know. Why are you silencing me??? Please LMK!" Scavino said in his post earlier. Trump pounced on the issue. "I will be looking into this!" Trump said in a Twitter post. Facebook said the issue is "content-agnostic and is solely about addressing potentially scammy repetitive behaviour." Earlier on Tuesday, Trump accused social media platforms Facebook, YouTube and Twitter of favouring his Democratic opponents over him and his fellow Republicans. Alphabet Inc's Google owns YouTube. Twitter declined to comment while Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Facebook confirms it briefly limited White House official Dan Scavino's account

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday the company would encrypt conversations on more of its messaging services and make them compatible, the latest sign that the world's biggest social network sees its future in intimate online chats.

Zuckerberg said in a post on his Facebook profile that within a few years direct messaging would dwarf discussion on the traditional, open platform of Facebook's news feed, where public posts can go viral across the world.

"Working towards implementing end-to-end encryption for all private communications is the right thing to do," Zuckerberg said. He cautioned that details of the plan could change as the company consults experts throughout 2019.

The strategy could frustrate law enforcement surveillance efforts as well as lawmakers who have called on Facebook to better moderate user content. It also would limit the company's ability to generate revenue through targeted ads.

But Zuckerberg said he could live with those tradeoffs because users want better control of their data while still having easy access to their contacts.

As part of Zuckerberg's strategy, a Facebook user would be able to communicate with WhatsApp users while only having a Messenger account and vice versa. Users would also have more options for how long chats are saved, he added.

"The future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content won't stick around forever," he said. "This is the future I hope we will help bring about."

Facebook shares rose 0.7 per cent on Wednesday. Shares in Snap Inc, which owns messaging app Snapchat, ended down more than 2 per cent.

Zuckerberg acknowledged that the public may be sceptical about Facebook's privacy push given the company does not have a "strong reputation for building privacy protective services."

Lawmakers, users and investors have expressed concerns over the last two years that Facebook is not doing enough to safeguard user data after a series of breaches and privacy bugs.

But Zuckerberg wrote that "we've repeatedly shown that we can evolve to build the services that people really want."

Facebook is one of the biggest global players in private messaging with its WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, each used by more than 1 billion people. Only WhatsApp fully secures message content from all outsiders, including Facebook itself.

Police have raised concerns about introducing similar security to the other services because they would no longer be able to access online chat records to track religious extremists or other perpetrators.

Regulators have called for Facebook to increase moderation of user content, but more encryption would make it difficult to view and track problematic posts.

Encrypted conversations also limit Facebook's ability to send targeted advertisements. Facebook may need to look for new ways to insert itself between businesses and consumers to generate revenue.

Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat app has shown how a messaging service can generate revenue through not only displaying ads but also being a marketplace for games, merchandise and services such as taxi rides.

Facebook has encouraged messaging conversations between businesses and consumers since at least 2016 but has not disclosed its revenue from the efforts.

Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that "significant thought" still needs to go into integrating commerce into messaging.

James Cordwell, a financial analyst at Atlantic Equities, said Facebook's strategy risks undercutting its current way of making money.

"But if they can pull off this WeChat-esque strategy," he said, "it could open up material revenue streams beyond just advertising, something that investors have been craving for quite some time."

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday the company would encrypt conversations on more of its messaging services and make them compatible, the latest sign that the world's biggest social network sees its future in intimate online chats.

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday the company would encrypt conversations on more of its messaging services and make them compatible, the latest sign that the world's biggest social network sees its future in intimate online chats. Zuckerberg said in a post on his Facebook profile that within a few years direct messaging would dwarf discussion on the traditional, open platform of Facebook's news feed, where public posts can go viral across the world. "Working towards implementing end-to-end encryption for all private communications is the right thing to do," Zuckerberg said. He cautioned that details of the plan could change as the company consults experts throughout 2019. The strategy could frustrate law enforcement surveillance efforts as well as lawmakers who have called on Facebook to better moderate user content. It also would limit the company's ability to generate revenue through targeted ads. But Zuckerberg said he could live with those tradeoffs because users want better control of their data while still having easy access to their contacts. As part of Zuckerberg's strategy, a Facebook user would be able to communicate with WhatsApp users while only having a Messenger account and vice versa. Users would also have more options for how long chats are saved, he added. "The future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content won't stick around forever," he said. "This is the future I hope we will help bring about." Facebook shares rose 0.7 per cent on Wednesday. Shares in Snap Inc, which owns messaging app Snapchat, ended down more than 2 per cent. Zuckerberg acknowledged that the public may be sceptical about Facebook's privacy push given the company does not have a "strong reputation for building privacy protective services." Lawmakers, users and investors have expressed concerns over the last two years that Facebook is not doing enough to safeguard user data after a series of breaches and privacy bugs. But Zuckerberg wrote that "we've repeatedly shown that we can evolve to build the services that people really want." Facebook is one of the biggest global players in private messaging with its WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, each used by more than 1 billion people. Only WhatsApp fully secures message content from all outsiders, including Facebook itself. Police have raised concerns about introducing similar security to the other services because they would no longer be able to access online chat records to track religious extremists or other perpetrators. Regulators have called for Facebook to increase moderation of user content, but more encryption would make it difficult to view and track problematic posts. Encrypted conversations also limit Facebook's ability to send targeted advertisements. Facebook may need to look for new ways to insert itself between businesses and consumers to generate revenue. Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat app has shown how a messaging service can generate revenue through not only displaying ads but also being a marketplace for games, merchandise and services such as taxi rides. Facebook has encouraged messaging conversations between businesses and consumers since at least 2016 but has not disclosed its revenue from the efforts. Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that "significant thought" still needs to go into integrating commerce into messaging. James Cordwell, a financial analyst at Atlantic Equities, said Facebook's strategy risks undercutting its current way of making money. "But if they can pull off this WeChat-esque strategy," he said, "it could open up material revenue streams beyond just advertising, something that investors have been craving for quite some time."

Facebook to implement end-to-end encryption in all private chats: Mark Zuckerberg

Jeff Bezos remains the world's richest person, ahead of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, according to the latest Forbes list of the ultra wealthy, while far behind President Donald Trump jumped 51 spots in the ranking.

While things are largely stable up on top of the list, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg dropped three spots and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg rose by two.

According to the list announced Tuesday by Forbes, the riches of Bezos, 55, have swelled by $19 billion in one year and he is now worth $131 billion.

Bezos, who holds 16 per cent of Amazon and whose wealth now makes him a target of the left wing of the US Democratic Party, has widened the money gap between himself and Gates, the philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft.

Gates, 63, has seen his wealth grow to $96.5 billion, up from 90 billion last year, said Forbes.

Third place is held by Buffett, 88 and long considered an investment guru, although he did get stung in late February by a deep plunge in shares of US processed food maker Kraft Heinz, in which he had a large stake.

Buffett's fortune slipped by $1.5 billion to $82.5 billion, the magazine estimated.

It is more or less after this trio that things start to get shaken up on the Forbes list.

The CEO of French luxury good company LVMH, Bernard Arnault, held on to fourth place. But Zuckerberg lost $9 billion in net worth and slipped from fifth to eighth.

Ahead of Zuckerberg now are Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, Zara and Inditex founder Amancio Ortega of Spain, and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

Bloomberg rose from 11th to ninth place as his fortune increased to $55.5 billion, from $50 billion, said Forbes.

Americans still dominate the list with 14 of the top 20 billionaires from the US.

Non-Americans among the top 20 include India's Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, in 13th place, and China's Ma Huateng, head of the Chinese internet giant Tencent, who rounds out the top 20.

Donald Trump 715th richest

Forbes estimates Trump's wealth at $3.1 billion, unchanged from last year.

While 994 people from last year's ranking saw their wealth drop -- a record, according to Forbes -- Trump rose in the Forbes ranking from 766 last year to 715 this year.

Trump's nine New York skyscrapers, including the famous Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, account for nearly half of his wealth, while his clubs and golf courses are valued at $550 million.

However, one of Trump's Florida golf clubs, the National Doral Miami, took a hit and has been depreciated by $26 million following a sharp drop in bookings attributed to disagreements with the president's policies, Forbes said.

Trump is not the richest US elected official: that honour goes to JB&nbsp;Pritzker, a Democrat who took office as governor of Illinois in January. Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, was estimated to be worth $3.2 billion.&nbsp;

Jeff Bezos remains the world's richest person, ahead of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, according to the latest Forbes list of the ultra wealthy, while far behind President Donald Trump jumped 51 spots in the ranking.

Jeff Bezos remains the world's richest person, ahead of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, according to the latest Forbes list of the ultra wealthy, while far behind President Donald Trump jumped 51 spots in the ranking. While things are largely stable up on top of the list, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg dropped three spots and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg rose by two. According to the list announced Tuesday by Forbes, the riches of Bezos, 55, have swelled by $19 billion in one year and he is now worth $131 billion. Bezos, who holds 16 per cent of Amazon and whose wealth now makes him a target of the left wing of the US Democratic Party, has widened the money gap between himself and Gates, the philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft. Gates, 63, has seen his wealth grow to $96.5 billion, up from 90 billion last year, said Forbes. Third place is held by Buffett, 88 and long considered an investment guru, although he did get stung in late February by a deep plunge in shares of US processed food maker Kraft Heinz, in which he had a large stake. Buffett's fortune slipped by $1.5 billion to $82.5 billion, the magazine estimated. It is more or less after this trio that things start to get shaken up on the Forbes list. The CEO of French luxury good company LVMH, Bernard Arnault, held on to fourth place. But Zuckerberg lost $9 billion in net worth and slipped from fifth to eighth. Ahead of Zuckerberg now are Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, Zara and Inditex founder Amancio Ortega of Spain, and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. Bloomberg rose from 11th to ninth place as his fortune increased to $55.5 billion, from $50 billion, said Forbes. Americans still dominate the list with 14 of the top 20 billionaires from the US. Non-Americans among the top 20 include India's Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, in 13th place, and China's Ma Huateng, head of the Chinese internet giant Tencent, who rounds out the top 20. Donald Trump 715th richest Forbes estimates Trump's wealth at $3.1 billion, unchanged from last year. While 994 people from last year's ranking saw their wealth drop -- a record, according to Forbes -- Trump rose in the Forbes ranking from 766 last year to 715 this year. Trump's nine New York skyscrapers, including the famous Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, account for nearly half of his wealth, while his clubs and golf courses are valued at $550 million. However, one of Trump's Florida golf clubs, the National Doral Miami, took a hit and has been depreciated by $26 million following a sharp drop in bookings attributed to disagreements with the president's policies, Forbes said. Trump is not the richest US elected official: that honour goes to JB Pritzker, a Democrat who took office as governor of Illinois in January. Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, was estimated to be worth $3.2 billion.

Bezos, Gates and Buffett still top the world's ultra rich: Forbes

Fifteen years after its founding, Facebook has made strides toward Mark Zuckerberg's goal of connecting the world. But it has also made some huge missteps that have turned some of its cheerleaders into vocal detractors.

The online social network founded on February 4, 2004, in Zuckerberg's Harvard University dorm heads into adolescence with the grown-up burdens of being held accountable for its behaviour and playing in a world where people may not always have the purest intentions.

Facebook has seen unprecedented success by amassing more than 2.3 billion people worldwide who actively use the platform to share updates, obtain information and connect with new people.

But it has also been battered by criticism that it was more focused on growth than protecting users or thwarting deception, bullying and harassment.

"This is a very powerful company that has created an addictive product that many people are dependent on," said author and analyst Josh Bernoff.

"Because of that, there is tremendous responsibility."

Facebook was hammered last year by a series of scandals over data protection and privacy and concerns that the leading social network had been manipulated by foreign interests for political purposes.

It has faced increasing scrutiny on how it collects vast amounts of personal data from users, and how it shares that information with partners to deliver targeted advertising.&nbsp;

'Confronting maturity'

"After the challenges of 2018, it is no longer lauded for its innovation. It is scrutinized and criticized for its every move," eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson said.

"Facebook at age 15 is confronting maturity. It's no longer just an upstart company."

Facebook is second only to colossus Google in worldwide digital ad revenue and is the owner of some of the most widely used smartphone apps.

The platform is behind free, stand-alone smartphone apps Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, each of which has more than a billion users.

Zuckerberg, 34, recently renewed his defense of the social network's business model, adamant that Facebook did not sell user data.

He maintained that the social network makes money from targeting ads based on what it learns about users, keeping the service free.

Bernoff saw Zuckerberg's latest defense as contending that Facebook is here to help people, and thus can be trusted.

"We have learned in capitalism that when companies get a lot of power and say they are doing what is best for you, we need to scrutinize them more," Bernoff said.

If history is an indicator, then Facebook's true threat could be a lifestyle shift to a different way of interacting with computers.

Bernoff questioned whether Facebook was positioning itself for the rise of smart speakers using the likes of Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

"The future is going to be increasingly related to voice, and to companies and individuals interacting through artificially intelligent agents," Bernoff said.

"As people change the way they interact with the world, there is no guarantee Facebook will have a place there."

He doubted whether people would turn away from Facebook due to trust issues, arguing that consumers are willing to trade a huge amount of data for a modicum of convenience.

Despite the wave of scandals, Facebook took in a record $22 billion profit for 2018 as revenues surged to $55 billion.&nbsp;

Motivated trolls

Facebook has acknowledged it needs to do more to restore trust, and ferret out misinformation and abuse.

It now has more than 30,000 people "working on safety" and invests billions of dollars in security, according to Zuckerberg.

"The trolls have a financial incentive to pervert the way Facebook works, and it is costly for Facebook to prevent that," Bernoff said.

And while Zuckerberg has connected the developed world, there is a lot of the planet he has yet to get onto the social network.

According to eMarketer, 46.7 percent of internet users, or slightly more than 23 percent of the world's total population, use the core Facebook app any given month.

"Facebook will need to make international growth a bigger priority this year and in the coming years," Williamson said.

Facebook also needs to be a leader in undermining manipulation and fake news, protecting user data and keeping up with consumers' changing communications preferences, according to the analyst.

Zuckerberg's personal goal for 2019 is to convene a series of public forums on how technology can better serve society.

"I'm going to put myself out there more than I've been comfortable with and engage more in some of these debates about the future, the tradeoffs we face, and where we want to go," Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post outlining his goals.

Fifteen years after its founding, Facebook has made strides toward Mark Zuckerberg's goal of connecting the world. But it has also made some huge missteps that have turned some of its cheerleaders into vocal detractors.

Fifteen years after its founding, Facebook has made strides toward Mark Zuckerberg's goal of connecting the world. But it has also made some huge missteps that have turned some of its cheerleaders into vocal detractors. The online social network founded on February 4, 2004, in Zuckerberg's Harvard University dorm heads into adolescence with the grown-up burdens of being held accountable for its behaviour and playing in a world where people may not always have the purest intentions. Facebook has seen unprecedented success by amassing more than 2.3 billion people worldwide who actively use the platform to share updates, obtain information and connect with new people. But it has also been battered by criticism that it was more focused on growth than protecting users or thwarting deception, bullying and harassment. "This is a very powerful company that has created an addictive product that many people are dependent on," said author and analyst Josh Bernoff. "Because of that, there is tremendous responsibility." Facebook was hammered last year by a series of scandals over data protection and privacy and concerns that the leading social network had been manipulated by foreign interests for political purposes. It has faced increasing scrutiny on how it collects vast amounts of personal data from users, and how it shares that information with partners to deliver targeted advertising. 'Confronting maturity' "After the challenges of 2018, it is no longer lauded for its innovation. It is scrutinized and criticized for its every move," eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson said. "Facebook at age 15 is confronting maturity. It's no longer just an upstart company." Facebook is second only to colossus Google in worldwide digital ad revenue and is the owner of some of the most widely used smartphone apps. The platform is behind free, stand-alone smartphone apps Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, each of which has more than a billion users. Zuckerberg, 34, recently renewed his defense of the social network's business model, adamant that Facebook did not sell user data. He maintained that the social network makes money from targeting ads based on what it learns about users, keeping the service free. Bernoff saw Zuckerberg's latest defense as contending that Facebook is here to help people, and thus can be trusted. "We have learned in capitalism that when companies get a lot of power and say they are doing what is best for you, we need to scrutinize them more," Bernoff said. If history is an indicator, then Facebook's true threat could be a lifestyle shift to a different way of interacting with computers. Bernoff questioned whether Facebook was positioning itself for the rise of smart speakers using the likes of Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. "The future is going to be increasingly related to voice, and to companies and individuals interacting through artificially intelligent agents," Bernoff said. "As people change the way they interact with the world, there is no guarantee Facebook will have a place there." He doubted whether people would turn away from Facebook due to trust issues, arguing that consumers are willing to trade a huge amount of data for a modicum of convenience. Despite the wave of scandals, Facebook took in a record $22 billion profit for 2018 as revenues surged to $55 billion. Motivated trolls Facebook has acknowledged it needs to do more to restore trust, and ferret out misinformation and abuse. It now has more than 30,000 people "working on safety" and invests billions of dollars in security, according to Zuckerberg. "The trolls have a financial incentive to pervert the way Facebook works, and it is costly for Facebook to prevent that," Bernoff said. And while Zuckerberg has connected the developed world, there is a lot of the planet he has yet to get onto the social network. According to eMarketer, 46.7 percent of internet users, or slightly more than 23 percent of the world's total population, use the core Facebook app any given month. "Facebook will need to make international growth a bigger priority this year and in the coming years," Williamson said. Facebook also needs to be a leader in undermining manipulation and fake news, protecting user data and keeping up with consumers' changing communications preferences, according to the analyst. Zuckerberg's personal goal for 2019 is to convene a series of public forums on how technology can better serve society. "I'm going to put myself out there more than I've been comfortable with and engage more in some of these debates about the future, the tradeoffs we face, and where we want to go," Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post outlining his goals.

Facebook at 15: A titan with grown-up woes

2004 to 2019: Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook turns 15

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-signs-deal-ending-longest-government-shutdown-in-us-history-192857">Donald Trump signs deal ending </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-signs-deal-ending-longest-government-shutdown-in-us-history-192857">longest</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-signs-deal-ending-longest-government-shutdown-in-us-history-192857"> government shutdown in US history</a>

United States President Donald Trump has signed the deal bringing the government shutdown to an end, news agency AFP reported.&nbsp;

President Donald Trump said Friday he will temporarily end the government shutdown, while dropping his previous insistence on immediate funding for wall construction along the Mexican border.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/at-least-7-dead-150-missing-in-brazil-dam-collapse-disaster-192826">At least 7 dead, 150 missing in Brazil dam collapse disaster</a>

A collapse of a disused dam at an iron-ore mine complex in southeast Brazil killed at least seven people and left 150 missing, officials said, as they sought to evaluate the full scope of the disaster.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/mark-zuckerberg-to-integrate-whatsapp-instagram-and-facebook-messenger-report-192830">Mark Zuckerberg to integrate WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger: Report</a>

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is planning to unify the underlying messaging infrastructure of the WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger services and incorporate end-to-end encryption into these apps, the New York Times reported on Friday.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/mnf-will-withdraw-support-to-nda-over-citizenship-bill-if-situation-arises-chief-minister-zoramthanga-192842">Will withdraw support from NDA over Citizenship Bill if </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/mnf-will-withdraw-support-to-nda-over-citizenship-bill-if-situation-arises-chief-minister-zoramthanga-192842">situation</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/mnf-will-withdraw-support-to-nda-over-citizenship-bill-if-situation-arises-chief-minister-zoramthanga-192842"> arises: Mizoram Chief Minister</a>

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga said on Thursday that the ruling Mizo National Front would not hesitate to snap ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) if the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is not revoked.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/sports/live-updates-india-vs-new-zealand-2nd-odi-at-bay-oval-192844">Live updates | INDvsNZ, 2nd ODI: India </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/sports/live-updates-india-vs-new-zealand-2nd-odi-at-bay-oval-192844">are</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/sports/live-updates-india-vs-new-zealand-2nd-odi-at-bay-oval-192844"> at 56-0 after 10 overs</a>

After 10 overs, India are at a score of 56 at without losing any wicket.

The openers started off the innings well as India managed to give a dominating start.

Rohit (30) and Shikhar (24) strike several beautiful shots to cheer up Indian fans present at Bat Oval stadium.&nbsp;

Donald Trump signs deal ending longest government shutdown in US history United States President Donald Trump has signed the deal bringing the government shutdown to an end, news agency AFP reported.

Donald Trump signs deal ending longest government shutdown in US history United States President Donald Trump has signed the deal bringing the government shutdown to an end, news agency AFP reported. President Donald Trump said Friday he will temporarily end the government shutdown, while dropping his previous insistence on immediate funding for wall construction along the Mexican border. At least 7 dead, 150 missing in Brazil dam collapse disaster A collapse of a disused dam at an iron-ore mine complex in southeast Brazil killed at least seven people and left 150 missing, officials said, as they sought to evaluate the full scope of the disaster. Mark Zuckerberg to integrate WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger: Report Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is planning to unify the underlying messaging infrastructure of the WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger services and incorporate end-to-end encryption into these apps, the New York Times reported on Friday. Will withdraw support from NDA over Citizenship Bill if situation arises: Mizoram Chief Minister Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga said on Thursday that the ruling Mizo National Front would not hesitate to snap ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) if the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is not revoked. Live updates | INDvsNZ, 2nd ODI: India are at 56-0 after 10 overs After 10 overs, India are at a score of 56 at without losing any wicket. The openers started off the innings well as India managed to give a dominating start. Rohit (30) and Shikhar (24) strike several beautiful shots to cheer up Indian fans present at Bat Oval stadium.

News brief: Big stories of the day

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is planning to unify the underlying messaging infrastructure of the WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger services and incorporate end-to-end encryption into these apps, the New York Times reported on Friday.

The three services will, however, continue as stand-alone apps, the report said, citing four people involved in the effort.

Facebook said it is working on adding end-to-end encryption, which protects messages from being viewed by anyone except the participants in a conversation, to more of its messaging products, and considering ways to make it easier for users to connect across networks.

"There is a lot of discussion and debate as we begin the long process of figuring out all the details of how this will work," a spokesperson said.

After the changes, a Facebook user, for instance, will be able to send an encrypted message to someone who has only a WhatsApp account, according to the New York Times report.

Integrating the messaging services could make it harder for antitrust regulators to break up Facebook by undoing its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, said Sam Weinstein, a professor at the Benjamin N&nbsp;Cardozo School of Law.

"If Facebook is worried about that then one way it can defend itself is to integrate those services," Weinstein said.

But Weinstein said breaking up Facebook is viewed as an "extreme remedy" by regulators, particularly in the United States, so concerns over antitrust scrutiny may not have been a factor behind the integration.

MAJOR TRADEOFFS

Some former Facebook security engineers and an outside encryption expert said the plan could be good news for user privacy, in particular by extending end-to-end encryption.

"I'm cautiously optimistic it's a good thing," said former Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos, who now teaches at Stanford University. "My fear was that they were going to drop end-to-end encryption."

However, the technology does not always conceal metadata - information about who is talking to whom - sparking concern among some researchers that the data might be shared.

Any metadata integration likely will let Facebook learn more about users, linking identifiers such as phone numbers and email addresses for those using the services independently of each other.

Facebook could use that data to charge more for advertising and targeted services, although it also would have to forgo ads based on message content in Messenger and Instagram.

Other major tradeoffs will have to be made too, Stamos and others said.

Messenger allows strangers to contact people without knowing their phone numbers, for example, increasing the risk of stalking and approaches to children.

Systems based on phone numbers have additional privacy concerns because governments and other entities can easily extract location information from them.

Stamos said he hoped Facebook would get public input from terrorism experts, child safety officers, privacy advocates and others and be transparent in its reasoning when it makes decisions on the details.

"It should be an open process because you can't have it all," Stamos said.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is planning to unify the underlying messaging infrastructure of the WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger services and incorporate end-to-end encryption into these apps, the New York Times reported on Friday.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is planning to unify the underlying messaging infrastructure of the WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger services and incorporate end-to-end encryption into these apps, the New York Times reported on Friday. The three services will, however, continue as stand-alone apps, the report said, citing four people involved in the effort. Facebook said it is working on adding end-to-end encryption, which protects messages from being viewed by anyone except the participants in a conversation, to more of its messaging products, and considering ways to make it easier for users to connect across networks. "There is a lot of discussion and debate as we begin the long process of figuring out all the details of how this will work," a spokesperson said. After the changes, a Facebook user, for instance, will be able to send an encrypted message to someone who has only a WhatsApp account, according to the New York Times report. Integrating the messaging services could make it harder for antitrust regulators to break up Facebook by undoing its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, said Sam Weinstein, a professor at the Benjamin N Cardozo School of Law. "If Facebook is worried about that then one way it can defend itself is to integrate those services," Weinstein said. But Weinstein said breaking up Facebook is viewed as an "extreme remedy" by regulators, particularly in the United States, so concerns over antitrust scrutiny may not have been a factor behind the integration. MAJOR TRADEOFFS Some former Facebook security engineers and an outside encryption expert said the plan could be good news for user privacy, in particular by extending end-to-end encryption. "I'm cautiously optimistic it's a good thing," said former Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos, who now teaches at Stanford University. "My fear was that they were going to drop end-to-end encryption." However, the technology does not always conceal metadata - information about who is talking to whom - sparking concern among some researchers that the data might be shared. Any metadata integration likely will let Facebook learn more about users, linking identifiers such as phone numbers and email addresses for those using the services independently of each other. Facebook could use that data to charge more for advertising and targeted services, although it also would have to forgo ads based on message content in Messenger and Instagram. Other major tradeoffs will have to be made too, Stamos and others said. Messenger allows strangers to contact people without knowing their phone numbers, for example, increasing the risk of stalking and approaches to children. Systems based on phone numbers have additional privacy concerns because governments and other entities can easily extract location information from them. Stamos said he hoped Facebook would get public input from terrorism experts, child safety officers, privacy advocates and others and be transparent in its reasoning when it makes decisions on the details. "It should be an open process because you can't have it all," Stamos said.

Mark Zuckerberg to integrate WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger: Report

Facebook Inc's WhatsApp messenger service is globally limiting the number of times a user can forward a message to five, in a bid to fight "misinformation and rumours", company executives said on Monday.

"We're imposing a limit of five messages all over the world as of today," Victoria Grand, vice president for policy and communications at WhatsApp, said at an event in the Indonesian capital.

Previously, a WhatsApp user could forward a message to 20 individuals or groups. The five-recipient limit expands globally a measure WhatsApp put into place in India in July after the spread of rumours on social media led to killings and lynching attempts.

WhatsApp, which has around 1.5 billion users, has been trying to find ways to stop misuse of the app, following global concern that the platform was being used to spread fake news, manipulated photos, videos without context, and audio hoaxes, with no way to monitor their origin or full reach.

The app's end-to-end encryption allows groups of hundreds of users to exchange texts, photos and video beyond the purview of independent fact checkers or even the platform itself.

WhatsApp will roll out an update to activate the new forward limit, starting Monday, WhatsApp's head of communications Carl Woog told Reuters.

Android users will receive the update first, followed by users of Apple's iOS.

Facebook Inc's WhatsApp messenger service is globally limiting the number of times a user can forward a message to five, in a bid to fight "misinformation and rumours", company executives said on Monday.

Facebook Inc's WhatsApp messenger service is globally limiting the number of times a user can forward a message to five, in a bid to fight "misinformation and rumours", company executives said on Monday. "We're imposing a limit of five messages all over the world as of today," Victoria Grand, vice president for policy and communications at WhatsApp, said at an event in the Indonesian capital. Previously, a WhatsApp user could forward a message to 20 individuals or groups. The five-recipient limit expands globally a measure WhatsApp put into place in India in July after the spread of rumours on social media led to killings and lynching attempts. WhatsApp, which has around 1.5 billion users, has been trying to find ways to stop misuse of the app, following global concern that the platform was being used to spread fake news, manipulated photos, videos without context, and audio hoaxes, with no way to monitor their origin or full reach. The app's end-to-end encryption allows groups of hundreds of users to exchange texts, photos and video beyond the purview of independent fact checkers or even the platform itself. WhatsApp will roll out an update to activate the new forward limit, starting Monday, WhatsApp's head of communications Carl Woog told Reuters. Android users will receive the update first, followed by users of Apple's iOS.

Facebook's WhatsApp limits text forwards to five recipients to curb rumours

Facebook has launched German initiatives to defend election integrity and examine the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI), its operations chief said on Sunday, seeking to convince sceptics it is serious about privacy and democracy.

The world's largest social network had a tough 2018 as it was buffeted by revelations that UK consultancy Cambridge Analytica had improperly acquired data on millions of its US users to target election advertising.

Founder Mark Zuckerberg has been grilled by lawmakers on the data lapses and, according to newspaper reports, US regulators are discussing fining Facebook for violating a binding agreement to protect the privacy of its users.

"We are not the same company that we were in 2016 or even a year ago," Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told the DLD Munich technology conference.

"We have a fundamentally different approach to how we run our company today."

In Germany, Facebook is relatively less popular among users than in other Western countries, partly due to privacy concerns dating back to its history of Nazi and Communist rule in the 20th century.

Sandberg said Facebook had struck a new partnership with Germany's federal cyber-security office to help to uphold the integrity of elections and would also commit $7.5 million towards research into the ethics of (AI) at the Technical University in Munich.

Facebook uses AI to spot and remove terrorist content and hate speech before it is reported to its 30,000 moderators, said Sandberg, adding it is also important to ensure that the technology is managed to prevent bias.

"We have to get this right; this is too important," she said.

Facebook has launched German initiatives to defend election integrity and examine the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI), its operations chief said on Sunday, seeking to convince sceptics it is serious about privacy and democracy.

Facebook has launched German initiatives to defend election integrity and examine the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI), its operations chief said on Sunday, seeking to convince sceptics it is serious about privacy and democracy. The world's largest social network had a tough 2018 as it was buffeted by revelations that UK consultancy Cambridge Analytica had improperly acquired data on millions of its US users to target election advertising. Founder Mark Zuckerberg has been grilled by lawmakers on the data lapses and, according to newspaper reports, US regulators are discussing fining Facebook for violating a binding agreement to protect the privacy of its users. "We are not the same company that we were in 2016 or even a year ago," Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told the DLD Munich technology conference. "We have a fundamentally different approach to how we run our company today." In Germany, Facebook is relatively less popular among users than in other Western countries, partly due to privacy concerns dating back to its history of Nazi and Communist rule in the 20th century. Sandberg said Facebook had struck a new partnership with Germany's federal cyber-security office to help to uphold the integrity of elections and would also commit $7.5 million towards research into the ethics of (AI) at the Technical University in Munich. Facebook uses AI to spot and remove terrorist content and hate speech before it is reported to its 30,000 moderators, said Sandberg, adding it is also important to ensure that the technology is managed to prevent bias. "We have to get this right; this is too important," she said.

Facebook backs election integrity, AI initiatives in Germany

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/facebook-users-need-1000-to-deactivate-account-for-one-year-report-185683">Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg</a> said Friday the world's biggest social network has "fundamentally" changed to focus on securing its systems against manipulation and misinformation.

Capping a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/washington-sues-facebook-over-cambridge-analytica-row-185389">tumultuous year</a> marked by data protection scandals and government probes, Zuckerberg said he was "proud of the progress we've made" in addressing Facebook's problems.

"For 2018, my personal challenge has been to focus on addressing some of the most important issues facing our community — whether that's preventing election interference, stopping the spread of hate speech and misinformation, making sure people have control of their information, and ensuring our services improve people's well-being," he wrote on his Facebook page.

"We're a very different company today than we were in 2016, or even a year ago. We've fundamentally altered our DNA to focus more on preventing harm in all our services, and we've systematically shifted a large portion of our company to work on preventing harm."

He said Facebook now has more than 30,000 people "working on safety" and invests billions of dollars in security.

Zuckerberg's comments come at the close of a year when Facebook was roiled by revelations about the misuse of personal data by the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica in the 2016 US election and on data sharing with business partners.

But he said the questions around Facebook are "more than a one-year challenge" and that the California giant was in the process of "multi-year plans to overhaul our systems."

"In the past, we didn't focus as much on these issues as we needed to, but we're now much more proactive," he said.

The comments follow a message from Zuckerberg in January, before many of Facebook's troubles emerged when he outlined his goals of stemming abuse and hate and foreign interference, among other things, on the network used by more than two billion people.

"My personal challenge for 2018 is to focus on fixing these important issues," Zuckerberg said in January.

In Friday's message, Zuckerberg enumerated a series of steps taken over the past year, including fact-checking partnerships, advertising transparency and artificial intelligence to remove harmful content.

He added that Facebook's systems were also being retooled with the aim of helping "improve people's well-being," based on research conducted.

The research, he said, "found that when people use the internet to interact with others, that's associated with all the positive aspects of well-being... But when you just use the internet to consume content passively, that's not associated with those same positive effects."

One of the changes aims to reduce "viral videos" that are shared across the Facebook platform.

"These changes intentionally reduced engagement and revenue in the near term, although we believe they'll help us build a stronger community and business over the long term," Zuckerberg said.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said Friday the world's biggest social network has "fundamentally" changed to focus on securing its systems against manipulation and misinformation.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said Friday the world's biggest social network has "fundamentally" changed to focus on securing its systems against manipulation and misinformation. Capping a tumultuous year marked by data protection scandals and government probes, Zuckerberg said he was "proud of the progress we've made" in addressing Facebook's problems. "For 2018, my personal challenge has been to focus on addressing some of the most important issues facing our community — whether that's preventing election interference, stopping the spread of hate speech and misinformation, making sure people have control of their information, and ensuring our services improve people's well-being," he wrote on his Facebook page. "We're a very different company today than we were in 2016, or even a year ago. We've fundamentally altered our DNA to focus more on preventing harm in all our services, and we've systematically shifted a large portion of our company to work on preventing harm." He said Facebook now has more than 30,000 people "working on safety" and invests billions of dollars in security. Zuckerberg's comments come at the close of a year when Facebook was roiled by revelations about the misuse of personal data by the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica in the 2016 US election and on data sharing with business partners. But he said the questions around Facebook are "more than a one-year challenge" and that the California giant was in the process of "multi-year plans to overhaul our systems." "In the past, we didn't focus as much on these issues as we needed to, but we're now much more proactive," he said. The comments follow a message from Zuckerberg in January, before many of Facebook's troubles emerged when he outlined his goals of stemming abuse and hate and foreign interference, among other things, on the network used by more than two billion people. "My personal challenge for 2018 is to focus on fixing these important issues," Zuckerberg said in January. In Friday's message, Zuckerberg enumerated a series of steps taken over the past year, including fact-checking partnerships, advertising transparency and artificial intelligence to remove harmful content. He added that Facebook's systems were also being retooled with the aim of helping "improve people's well-being," based on research conducted. The research, he said, "found that when people use the internet to interact with others, that's associated with all the positive aspects of well-being... But when you just use the internet to consume content passively, that's not associated with those same positive effects." One of the changes aims to reduce "viral videos" that are shared across the Facebook platform. "These changes intentionally reduced engagement and revenue in the near term, although we believe they'll help us build a stronger community and business over the long term," Zuckerberg said.

Zuckerberg sees 'progress' for Facebook after tumultuous year

Facebook's woes mounted Wednesday as it faced a lawsuit alleging privacy violations related to <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/uk-regulator-fines-facebook-of-ps500000-in-cambridge-analytica-173391">data leaked to a consultancy</a> working on Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, and as a new report suggested it shared more data with partners than it has acknowledged.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/cambridge-analytica-scandal-facebook-faces-500000-fine-by-uk-privacy-watchdog-150800">Facebook</a> shares already sagging under the weight of the social network's troubles ended the trading day down 7.25 per cent to $133.24 and slipped even lower in after-market trades.

The suit filed by the attorney general for the US capital Washington is likely the first by an official US body that could impose consequences on the world's leading social network for data misuse.

"Facebook failed to protect the privacy of its users and deceived them about who had access to their data and how it was used," said Attorney General Karl Racine in a statement.

"Facebook put users at risk of manipulation by allowing companies like Cambridge Analytica and other third-party applications to collect personal data without users' permission. Today's lawsuit is about making Facebook live up to its promise to protect its users' privacy."

The suit filed in Superior Court in Washington seeks an injunction "to ensure <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/facebook-discovers-bug-that-may-have-affected-up-to-68-million-users-184116">Facebook </a>puts in place protocols and safeguards to monitor users' data and to make it easier for users to control their privacy settings," and demands "restitution" for consumers.

Facebook said: "We're reviewing the complaint and look forward to continuing our discussions with attorneys general in DC and elsewhere."

The social network has admitted that up to 87 million users may have had their data hijacked by Cambridge Analytica, which shut down weeks after the news emerged on its handling of private user information.

A <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/cambridge-analytica-whistleblower-calls-for-online-regulation-175918">whistleblower at the consultancy</a>, which worked on Trump's presidential campaign, said it used Facebook data to develop profiles of users who were targeted with personalized messages that could have played on their fears.

The scandal has triggered a series of investigations and broad review by Facebook on how it shares user data with third parties.

The New York Times reported that some 150 companies -- including powerful partners like Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix and Spotify -- could access detailed information about Facebook users, including data about their friends.

According to documents seen by the Times, Facebook allowed Microsoft's Bing search engine to see names of Facebook users' friends without consent and gave Netflix and Spotify the ability to read private messages.

The report said Amazon was able to obtain usernames and contact information through their friends, and Yahoo could view streams of friends' posts.

While some of the deals date back as far as 2010, the Times said they remained active as late as 2017 -- and some were still in effect this year.

"It appears that Facebook has not been honest with Congress or the public about how it treats its users' data," Congressman Frank Pallone, a Democrat, said in a tweet.

Facebook's head of developer platforms and programs, Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, said in a blog post that the Times report referred to partnerships that enabled "social experiences -- like seeing recommendations from their Facebook friends -- on other popular apps and websites."

None of those partnerships or features "gave companies access to information without people's permission," he said, adding that the deals did not violate a 2012 privacy settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission.

Papamiltiadis said, however, that "we've been public about these features and partnerships over the years because we wanted people to actually use them."

But he said most of the features are now gone.

Facebook's woes mounted Wednesday as it faced a lawsuit alleging privacy violations related to data leaked to a consultancy working on Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, and as a new report suggested it shared more data with partners than it has acknowledged.

Facebook's woes mounted Wednesday as it faced a lawsuit alleging privacy violations related to data leaked to a consultancy working on Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, and as a new report suggested it shared more data with partners than it has acknowledged. Facebook shares already sagging under the weight of the social network's troubles ended the trading day down 7.25 per cent to $133.24 and slipped even lower in after-market trades. The suit filed by the attorney general for the US capital Washington is likely the first by an official US body that could impose consequences on the world's leading social network for data misuse. "Facebook failed to protect the privacy of its users and deceived them about who had access to their data and how it was used," said Attorney General Karl Racine in a statement. "Facebook put users at risk of manipulation by allowing companies like Cambridge Analytica and other third-party applications to collect personal data without users' permission. Today's lawsuit is about making Facebook live up to its promise to protect its users' privacy." The suit filed in Superior Court in Washington seeks an injunction "to ensure Facebook puts in place protocols and safeguards to monitor users' data and to make it easier for users to control their privacy settings," and demands "restitution" for consumers. Facebook said: "We're reviewing the complaint and look forward to continuing our discussions with attorneys general in DC and elsewhere." The social network has admitted that up to 87 million users may have had their data hijacked by Cambridge Analytica, which shut down weeks after the news emerged on its handling of private user information. A whistleblower at the consultancy, which worked on Trump's presidential campaign, said it used Facebook data to develop profiles of users who were targeted with personalized messages that could have played on their fears. The scandal has triggered a series of investigations and broad review by Facebook on how it shares user data with third parties. The New York Times reported that some 150 companies -- including powerful partners like Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix and Spotify -- could access detailed information about Facebook users, including data about their friends. According to documents seen by the Times, Facebook allowed Microsoft's Bing search engine to see names of Facebook users' friends without consent and gave Netflix and Spotify the ability to read private messages. The report said Amazon was able to obtain usernames and contact information through their friends, and Yahoo could view streams of friends' posts. While some of the deals date back as far as 2010, the Times said they remained active as late as 2017 -- and some were still in effect this year. "It appears that Facebook has not been honest with Congress or the public about how it treats its users' data," Congressman Frank Pallone, a Democrat, said in a tweet. Facebook's head of developer platforms and programs, Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, said in a blog post that the Times report referred to partnerships that enabled "social experiences -- like seeing recommendations from their Facebook friends -- on other popular apps and websites." None of those partnerships or features "gave companies access to information without people's permission," he said, adding that the deals did not violate a 2012 privacy settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission. Papamiltiadis said, however, that "we've been public about these features and partnerships over the years because we wanted people to actually use them." But he said most of the features are now gone.

US government sues Facebook over Cambridge Analytica row

Karandeep Anand, an Indian-origin senior executive of <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/facebook-discovers-bug-that-may-have-affected-up-to-68-million-users-184116">Facebook</a>, will head the social media giant's enterprise communications tool Workplace, the company has announced.

Anand, who worked at Microsoft for 15 years before joining Facebook nearly four years ago, will work closely with Julien Codorniou, the Facebook vice president who has been the leader of Workplace, CNBC reported.

Workplace, the London-based <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/weve-never-sold-anyones-data-mark-zuckerberg-defends-facebook-in-new-data-breach-controversy-181764">Facebook </a>division, is a communications tool for companies and businesses.

Anand will handle the Workplace product team, which includes developers, engineers, researchers and data scientists, while Codorniou will remain in charge of sales and partnerships, a Facebook spokeswoman was quoted as saying in the report.

At Facebook, Anand has been the head of product for a number of other divisions, including Marketplace, Audience Network and Ad Solutions, the report said.

"I'm excited to now be part of the journey of bringing Workplace to companies across the globe and help them unlock the potential of their biggest asset - people," Anand wrote on his LinkedIn profile.

The spokeswoman said: "We're thrilled that Karandeep is joining Workplace as its new head of Workplace, effectively immediately.

"Karandeep joins Workplace from Marketplace, and brings with him a wealth of experience from both a consumer and enterprise background. We're excited to have him on board".

In its two years of existence, Workplace by Facebook has big-name customers like Walmart, Starbucks and Chevron, the report said.

However, it is behind its rivals like Microsoft and Slack in the enterprise communications software market.

Workplace is used by 30,000 organisations, according to a Facebook report in October 2017.

Microsoft Teams is used by 329,000 organisations while Slack by 500,000 organisations, including 70,000 paying organisations, the CNBC report added.&nbsp;

Karandeep Anand, an Indian-origin senior executive of Facebook, will head the social media giant's enterprise communications tool Workplace, the company has announced.

Karandeep Anand, an Indian-origin senior executive of Facebook, will head the social media giant's enterprise communications tool Workplace, the company has announced. Anand, who worked at Microsoft for 15 years before joining Facebook nearly four years ago, will work closely with Julien Codorniou, the Facebook vice president who has been the leader of Workplace, CNBC reported. Workplace, the London-based Facebook division, is a communications tool for companies and businesses. Anand will handle the Workplace product team, which includes developers, engineers, researchers and data scientists, while Codorniou will remain in charge of sales and partnerships, a Facebook spokeswoman was quoted as saying in the report. At Facebook, Anand has been the head of product for a number of other divisions, including Marketplace, Audience Network and Ad Solutions, the report said. "I'm excited to now be part of the journey of bringing Workplace to companies across the globe and help them unlock the potential of their biggest asset - people," Anand wrote on his LinkedIn profile. The spokeswoman said: "We're thrilled that Karandeep is joining Workplace as its new head of Workplace, effectively immediately. "Karandeep joins Workplace from Marketplace, and brings with him a wealth of experience from both a consumer and enterprise background. We're excited to have him on board". In its two years of existence, Workplace by Facebook has big-name customers like Walmart, Starbucks and Chevron, the report said. However, it is behind its rivals like Microsoft and Slack in the enterprise communications software market. Workplace is used by 30,000 organisations, according to a Facebook report in October 2017. Microsoft Teams is used by 329,000 organisations while Slack by 500,000 organisations, including 70,000 paying organisations, the CNBC report added.

Facebook appoints Indian-origin executive Karandeep Anand as head of its enterprise communication tool ‘Workplace’

Dozens of civil rights groups on Tuesday called on Facebook to purge Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg from its board for blunders including "weaponizing anti-Semitism."

Advocacy and rights group took direct aim at Zuckerberg and Sandberg for Facebook enlisting Definers Public Affairs to conduct research on company critics.

"You retained the services of Definers Public Affairs to investigate, undermine and attack our allies, mimicking the tactics of the worst, disreputable political operatives and hate groups," read the letter.

"It's an absolute disgrace that Facebook sought to deflect criticism and discredit advocates by exploiting anti-Semitic campaigns against philanthropist George Soros."

The letter called on Zuckerberg and Sandberg to step down from the Facebook board as long as they serve as top executives and to expand the board with members reflecting the social network's diverse global community.

The 32 groups signed to the letter included Arab American Institute; Bend the Arc Jewish Action; Freedom From Facebook, Media Matters for America; MomsRising; MoveOn NAACP; National LGBTQ Task Force, Southern Poverty Law Center, and The Sikh Coalition.

#LogOutFacebook 
The letter was sent the same day that the NAACP kicked off a "#LogoutFacebook" boycott of the social network to protest treatment of non-whites at the social network and in the workplace.

The NAACP called on the Congress to further investigate Facebook in the wake of a Senate Intelligence Committee report revealing that the Russian influence campaign “made an extraordinary effort to target African-Americans.”

"Facebook's engagement with partisan firms, its targeting of political opponents, the spread of misinformation and the utilization of Facebook for propaganda promoting disingenuous portrayals of the African American community is reprehensible," NAACP president Derrick Johnson said in a release.

Facebook's number two executive Sheryl Sandberg, long seen as the "adult" at the youthfully-managed firm, has found herself the center of controversy over her role in pushing back at a growing chorus of criticism of the social media giant.

A prominent feminist and author with strong political connections, Sandberg has drawn fire in particular over an embarrassing effort to probe Soros, the billionaire investor, after he assailed the online network as a "menace to society."

Chief executive Zuckerberg has also been targeted by critics who consider him accountable for the actions of the company.

Reports commissioned by the US Senate and unveiled Monday said that propaganda campaigns conducted by Russia across a gamut of social networks before the US presidential election in 2016 included tactics aimed at discouraging black people from voting.

Facebook released an internal civil rights audit on Tuesday, along with a message from Sandberg vowing that they are a priority at the social network.

"As a direct response to feedback from civil rights advocates, we are focusing on voter suppression as a distinct civil rights challenge and will continue this work to be better prepared for future elections," Sandberg said.

Dozens of civil rights groups on Tuesday called on Facebook to purge Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg from its board for blunders including "weaponizing anti-Semitism.

Dozens of civil rights groups on Tuesday called on Facebook to purge Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg from its board for blunders including "weaponizing anti-Semitism." Advocacy and rights group took direct aim at Zuckerberg and Sandberg for Facebook enlisting Definers Public Affairs to conduct research on company critics. "You retained the services of Definers Public Affairs to investigate, undermine and attack our allies, mimicking the tactics of the worst, disreputable political operatives and hate groups," read the letter. "It's an absolute disgrace that Facebook sought to deflect criticism and discredit advocates by exploiting anti-Semitic campaigns against philanthropist George Soros." The letter called on Zuckerberg and Sandberg to step down from the Facebook board as long as they serve as top executives and to expand the board with members reflecting the social network's diverse global community. The 32 groups signed to the letter included Arab American Institute; Bend the Arc Jewish Action; Freedom From Facebook, Media Matters for America; MomsRising; MoveOn NAACP; National LGBTQ Task Force, Southern Poverty Law Center, and The Sikh Coalition. #LogOutFacebook The letter was sent the same day that the NAACP kicked off a "#LogoutFacebook" boycott of the social network to protest treatment of non-whites at the social network and in the workplace. The NAACP called on the Congress to further investigate Facebook in the wake of a Senate Intelligence Committee report revealing that the Russian influence campaign “made an extraordinary effort to target African-Americans.” "Facebook's engagement with partisan firms, its targeting of political opponents, the spread of misinformation and the utilization of Facebook for propaganda promoting disingenuous portrayals of the African American community is reprehensible," NAACP president Derrick Johnson said in a release. Facebook's number two executive Sheryl Sandberg, long seen as the "adult" at the youthfully-managed firm, has found herself the center of controversy over her role in pushing back at a growing chorus of criticism of the social media giant. A prominent feminist and author with strong political connections, Sandberg has drawn fire in particular over an embarrassing effort to probe Soros, the billionaire investor, after he assailed the online network as a "menace to society." Chief executive Zuckerberg has also been targeted by critics who consider him accountable for the actions of the company. Reports commissioned by the US Senate and unveiled Monday said that propaganda campaigns conducted by Russia across a gamut of social networks before the US presidential election in 2016 included tactics aimed at discouraging black people from voting. Facebook released an internal civil rights audit on Tuesday, along with a message from Sandberg vowing that they are a priority at the social network. "As a direct response to feedback from civil rights advocates, we are focusing on voter suppression as a distinct civil rights challenge and will continue this work to be better prepared for future elections," Sandberg said.

Civil rights groups call on Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg to step down

Facebook Inc said on Friday it has discovered a bug that may have affected up to 6.8 million people who used Facebook login to grant permission to third-party apps to access photos.

The company said in a blog that the problem has been fixed but that it may have affected up to 1,500 apps built by 876 developers.

Facebook said some third-party apps may have gained access to broader set of photos than usual for 12 days between September 13 to September 25.

The bug is the latest in a string of privacy problems the tech giant disclosed this year, including the massive Cambridge Analytica data scandal in April and a data breach of nearly 30 million accounts in October.

Facebook shares were down 1.3 per cent at $143.07 in early trading on Friday. The Nasdaq composite index fell 0.9 per cent.

Facebook Inc said on Friday it has discovered a bug that may have affected up to 6.8 million people who used Facebook login to grant permission to third-party apps to access photos.

Facebook Inc said on Friday it has discovered a bug that may have affected up to 6.8 million people who used Facebook login to grant permission to third-party apps to access photos. The company said in a blog that the problem has been fixed but that it may have affected up to 1,500 apps built by 876 developers. Facebook said some third-party apps may have gained access to broader set of photos than usual for 12 days between September 13 to September 25. The bug is the latest in a string of privacy problems the tech giant disclosed this year, including the massive Cambridge Analytica data scandal in April and a data breach of nearly 30 million accounts in October. Facebook shares were down 1.3 per cent at $143.07 in early trading on Friday. The Nasdaq composite index fell 0.9 per cent.

Facebook discovers bug that may have affected up to 6.8 million users

A British parliamentary committee accused Facebook on Wednesday of giving companies such as Netflix preferential access to users' data even after it tightened its privacy rules in 2014-15.

The UK parliament's select media committee published more than 200 pages of internal Facebook emails it has acquired while probing how the giant was being used to manipulate major election results.

The emails feature in a case being heard in a California court filed against the giant by the now-defunct US app developer Six4Three.

Committee chair Damian Collins said it was not clear from the private exchanges between Facebook and app developers whether users were aware that their friends list and other private information was being used.

"Facebook has clearly entered into whitelisting agreements with certain companies, which meant that after the platform changes in 2014/15 they maintained full access to friends data," Collins wrote in an accompanying note.

"The idea of linking access to friends data to the financial value of the developers relationship with Facebook is a recurring feature of the documents."

Facebook said in a statement released to AFP that the Six4Three emails "are only part of the story and are presented in a way that is very misleading without additional context".

The social media behemoth launched a public campaign in 2014 aimed at easing user concerns about data breaches.

But the emails suggest that Facebook followed a set policy of selling the information to a select group of major app developers even after the platform changes were fully deployed in 2015.

The emails show Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg mulling charging app developers for data access in 2012.

Facebook's director of developer platforms and programs Konstantinos Papamiltiadis told AFP last week that the company "has never sold anyone's data".

A British parliamentary committee accused Facebook on Wednesday of giving companies such as Netflix preferential access to users' data even after it tightened its privacy rules in 2014-15.

A British parliamentary committee accused Facebook on Wednesday of giving companies such as Netflix preferential access to users' data even after it tightened its privacy rules in 2014-15. The UK parliament's select media committee published more than 200 pages of internal Facebook emails it has acquired while probing how the giant was being used to manipulate major election results. The emails feature in a case being heard in a California court filed against the giant by the now-defunct US app developer Six4Three. Committee chair Damian Collins said it was not clear from the private exchanges between Facebook and app developers whether users were aware that their friends list and other private information was being used. "Facebook has clearly entered into whitelisting agreements with certain companies, which meant that after the platform changes in 2014/15 they maintained full access to friends data," Collins wrote in an accompanying note. "The idea of linking access to friends data to the financial value of the developers relationship with Facebook is a recurring feature of the documents." Facebook said in a statement released to AFP that the Six4Three emails "are only part of the story and are presented in a way that is very misleading without additional context". The social media behemoth launched a public campaign in 2014 aimed at easing user concerns about data breaches. But the emails suggest that Facebook followed a set policy of selling the information to a select group of major app developers even after the platform changes were fully deployed in 2015. The emails show Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg mulling charging app developers for data access in 2012. Facebook's director of developer platforms and programs Konstantinos Papamiltiadis told AFP last week that the company "has never sold anyone's data".

Facebook accused of giving access to users' data

Facebook on Wednesday said it considered charging application makers to access data at the social network.

Such a move would have been a major shift away from the policy of not selling Facebook members' information, which the social network has stressed in the face of criticism alleging it is more interested in making money than protecting privacy.

"To be clear, Facebook has never sold anyone's data," director of developer platforms and programs Konstantinos Papamiltiadis said in response to an AFP inquiry.

"Our APIs have always been free of charge and we have never required developers to pay for using them, either directly or by buying advertising."

The Wall Street Journal reported that internal emails indicating that Facebook mulled charging companies for access to user data were referred to in a lawsuit filed against the social network in 2015 by Six4Three, creator of a failed app called "Pikinis."

The application enabled users to find Facebook pictures of people in bathing suits, taking advantage of an API feature that let apps access the data of social network users as well as their friends.

The suit accuses Facebook of abusing its power over user data. Most of the documents filed in the case have been sealed by a California judge at Facebook's request.

Some emails indicated Facebook employees discussed providing increased access of user information to advertisers in return for spending more money on the social network, according to the WSJ.

"The documents Six4Three gathered for this baseless case are only part of the story and are presented in a way that is very misleading without additional context," Papamiltiadis said.

Cambridge Analytica

Facebook early on adopted a practice of letting developers use APIs (application programming interfaces) to plug into the social network for free and connect to user data to enhance the online gathering place with games, services and more.

Facebook went public on the stock market in early 2012, and subsequently considered ways it might be able to increase revenue, opting not to charge developers for access to the social network.

Facebook in August said it has suspended more than 400 out of thousands of applications it has investigated to determine whether people's personal information was being improperly shared.

Applications were suspended "due to concerns around the developers who built them or how the information people chose to share with the app may have been used," according to a blog post.

Facebook contended that the suit by Six4Three is aimed at compelling the social network to provide the kind of access to friends' data that was taken advantage of in the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal.

Facebook admitted that up to 87 million users may have had their data hijacked by Cambridge Analytica, which was working for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

Facebook has modified app data sharing policies since the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

"We stand by the platform changes we made in 2015 to stop a person from sharing their friends' data with developers," Papamiltiadis said.

Facebook on Wednesday said it considered charging application makers to access data at the social network. Such a move would have been a major shift away from the policy of not selling Facebook members' information, which the social network has stressed in the face of criticism alleging it is more interested in making money than protecting privacy.

Facebook on Wednesday said it considered charging application makers to access data at the social network. Such a move would have been a major shift away from the policy of not selling Facebook members' information, which the social network has stressed in the face of criticism alleging it is more interested in making money than protecting privacy. "To be clear, Facebook has never sold anyone's data," director of developer platforms and programs Konstantinos Papamiltiadis said in response to an AFP inquiry. "Our APIs have always been free of charge and we have never required developers to pay for using them, either directly or by buying advertising." The Wall Street Journal reported that internal emails indicating that Facebook mulled charging companies for access to user data were referred to in a lawsuit filed against the social network in 2015 by Six4Three, creator of a failed app called "Pikinis." The application enabled users to find Facebook pictures of people in bathing suits, taking advantage of an API feature that let apps access the data of social network users as well as their friends. The suit accuses Facebook of abusing its power over user data. Most of the documents filed in the case have been sealed by a California judge at Facebook's request. Some emails indicated Facebook employees discussed providing increased access of user information to advertisers in return for spending more money on the social network, according to the WSJ. "The documents Six4Three gathered for this baseless case are only part of the story and are presented in a way that is very misleading without additional context," Papamiltiadis said. Cambridge Analytica Facebook early on adopted a practice of letting developers use APIs (application programming interfaces) to plug into the social network for free and connect to user data to enhance the online gathering place with games, services and more. Facebook went public on the stock market in early 2012, and subsequently considered ways it might be able to increase revenue, opting not to charge developers for access to the social network. Facebook in August said it has suspended more than 400 out of thousands of applications it has investigated to determine whether people's personal information was being improperly shared. Applications were suspended "due to concerns around the developers who built them or how the information people chose to share with the app may have been used," according to a blog post. Facebook contended that the suit by Six4Three is aimed at compelling the social network to provide the kind of access to friends' data that was taken advantage of in the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal. Facebook admitted that up to 87 million users may have had their data hijacked by Cambridge Analytica, which was working for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Facebook has modified app data sharing policies since the Cambridge Analytica scandal. "We stand by the platform changes we made in 2015 to stop a person from sharing their friends' data with developers," Papamiltiadis said.

Facebook mulled charging for access to user data

Facebook vice president <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/facebooks-zuckerberg-says-he-is-not-considering-resigning-178571">Richard Allen today told an international</a> parliamentary committee hosted at the House of Commons in UK on disinformation and fake news that the social media giant had “damaged public trust through some of the actions we’ve taken.”

The company is being investigated after a British consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica obtained the personal data of 87 million Facebook users igniting worldwide condemnation.

The committee comprising of members belonging to Canada, Ireland, Brazil, France including twenty-four representatives from nine countries grilled the Facebook vice-president as he answered a barrage of questions put forth by the members.

Lawmakers criticised Zuckerberg for not being present at the hearing.

Canadian lawmaker Charlie Angus said: "Mr Zuckerberg's decision not to appear here at Westminster (Britain's parliament) to me speaks volumes."

Allen apologised to members for founder Mark Zuckerberg's absence. “Our intent is to be there to answer the questions that you have for us, and for some appearances, Mr Zuckerberg has made himself available but not for every appearance and apologise for that.”

"We've never seen anything quite like Facebook, where, while we were playing on our phones and apps, our democratic institutions ... seem to have been upended by frat-boy billionaires from California," Canadian lawmaker Charlie Angus said.

Canadian MP Bob Zimmer pointed out that the public had lost its trust on the company and that it could not be trusted to police itself to which Allen said: "I’m not going to disagree with you that we’ve damaged public trust through some of the actions we’ve taken."

"Just for the record, on the issue of the hiring of this outside firm [Definers Public Affairs], Mr Zuckerberg himself said it was not what he expected of us and he was not personally responsible for the hiring.”

On the question posed by committee chairman Bob Zimmer on Russians allegedly pulling down huge amount of data from the platform, Allen said he would get back to the committee with the answers.

Damian Collins, chair of the culture committee alleged that a Facebook engineer had "notified the company in October 2014 that entities with Russian IP addresses have been using a Pinterest API key to pull over 3 billion data points a day."

Allan said the documents were "a partial set of information that was obtained by a hostile litigant."

"Any information that you have seen that's contained within that cache of emails is at best partial and at worst potentially misleading," he said.

Facebook in a statement said: "the engineers who had flagged these initial concerns subsequently looked into this further and found no evidence of specific Russian activity".

Facebook vice president Richard Allen today told an international parliamentary committee hosted at the House of Commons in UK on disinformation and fake news that the social media giant had “damaged public trust through some of the actions we’ve taken.

Facebook vice president Richard Allen today told an international parliamentary committee hosted at the House of Commons in UK on disinformation and fake news that the social media giant had “damaged public trust through some of the actions we’ve taken.” The company is being investigated after a British consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica obtained the personal data of 87 million Facebook users igniting worldwide condemnation. The committee comprising of members belonging to Canada, Ireland, Brazil, France including twenty-four representatives from nine countries grilled the Facebook vice-president as he answered a barrage of questions put forth by the members. Lawmakers criticised Zuckerberg for not being present at the hearing. Canadian lawmaker Charlie Angus said: "Mr Zuckerberg's decision not to appear here at Westminster (Britain's parliament) to me speaks volumes." Allen apologised to members for founder Mark Zuckerberg's absence. “Our intent is to be there to answer the questions that you have for us, and for some appearances, Mr Zuckerberg has made himself available but not for every appearance and apologise for that.” "We've never seen anything quite like Facebook, where, while we were playing on our phones and apps, our democratic institutions ... seem to have been upended by frat-boy billionaires from California," Canadian lawmaker Charlie Angus said. Canadian MP Bob Zimmer pointed out that the public had lost its trust on the company and that it could not be trusted to police itself to which Allen said: "I’m not going to disagree with you that we’ve damaged public trust through some of the actions we’ve taken." "Just for the record, on the issue of the hiring of this outside firm [Definers Public Affairs], Mr Zuckerberg himself said it was not what he expected of us and he was not personally responsible for the hiring.” On the question posed by committee chairman Bob Zimmer on Russians allegedly pulling down huge amount of data from the platform, Allen said he would get back to the committee with the answers. Damian Collins, chair of the culture committee alleged that a Facebook engineer had "notified the company in October 2014 that entities with Russian IP addresses have been using a Pinterest API key to pull over 3 billion data points a day." Allan said the documents were "a partial set of information that was obtained by a hostile litigant." "Any information that you have seen that's contained within that cache of emails is at best partial and at worst potentially misleading," he said. Facebook in a statement said: "the engineers who had flagged these initial concerns subsequently looked into this further and found no evidence of specific Russian activity".

We damaged public trust, admits Facebook vice president as Zuckerberg avoids international parliamentary panel

UK parliament accesses documents Facebook tried to keep private

Embattled Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday he has no plans to resign, sounding defiant after a rough year for the social platform.

"That's not the plan," Zuckerberg told CNN Business when asked if he would consider stepping down as chairman.

He also defended Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, who has drawn criticism over her handling of the social media giant's recent crises.

"Sheryl is a really important part of this company and is leading a lot of the efforts for a lot of the biggest issues we have," said Zuckerberg.

"She's been an important partner to me for 10 years. I'm really proud of the work we've done together and I hope that we work together for decades more to come." Facebook has stumbled from one mess to another this year as it grappled with continuing fallout from Russia's use of the platform to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election, the Cambridge Analytica scandal in which user data was harnessed in a bid to help candidate Donald Trump, and a huge security breach involving millions of accounts.

Most recently, an investigative piece published last week by The New York Times said Facebook misled the public about what it knew about Russia's election meddling and used a PR firm to spread negative stories about other Silicon Valley companies and thus deflect anger away from itself.

"It is not clear to me at all that the report is right," Zuckerberg said of the Times article.

"A lot of the things that were in that report, we talked to the reporters ahead of time and told them that from everything that we'd seen, that wasn't true and they chose to print it anyway." Zuckerberg also defended his company against the broader wave of flak it has taken this year.

"A lot of the criticism around the biggest issues has been fair, but I do think that if we are going to be real, there is this bigger picture as well, which is that we have a different world view than some of the folks who are covering us," he said.

"There are big issues, and I'm not trying to say that there aren't... But I do think that sometimes, you can get the flavour from some of the coverage that that's all there is, and I don't think that that's right either."

Embattled Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday he has no plans to resign, sounding defiant after a rough year for the social platform. "That's not the plan," Zuckerberg told CNN Business when asked if he would consider stepping down as chairman.

Embattled Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday he has no plans to resign, sounding defiant after a rough year for the social platform. "That's not the plan," Zuckerberg told CNN Business when asked if he would consider stepping down as chairman. He also defended Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, who has drawn criticism over her handling of the social media giant's recent crises. "Sheryl is a really important part of this company and is leading a lot of the efforts for a lot of the biggest issues we have," said Zuckerberg. "She's been an important partner to me for 10 years. I'm really proud of the work we've done together and I hope that we work together for decades more to come." Facebook has stumbled from one mess to another this year as it grappled with continuing fallout from Russia's use of the platform to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election, the Cambridge Analytica scandal in which user data was harnessed in a bid to help candidate Donald Trump, and a huge security breach involving millions of accounts. Most recently, an investigative piece published last week by The New York Times said Facebook misled the public about what it knew about Russia's election meddling and used a PR firm to spread negative stories about other Silicon Valley companies and thus deflect anger away from itself. "It is not clear to me at all that the report is right," Zuckerberg said of the Times article. "A lot of the things that were in that report, we talked to the reporters ahead of time and told them that from everything that we'd seen, that wasn't true and they chose to print it anyway." Zuckerberg also defended his company against the broader wave of flak it has taken this year. "A lot of the criticism around the biggest issues has been fair, but I do think that if we are going to be real, there is this bigger picture as well, which is that we have a different world view than some of the folks who are covering us," he said. "There are big issues, and I'm not trying to say that there aren't... But I do think that sometimes, you can get the flavour from some of the coverage that that's all there is, and I don't think that that's right either."

Facebook's Zuckerberg says he is not considering resigning

Facebook investors have called on the company's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to step down as chairman following reports that the company hired a public relations firm to smear its critics, a media report said on Saturday.

The New York Times recently published a report revealing that Facebook at times smeared critics as anti-Semitic or tried to link activists to billionaire investor George Soros, and tried to shift public anger away toward rival tech firms.

It also said that the company also used a Republican public relations firm, Definers Public Affairs, to help repair its battered reputation following intense criticism of the social media platform's handling of a scandal over Russian interference in the 2016 US elections and the Cambridge Analytica scandal, The Telegraph reported.&nbsp;

Jonas Kron, a senior vice president at Trillium Asset Management, a US investor which owns an ?8.5m stake in Facebook, last night called on Zuckerberg to step down as board chairman in the wake of the report, the paper said.

"Facebook is behaving like it's a special snowflake," the paper quoted him as saying.

"It's not. It is a company and companies need to have a separation of chair and CEO," he said.

The attack on Zuckerberg is set to complicate the daunting challenge facing Sir Nick Clegg, Facebook's new global head of policy and communications, who joined last month and has been asked to conduct a review of Facebook's use of lobbying firms.

Definers allegedly encouraged the depiction of Facebook's critics as anti-Semites and had published news articles criticising Facebook's competitors.&nbsp;

The business has also been accused of attempting to encourage journalists to report that anti-Facebook groups were linked to Mr Soros, the paper said.

In a call with journalists on Thursday, Zuckerberg denied knowing that his business had hired the firm.&nbsp;

"As soon as I learned about this, I talked to our team and we are no longer working with this firm," he said.&nbsp;

Kron said the new revelations about Facebook's use of Definers offered fresh reasons for Mr Zuckerberg to relinquish his dual role as chairman and chief executive.

"The latest report should remove any lingering doubts that some may have had," he said.

Zuckerberg has retained a high level of control over the social networking business which he founded in 2004 due to his combined role and his ownership of a stake representing 60pc of the company's voting shares, the report said.

Facebook investors have called on the company's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to step down as chairman following reports that the company hired a public relations firm to smear its critics, a media report said on Saturday.

Facebook investors have called on the company's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to step down as chairman following reports that the company hired a public relations firm to smear its critics, a media report said on Saturday. The New York Times recently published a report revealing that Facebook at times smeared critics as anti-Semitic or tried to link activists to billionaire investor George Soros, and tried to shift public anger away toward rival tech firms. It also said that the company also used a Republican public relations firm, Definers Public Affairs, to help repair its battered reputation following intense criticism of the social media platform's handling of a scandal over Russian interference in the 2016 US elections and the Cambridge Analytica scandal, The Telegraph reported. Jonas Kron, a senior vice president at Trillium Asset Management, a US investor which owns an ?8.5m stake in Facebook, last night called on Zuckerberg to step down as board chairman in the wake of the report, the paper said. "Facebook is behaving like it's a special snowflake," the paper quoted him as saying. "It's not. It is a company and companies need to have a separation of chair and CEO," he said. The attack on Zuckerberg is set to complicate the daunting challenge facing Sir Nick Clegg, Facebook's new global head of policy and communications, who joined last month and has been asked to conduct a review of Facebook's use of lobbying firms. Definers allegedly encouraged the depiction of Facebook's critics as anti-Semites and had published news articles criticising Facebook's competitors. The business has also been accused of attempting to encourage journalists to report that anti-Facebook groups were linked to Mr Soros, the paper said. In a call with journalists on Thursday, Zuckerberg denied knowing that his business had hired the firm. "As soon as I learned about this, I talked to our team and we are no longer working with this firm," he said. Kron said the new revelations about Facebook's use of Definers offered fresh reasons for Mr Zuckerberg to relinquish his dual role as chairman and chief executive. "The latest report should remove any lingering doubts that some may have had," he said. Zuckerberg has retained a high level of control over the social networking business which he founded in 2004 due to his combined role and his ownership of a stake representing 60pc of the company's voting shares, the report said.

Investors want Zuckerberg to step down after it emerged that Facebook tried to smear critics

Facebook Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday defended his response to Russian election meddling on the world's largest social media network and issued a new plan aimed at stifling misbehaviour while maintaining a vibrant hub for online speech.

His comments in a conference call with journalists and in a Facebook post followed a New York Times report on Wednesday that contended that he and other executives tried to deflect criticism internally and in Congress about Russian propaganda spreading through Facebook during the last three years.

Many US lawmakers said after the report that the government must regulate or investigate Facebook, which has become a daily source of information for more than 2 billion people globally.

Zuckerberg said on Thursday that he has acted swiftly to combat the Russian challenge and supports regulation that would encourage companies to reduce the prevalence of "harmful content."

He announced several self-regulatory measures, including rough plans to create an independent body by the end of 2019 to review appeals from users who contend their content was wrongly banned. Users also would get a new choice on whether they want to view "borderline content" in their news feeds, he said.

"I've increasingly come to believe that Facebook should not make so many important decisions about free expression and safety on our own," Zuckerberg wrote.

Facebook shares fell 0.3 per cent on Thursday, plus an additional 0.3 per cent after hours.

Increased regulation is among the biggest threats to Facebook, along with increasing user unease about the service being a safe and secure place to converse, according to financial analysts.

Company profit margins have narrowed in recent quarters as it executes Zuckerberg's initial plan to combat misbehaviour: spending aggressively on people and technology to bolster monitoring.

New plan, New data

Details of the appeals body are evolving, but the goal is to increase accountability of removal decisions and ensure they are not being driven by commercial reasons, Zuckerberg said.

Facebook's appeals process would expand to enable people who complain about content to seek second opinions if it is not removed initially. In addition, Facebook would become transparent about their rationale as well as policy changes, he said.

His announcement came as part of an update on Facebook's Transparency Report, which discloses how the company deals with inappropriate content and requests for user data by governments.

For the first time, Facebook on Thursday revealed data on bullying and harassment content, saying it had identified about 2.1 million such posts on its service between April and September, with about 15 per cent found proactively before user complaints.

Other notable updates included sharp rises during the first half of this year in censorship demands from Russian and Pakistan authorities and user data requests from Indian authorities, according to Facebook's statistics.

Facebook has been under for fire for the last two years for its self-admitted sluggishness in developing tools to combat extremist content and propaganda operations.

US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump by undermining Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Russia has denied any meddling in the election.

Western countries issued coordinated denunciations of Russia last month for running what they described as a global hacking campaign, which Russia has also denied.

The New York Times report, which revealed Facebook's use of a public relations firm to attack critics and rivals, prompted fresh criticism.

US Senator Amy Klobuchar said she will ask the Justice Department to look into whether the PR firm engaged in undisclosed political activity as lawmakers weighed new rules on Facebook.

Facebook stopped working with the firm Wednesday, when Zuckerberg said he became aware of it.

Scott Stringer, head of New York City Pension Funds, which holds Facebook shares, renewed a call for an independent board chair to replace Zuckerberg.

Facebook's board in a statement on Thursday credited Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg for making considerable progress fighting misuse of the social network. 
&nbsp;

Facebook Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday defended his response to Russian election meddling on the world's largest social media network and issued a new plan aimed at stifling misbehaviour while maintaining a vibrant hub for online speech.

Facebook Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday defended his response to Russian election meddling on the world's largest social media network and issued a new plan aimed at stifling misbehaviour while maintaining a vibrant hub for online speech. His comments in a conference call with journalists and in a Facebook post followed a New York Times report on Wednesday that contended that he and other executives tried to deflect criticism internally and in Congress about Russian propaganda spreading through Facebook during the last three years. Many US lawmakers said after the report that the government must regulate or investigate Facebook, which has become a daily source of information for more than 2 billion people globally. Zuckerberg said on Thursday that he has acted swiftly to combat the Russian challenge and supports regulation that would encourage companies to reduce the prevalence of "harmful content." He announced several self-regulatory measures, including rough plans to create an independent body by the end of 2019 to review appeals from users who contend their content was wrongly banned. Users also would get a new choice on whether they want to view "borderline content" in their news feeds, he said. "I've increasingly come to believe that Facebook should not make so many important decisions about free expression and safety on our own," Zuckerberg wrote. Facebook shares fell 0.3 per cent on Thursday, plus an additional 0.3 per cent after hours. Increased regulation is among the biggest threats to Facebook, along with increasing user unease about the service being a safe and secure place to converse, according to financial analysts. Company profit margins have narrowed in recent quarters as it executes Zuckerberg's initial plan to combat misbehaviour: spending aggressively on people and technology to bolster monitoring. New plan, New data Details of the appeals body are evolving, but the goal is to increase accountability of removal decisions and ensure they are not being driven by commercial reasons, Zuckerberg said. Facebook's appeals process would expand to enable people who complain about content to seek second opinions if it is not removed initially. In addition, Facebook would become transparent about their rationale as well as policy changes, he said. His announcement came as part of an update on Facebook's Transparency Report, which discloses how the company deals with inappropriate content and requests for user data by governments. For the first time, Facebook on Thursday revealed data on bullying and harassment content, saying it had identified about 2.1 million such posts on its service between April and September, with about 15 per cent found proactively before user complaints. Other notable updates included sharp rises during the first half of this year in censorship demands from Russian and Pakistan authorities and user data requests from Indian authorities, according to Facebook's statistics. Facebook has been under for fire for the last two years for its self-admitted sluggishness in developing tools to combat extremist content and propaganda operations. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump by undermining Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Russia has denied any meddling in the election. Western countries issued coordinated denunciations of Russia last month for running what they described as a global hacking campaign, which Russia has also denied. The New York Times report, which revealed Facebook's use of a public relations firm to attack critics and rivals, prompted fresh criticism. US Senator Amy Klobuchar said she will ask the Justice Department to look into whether the PR firm engaged in undisclosed political activity as lawmakers weighed new rules on Facebook. Facebook stopped working with the firm Wednesday, when Zuckerberg said he became aware of it. Scott Stringer, head of New York City Pension Funds, which holds Facebook shares, renewed a call for an independent board chair to replace Zuckerberg. Facebook's board in a statement on Thursday credited Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg for making considerable progress fighting misuse of the social network.

Facebook defends Russia response, updates plan to curb misbehaviour

Facebook announced Thursday it is creating an independent body to make potentially precedent-setting calls on what content should be yanked from the social network.

The announcement came as Facebook reported it has ramped up its ability to quickly detect "hate speech" and other posts violating community rules, with the leading social network under pressure from regulators in various countries and activists to root out abusive and inappropriate content.

"I have come to believe that we shouldn't be making so many decisions about free expression and safety on our own," Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a media briefing.

Content spied by artificial intelligence software or reported by users is now reviewed by an internal system that Facebook has been ramping up.

An independent body to be constituted in the coming year will act as a "higher court" of sorts, considering appeals of content removal decisions made by the social network, Zuckerberg said.

The composition of the appeals body along with how to keep it independent while remaining in line with Facebook principles and policies was to be determined in the coming year.

Facebook also planned next year to begin releasing content removal summaries quarterly in a tempo on par with earnings reports, according to executives.

"We have made progress getting hate, bullying and terrorism off our network," Zuckerberg said. "It's about finding the right balance between giving people a voice and keeping people safe."

Challenges faced by the California-based social network include the fact that people naturally tend to engage with more sensational content that, while perhaps at the edge of violating Facebook policies, are unhealthy for civilized discourse, according to Zuckerberg.

"We see this in cable news and tabloids too," Zuckerberg said."A lot of our work is to insure that borderline content that comes close to violating our content gets less attention not more."

Bullying represents a tougher challenge to AI systems, because it tends to be personal and subjective. For example, someone might playfully mock a friend in a post that could also be interpreted to be mean.

Detecting bullying or hate can also require understanding of the gamut of languages used at Facebook, along with cultural contexts.

"We are getting better at proactively identifying violating content before anyone reports it, specifically for hate speech and violence and graphic content," Facebook said in the new transparency report.

"But, there are still areas where we have more work to do." Facebook said that since its last transparency report, the amount of hate speech detected proactively, before anyone reported it, has more than doubled.

"The single biggest improvement comes from AI and machine learning," said product management vice president Guy Rosen.&nbsp;

Facebook announced Thursday it is creating an independent body to make potentially precedent-setting calls on what content should be yanked from the social network.

Facebook announced Thursday it is creating an independent body to make potentially precedent-setting calls on what content should be yanked from the social network. The announcement came as Facebook reported it has ramped up its ability to quickly detect "hate speech" and other posts violating community rules, with the leading social network under pressure from regulators in various countries and activists to root out abusive and inappropriate content. "I have come to believe that we shouldn't be making so many decisions about free expression and safety on our own," Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a media briefing. Content spied by artificial intelligence software or reported by users is now reviewed by an internal system that Facebook has been ramping up. An independent body to be constituted in the coming year will act as a "higher court" of sorts, considering appeals of content removal decisions made by the social network, Zuckerberg said. The composition of the appeals body along with how to keep it independent while remaining in line with Facebook principles and policies was to be determined in the coming year. Facebook also planned next year to begin releasing content removal summaries quarterly in a tempo on par with earnings reports, according to executives. "We have made progress getting hate, bullying and terrorism off our network," Zuckerberg said. "It's about finding the right balance between giving people a voice and keeping people safe." Challenges faced by the California-based social network include the fact that people naturally tend to engage with more sensational content that, while perhaps at the edge of violating Facebook policies, are unhealthy for civilized discourse, according to Zuckerberg. "We see this in cable news and tabloids too," Zuckerberg said."A lot of our work is to insure that borderline content that comes close to violating our content gets less attention not more." Bullying represents a tougher challenge to AI systems, because it tends to be personal and subjective. For example, someone might playfully mock a friend in a post that could also be interpreted to be mean. Detecting bullying or hate can also require understanding of the gamut of languages used at Facebook, along with cultural contexts. "We are getting better at proactively identifying violating content before anyone reports it, specifically for hate speech and violence and graphic content," Facebook said in the new transparency report. "But, there are still areas where we have more work to do." Facebook said that since its last transparency report, the amount of hate speech detected proactively, before anyone reported it, has more than doubled. "The single biggest improvement comes from AI and machine learning," said product management vice president Guy Rosen.

Facebook to launch independent body for calls on content

France's smart regulation of Facebook to combat hate speech

Facebook will allow French regulators to "embed" inside the company to examine how it combats online hate speech, the first time the wary tech giant has opened its doors in such a way, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.

From January, Macron's administration will send a small team of senior civil servants to the company for six months to verify Facebook's goodwill and determine whether its checks on racist, sexist or hate-fuelled speech could be improved.

"It's a first," Macron told the annual Internet Governance Forum in Paris. "I'm delighted by this very innovative experimental approach," he said. "It's an experiment, but a very important first step in my view."

The trial project is an example of what Macron has called "smart regulation", something he wants to extend to other tech leaders such as Google, Apple and Amazon.<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K2BX9W3Ygaw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The move follows a meeting with Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg in May, when Macron invited the CEOs of some of the biggest tech firms to Paris, telling them they should work for the common good.

The officials may be seconded from the telecoms regulator and the interior and justice ministries, a government source said. Facebook said the selection was up to the French presidency.

It is unclear whether the group will have access to highly-sensitive material such as Facebook's algorithms or codes to remove hate speech. It could travel to Facebook's European headquarters in Dublin and global base in Menlo Park, California if necessary, the company said.

"The best way to ensure that any regulation is smart and works for people is by governments, regulators and businesses working together to learn from each other and explore ideas," Nick Clegg, the former British deputy prime minister who is now head of Facebook's global affairs, said in a statement.

France's approach to hate speech has contrasted sharply with Germany, Europe's leading advocate of privacy.

Since January, Berlin has required sites to remove banned content within 24 hours or face fines of up to 50 million euros ($56 million). That has led to accusations of censorship.

France's use of embedded regulators is modelled on what happens in its banking and nuclear industries.

"(Tech companies) now have the choice between something that is smart but intrusive and regulation that is wicked and plain stupid," a French official said.

Facebook will allow French regulators to "embed" inside the company to examine how it combats online hate speech, the first time the wary tech giant has opened its doors in such a way, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.

Facebook will allow French regulators to "embed" inside the company to examine how it combats online hate speech, the first time the wary tech giant has opened its doors in such a way, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday. From January, Macron's administration will send a small team of senior civil servants to the company for six months to verify Facebook's goodwill and determine whether its checks on racist, sexist or hate-fuelled speech could be improved. "It's a first," Macron told the annual Internet Governance Forum in Paris. "I'm delighted by this very innovative experimental approach," he said. "It's an experiment, but a very important first step in my view." The trial project is an example of what Macron has called "smart regulation", something he wants to extend to other tech leaders such as Google, Apple and Amazon. The move follows a meeting with Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg in May, when Macron invited the CEOs of some of the biggest tech firms to Paris, telling them they should work for the common good. The officials may be seconded from the telecoms regulator and the interior and justice ministries, a government source said. Facebook said the selection was up to the French presidency. It is unclear whether the group will have access to highly-sensitive material such as Facebook's algorithms or codes to remove hate speech. It could travel to Facebook's European headquarters in Dublin and global base in Menlo Park, California if necessary, the company said. "The best way to ensure that any regulation is smart and works for people is by governments, regulators and businesses working together to learn from each other and explore ideas," Nick Clegg, the former British deputy prime minister who is now head of Facebook's global affairs, said in a statement. France's approach to hate speech has contrasted sharply with Germany, Europe's leading advocate of privacy. Since January, Berlin has required sites to remove banned content within 24 hours or face fines of up to 50 million euros ($56 million). That has led to accusations of censorship. France's use of embedded regulators is modelled on what happens in its banking and nuclear industries. "(Tech companies) now have the choice between something that is smart but intrusive and regulation that is wicked and plain stupid," a French official said.

Watch: France to 'embed' regulators at Facebook to combat hate speech

The US stock market saw a bloodbath on Wednesday after&nbsp;tech-heavy Nasdaq saw the worst decline since 2011 with a series of selloffs erasing all gains of 2018. Nasdaq&nbsp;plunged to 4.4 per cent to close at 7,108.4.

Most of the panic selling happened in the last hour of the trading day as things went from bad to worse pretty quickly with technology shares hitting the hardest.

Amazon lost 4.1 per cent, Facebook 4.9 per cent, Google-parent Alphabet 4.1 per cent and Netflix 8.7 per cent, AFP reported.

According to a report by Bloomberg, world's richest person, Jeff Bezos&nbsp;lost $8.2 billion reducing his net worth to $138 billion while Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's fortune went down by $3.2 billion. Over $33 billion was wiped from the fortunes of the technology sector's 61 richest people in one day.

Google co-founder Larry Page and Sergey Brin's fortune went down by a combined $4.5 billion.

Investors have been unnerved by a myriad of issues including some disappointing earnings reports, uncertainty over Brexit, Italy's budget spat with the European Commission, upcoming US&nbsp;midterm congressional elections and pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing of a prominent journalist, Reuters reported.

The US stock market saw a bloodbath on Wednesday after tech-heavy Nasdaq saw the worst decline since 2011 with a series of selloffs erasing all gains of 2018. Nasdaq plunged to 4.

The US stock market saw a bloodbath on Wednesday after tech-heavy Nasdaq saw the worst decline since 2011 with a series of selloffs erasing all gains of 2018. Nasdaq plunged to 4.4 per cent to close at 7,108.4. Most of the panic selling happened in the last hour of the trading day as things went from bad to worse pretty quickly with technology shares hitting the hardest. Amazon lost 4.1 per cent, Facebook 4.9 per cent, Google-parent Alphabet 4.1 per cent and Netflix 8.7 per cent, AFP reported. According to a report by Bloomberg, world's richest person, Jeff Bezos lost $8.2 billion reducing his net worth to $138 billion while Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's fortune went down by $3.2 billion. Over $33 billion was wiped from the fortunes of the technology sector's 61 richest people in one day. Google co-founder Larry Page and Sergey Brin's fortune went down by a combined $4.5 billion. Investors have been unnerved by a myriad of issues including some disappointing earnings reports, uncertainty over Brexit, Italy's budget spat with the European Commission, upcoming US midterm congressional elections and pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing of a prominent journalist, Reuters reported.

How much Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg lost in worst day of Nasdaq trading since 2011?

Facebook Inc has hired former UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to lead its global affairs and communications team, as the social network deals with a number of scandals related to privacy, fake news and election meddling.

The appointment makes Clegg, former leader of Britain's Liberal Democrats and deputy to David Cameron between 2010 and 2015, the most senior European politician ever in a leadership role in Silicon Valley.

Facebook said Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg were closely involved in the hiring process, and started talking to Clegg over the summer.

"Our company is on a critical journey. The challenges we face are serious and clear and now more than ever we need new perspectives to help us though this time of change," Sandberg said on a Facebook post congratulating Clegg.

Clegg, 51, succeeds Elliot Schrage and will report to Sandberg beginning Monday.

Clegg was ousted as deputy prime minister after the Conservatives won a majority in 2015 in an election that saw his party suffer a significant loss of support. Clegg lost his own seat in Britain's parliament in a general election last year.

"Throughout my public life I have relished grappling with difficult and controversial issues and seeking to communicate them to others. I hope to use some of those skills in my new role," Clegg said in a Facebook post.

Schrage, who led the social network's response to its several scandals, stepped down from the role in June after a decade with the company. Schrage will stay as an adviser, Facebook said.

Facebook has faced a barrage of criticism from users and lawmakers after it said last year that Russian agents used its platform to spread disinformation before and after the 2016 US&nbsp;presidential election, an accusation Moscow denies.

In March, the company faced new scrutiny over how it protects personal information after acknowledging that the data of up to 87 million people ended up in the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook Inc has hired former UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to lead its global affairs and communications team, as the social network deals with a number of scandals related to privacy, fake news and election meddling.

Facebook Inc has hired former UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to lead its global affairs and communications team, as the social network deals with a number of scandals related to privacy, fake news and election meddling. The appointment makes Clegg, former leader of Britain's Liberal Democrats and deputy to David Cameron between 2010 and 2015, the most senior European politician ever in a leadership role in Silicon Valley. Facebook said Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg were closely involved in the hiring process, and started talking to Clegg over the summer. "Our company is on a critical journey. The challenges we face are serious and clear and now more than ever we need new perspectives to help us though this time of change," Sandberg said on a Facebook post congratulating Clegg. Clegg, 51, succeeds Elliot Schrage and will report to Sandberg beginning Monday. Clegg was ousted as deputy prime minister after the Conservatives won a majority in 2015 in an election that saw his party suffer a significant loss of support. Clegg lost his own seat in Britain's parliament in a general election last year. "Throughout my public life I have relished grappling with difficult and controversial issues and seeking to communicate them to others. I hope to use some of those skills in my new role," Clegg said in a Facebook post. Schrage, who led the social network's response to its several scandals, stepped down from the role in June after a decade with the company. Schrage will stay as an adviser, Facebook said. Facebook has faced a barrage of criticism from users and lawmakers after it said last year that Russian agents used its platform to spread disinformation before and after the 2016 US presidential election, an accusation Moscow denies. In March, the company faced new scrutiny over how it protects personal information after acknowledging that the data of up to 87 million people ended up in the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook hires former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg as head of global affairs

In Facebook's "War Room," a nondescript space adorned with American and Brazilian flags, a team of 20 people monitors computer screens for signs of suspicious activity.

The freshly launched unit at Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters in California is the nerve center for the fight against misinformation and manipulation of the largest social network by foreign actors trying to influence elections in the United States and elsewhere.

Inside, the walls have clocks showing the time in various regions of the US and Brazil, maps and TV screens showing CNN, Fox News and Twitter, and other monitors showing graphs of Facebook activity in real time.

Facebook, which has been blamed for doing too little to prevent misinformation efforts by Russia and others in the 2016 US election, now wants the world to know it is taking aggressive steps with initiatives like the war room.

"Our job is to detect ... anyone trying to manipulate the public debate," said Nathaniel Gleicher, a former White House cybersecurity policy director for the National Security Council who is now heading Facebook's cybersecurity policy.

"We work to find and remove these actors."

Facebook has been racing to get measures in place and began operating this nerve center -- with a hastily taped "WAR ROOM" sign on the glass door -- for the first round of the presidential vote in Brazil on October 7.

It didn't take long to find false information and rumors being spread which could have had an impact on voters in Brazil.

"On election day, we saw a spike in voter suppression (messages) saying the election was delayed due to protests. That was not a true story," said Samidh Chakrabarti, Facebook's head of civic engagement.

Chakrabarti said Facebook was able to remove these posts in a couple of hours before they went viral.

"It could have taken days."

Humans and machines

At the unveiling of the war room for a small group of journalists including AFP this week, a man in a gray pork pie hat kept his eyes glued to his screen where a Brazilian flag was attached.

He said nothing but his mission was obvious -- watching for any hints of interference with the second round of voting in Brazil on October 28.

The war room, which will ramp up activity for the November 6 midterm US elections, is the most concrete sign of Facebook's efforts to weed out misinformation.

With experts in computer science, cybersecurity and legal specialists, the center is operating during peak times for the US and Brazil at present, with plans to eventually work 24/7.

The war room adds a human dimension to the artificial intelligence tools Facebook has already deployed to detect inauthentic or manipulative activity.

"Humans can adapt quickly to new threats," Gleicher said of the latest effort.

Chakrabarti said the new center is an important part of coordinating activity -- even for a company that has been built on remote communications among people in various parts of the world.

"There's no substitute to face to face interactions," he said.

The war room was activated just weeks ahead of the US vote, amid persistent fears of manipulation by Russia and other state entities, or efforts to polarize or inflame tensions.

The war room is part of stepped up security announced by Facebook that will be adding some 20,000 employees.

"With elections we need people to detect and remove (false information) as quickly as possible," Chakrabarti said.

The human and computerized efforts to weed out bad information complement each other, according to Chakrabarti.

"If an anomaly is detected in an automated way, then a data scientist will investigate, will see if there is really a problem," he said.

The efforts are also coordinated with Facebook's fact-checking partners around the world including media organizations such as AFP and university experts.

Gleicher said the team will remain on high alert for any effort that could lead to false information going viral and potentially impacting the result of an election.

"We need to stay ahead of bad actors," he said. "We keep shrinking the doorway. They keep trying to get in."

In Facebook's "War Room," a nondescript space adorned with American and Brazilian flags, a team of 20 people monitors computer screens for signs of suspicious activity.

In Facebook's "War Room," a nondescript space adorned with American and Brazilian flags, a team of 20 people monitors computer screens for signs of suspicious activity. The freshly launched unit at Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters in California is the nerve center for the fight against misinformation and manipulation of the largest social network by foreign actors trying to influence elections in the United States and elsewhere. Inside, the walls have clocks showing the time in various regions of the US and Brazil, maps and TV screens showing CNN, Fox News and Twitter, and other monitors showing graphs of Facebook activity in real time. Facebook, which has been blamed for doing too little to prevent misinformation efforts by Russia and others in the 2016 US election, now wants the world to know it is taking aggressive steps with initiatives like the war room. "Our job is to detect ... anyone trying to manipulate the public debate," said Nathaniel Gleicher, a former White House cybersecurity policy director for the National Security Council who is now heading Facebook's cybersecurity policy. "We work to find and remove these actors." Facebook has been racing to get measures in place and began operating this nerve center -- with a hastily taped "WAR ROOM" sign on the glass door -- for the first round of the presidential vote in Brazil on October 7. It didn't take long to find false information and rumors being spread which could have had an impact on voters in Brazil. "On election day, we saw a spike in voter suppression (messages) saying the election was delayed due to protests. That was not a true story," said Samidh Chakrabarti, Facebook's head of civic engagement. Chakrabarti said Facebook was able to remove these posts in a couple of hours before they went viral. "It could have taken days." Humans and machines At the unveiling of the war room for a small group of journalists including AFP this week, a man in a gray pork pie hat kept his eyes glued to his screen where a Brazilian flag was attached. He said nothing but his mission was obvious -- watching for any hints of interference with the second round of voting in Brazil on October 28. The war room, which will ramp up activity for the November 6 midterm US elections, is the most concrete sign of Facebook's efforts to weed out misinformation. With experts in computer science, cybersecurity and legal specialists, the center is operating during peak times for the US and Brazil at present, with plans to eventually work 24/7. The war room adds a human dimension to the artificial intelligence tools Facebook has already deployed to detect inauthentic or manipulative activity. "Humans can adapt quickly to new threats," Gleicher said of the latest effort. Chakrabarti said the new center is an important part of coordinating activity -- even for a company that has been built on remote communications among people in various parts of the world. "There's no substitute to face to face interactions," he said. The war room was activated just weeks ahead of the US vote, amid persistent fears of manipulation by Russia and other state entities, or efforts to polarize or inflame tensions. The war room is part of stepped up security announced by Facebook that will be adding some 20,000 employees. "With elections we need people to detect and remove (false information) as quickly as possible," Chakrabarti said. The human and computerized efforts to weed out bad information complement each other, according to Chakrabarti. "If an anomaly is detected in an automated way, then a data scientist will investigate, will see if there is really a problem," he said. The efforts are also coordinated with Facebook's fact-checking partners around the world including media organizations such as AFP and university experts. Gleicher said the team will remain on high alert for any effort that could lead to false information going viral and potentially impacting the result of an election. "We need to stay ahead of bad actors," he said. "We keep shrinking the doorway. They keep trying to get in."

Facebook launches 'war room' to combat manipulation

Several public funds that hold shares in Facebook Inc on Wednesday backed a proposal to remove Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg as chairman, saying the social media giant <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/as-facebook-ceo-you-dont-know-some-key-facts-us-lawmaker-to-mark-zuckerberg-129951">mishandled several high-profile scandals</a>.

State treasurers from Illinois, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, and New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, co-filed the proposal. They joined hedge fund Trillium Asset Management, which bought it to the table in June.

The proposal, set to be voted on at the company's annual shareholder meeting in May 2019, is asking Facebook's board to make the role of board chair an independent position.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Facebook plays an outsized role in our society and our economy. They have a social and financial responsibility to be transparent – that's why we're demanding independence and accountability in the company's boardroom," Stringer said.

The proposal said lack of independent board chair and oversight has contributed to Facebook "mishandling" a number of severe controversies, including Russian meddling in U.S. elections and the Cambridge Analytica data leak.

Zuckerberg has about 60 percent voting power, according to a filing in April.

The New York City Pension Funds owned about 4.5 million Facebook shares as of July 31.

The Pennsylvania Treasury holds 38,737 shares of the company, according to a spokeswoman. Trillium holds 53,000 shares.

Shares held by the Treasurers of Illinois and Rhode Island were not immediately available.

Several public funds that hold shares in Facebook Inc on Wednesday backed a proposal to remove Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg as chairman, saying the social media giant mishandled several high-profile scandals.

Several public funds that hold shares in Facebook Inc on Wednesday backed a proposal to remove Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg as chairman, saying the social media giant mishandled several high-profile scandals. State treasurers from Illinois, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, and New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, co-filed the proposal. They joined hedge fund Trillium Asset Management, which bought it to the table in June. The proposal, set to be voted on at the company's annual shareholder meeting in May 2019, is asking Facebook's board to make the role of board chair an independent position. Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "Facebook plays an outsized role in our society and our economy. They have a social and financial responsibility to be transparent – that's why we're demanding independence and accountability in the company's boardroom," Stringer said. The proposal said lack of independent board chair and oversight has contributed to Facebook "mishandling" a number of severe controversies, including Russian meddling in U.S. elections and the Cambridge Analytica data leak. Zuckerberg has about 60 percent voting power, according to a filing in April. The New York City Pension Funds owned about 4.5 million Facebook shares as of July 31. The Pennsylvania Treasury holds 38,737 shares of the company, according to a spokeswoman. Trillium holds 53,000 shares. Shares held by the Treasurers of Illinois and Rhode Island were not immediately available.

Facebook shareholders back proposal to remove Zuckerberg as chairman

Facebook has discovered a security issue affecting about 50 million user accounts, the company said on Friday.

Facebook said attackers stole Facebook access tokens through its "view as" feature, which they could then use to take over people's accounts. "View as" is a feature that allows users to see what their own profile looks like to someone else.

"Since we’ve only just started our investigation, we have yet to determine whether these accounts were misused or any information accessed," the company said in a blog post.

Facebook shares fell 3 per cent to $163.78 in afternoon trading.

Facebook is grappling with the worst crisis in its history, vilified for not more zealously guarding the information that users share.

The Silicon Valley-based internet colossus faced intense global scrutiny over the mass harvesting of personal data by Cambridge Analytica, a British political consultancy that worked for Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign.

The company has admitted up to 87 million users may have had their data hijacked in the scandal.

On Thursday, the social media giant who is already under scrutiny for the data breach scandal <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/facebook-admits-phone-numbers-may-be-used-target-ads-168195">admitted&nbsp;that it uses the phone numbers provided by users for two-factor authentication&nbsp;to target ads</a>.

Facebook's acknowledgement came after a study by two US universities, first reported by news website Gizmodo, found that phone numbers given to Facebook for two-factor authentication were also used to target advertising.

"We use the information people provide to offer a better, more personalised experience on Facebook, including ads," a Facebook spokesperson has been quoted as saying by news agency AFP.

"We are clear about how we use the information we collect, including the contact information that people upload or add to their own accounts. you can manage and delete contact information you've uploaded at any time."

Two-factor authentication is intended to enhance security by requiring a second step, such as entering codes sent via text messages, as well as passwords to get into accounts.

&nbsp;

Facebook has discovered a security issue affecting about 50 million user accounts, the company said on Friday. Facebook said attackers stole Facebook access tokens through its "view as" feature, which they could then use to take over people's accounts.

Facebook has discovered a security issue affecting about 50 million user accounts, the company said on Friday. Facebook said attackers stole Facebook access tokens through its "view as" feature, which they could then use to take over people's accounts. "View as" is a feature that allows users to see what their own profile looks like to someone else. "Since we’ve only just started our investigation, we have yet to determine whether these accounts were misused or any information accessed," the company said in a blog post. Facebook shares fell 3 per cent to $163.78 in afternoon trading. Facebook is grappling with the worst crisis in its history, vilified for not more zealously guarding the information that users share. The Silicon Valley-based internet colossus faced intense global scrutiny over the mass harvesting of personal data by Cambridge Analytica, a British political consultancy that worked for Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign. The company has admitted up to 87 million users may have had their data hijacked in the scandal. On Thursday, the social media giant who is already under scrutiny for the data breach scandal admitted that it uses the phone numbers provided by users for two-factor authentication to target ads. Facebook's acknowledgement came after a study by two US universities, first reported by news website Gizmodo, found that phone numbers given to Facebook for two-factor authentication were also used to target advertising. "We use the information people provide to offer a better, more personalised experience on Facebook, including ads," a Facebook spokesperson has been quoted as saying by news agency AFP. "We are clear about how we use the information we collect, including the contact information that people upload or add to their own accounts. you can manage and delete contact information you've uploaded at any time." Two-factor authentication is intended to enhance security by requiring a second step, such as entering codes sent via text messages, as well as passwords to get into accounts.

Facebook reveals security incident affecting 50 million users

Facebook on Wednesday unveiled an upgraded Oculus virtual reality headset with power to handle the intensive graphics of digital worlds in a wire-free experience.

The new Oculus Quest headset showcased at the Facebook unit's developer conference is being aimed at gamers seeking immersion in virtual worlds, with other potential applications likely in the future.

"This is the wireless virtual reality experience we have been waiting for," Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said as he unveiled the new hardware and reaffirmed Facebook's commitment to virtual reality.&nbsp;

The standalone VR headset boasting the same quality experiences as the Oculus Rift but without wires will hit the market early next year at a price of $399.

Oculus vice president Hugo Barra said Quest combined the capabilities of Rift and the portability of Go, the current headgear in the company's lineup, with a strong focus on games.

Rift was the first VR gear released by Facebook-owned Oculus, but needs to be plugged into computers powerful enough to handle the graphics rich, immersive nature of digital worlds.

Go is a lightweight portable headset for virtual reality.

Step into 'Star Wars'&nbsp;

Oculus promised 50 game titles available at launch, including "Vader Immortal," which will let Quest users play through the opening episode of a new virtual reality experience set in a castle of infamous "Star Wars" villain Darth Vader.

The "Star Wars" virtual reality experience was described as a combination game and immersive film.

In a self-deprecating moment on stage, Zuckerberg recalled setting a goal of getting a billion people into virtual reality after buying Oculus some four years ago in a deal valued then at $2 billion.

He chuckled along with the audience as he shared a graph showing they were a scant one percent of the way to that goal.

"This isn't a question of whether we are going to get there, it is how," Zuckerberg said, while acknowledging the path may be longer than first expected.

He said a speed bump on the road to adoption that Quest was intended to solve was making VR more convenient and portable.

A second challenge, he said, was creating a vast, enticing ecosystem of games, films, meeting spaces and other experiences in virtual reality.

The two-day Connect conference was intended to inspire software makers to help create that ecosystem.

"We are going to make some big leaps in both technology and content," Zuckerberg told the gathering.

"This is all still early, but this is the basic road map."

Virtual visits&nbsp;

Anshel Sag, analyst at Moor Insights &amp; Strategy, said the Quest could make it easier to get into virtual reality gaming at a reasonable price.

"I think this brings console quality gaming and experiences to a price point that previously wasn't possible," Sag said.

"It makes it easier to get into virtual reality without spending a lot of money."

Despite technology advances in recent years, virtual reality gear remains the stuff of early-adopters like video game lovers and hasn't gone mainstream with consumers.

Facebook's vision of virtual reality goes far beyond games to a time when members of the leading online social network can virtually visit one another with the help of avatars.

"There is &nbsp;simply no substitute for being there," vice president of augmented and virtual reality Andrew Bosworth told the gathering.

"Tools we are building in AR and VR have the opportunity to answer the question of what it would be like to be transported." 
&nbsp;

Facebook on Wednesday unveiled an upgraded Oculus virtual reality headset with power to handle the intensive graphics of digital worlds in a wire-free experience.

Facebook on Wednesday unveiled an upgraded Oculus virtual reality headset with power to handle the intensive graphics of digital worlds in a wire-free experience. The new Oculus Quest headset showcased at the Facebook unit's developer conference is being aimed at gamers seeking immersion in virtual worlds, with other potential applications likely in the future. "This is the wireless virtual reality experience we have been waiting for," Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said as he unveiled the new hardware and reaffirmed Facebook's commitment to virtual reality. The standalone VR headset boasting the same quality experiences as the Oculus Rift but without wires will hit the market early next year at a price of $399. Oculus vice president Hugo Barra said Quest combined the capabilities of Rift and the portability of Go, the current headgear in the company's lineup, with a strong focus on games. Rift was the first VR gear released by Facebook-owned Oculus, but needs to be plugged into computers powerful enough to handle the graphics rich, immersive nature of digital worlds. Go is a lightweight portable headset for virtual reality. Step into 'Star Wars' Oculus promised 50 game titles available at launch, including "Vader Immortal," which will let Quest users play through the opening episode of a new virtual reality experience set in a castle of infamous "Star Wars" villain Darth Vader. The "Star Wars" virtual reality experience was described as a combination game and immersive film. In a self-deprecating moment on stage, Zuckerberg recalled setting a goal of getting a billion people into virtual reality after buying Oculus some four years ago in a deal valued then at $2 billion. He chuckled along with the audience as he shared a graph showing they were a scant one percent of the way to that goal. "This isn't a question of whether we are going to get there, it is how," Zuckerberg said, while acknowledging the path may be longer than first expected. He said a speed bump on the road to adoption that Quest was intended to solve was making VR more convenient and portable. A second challenge, he said, was creating a vast, enticing ecosystem of games, films, meeting spaces and other experiences in virtual reality. The two-day Connect conference was intended to inspire software makers to help create that ecosystem. "We are going to make some big leaps in both technology and content," Zuckerberg told the gathering. "This is all still early, but this is the basic road map." Virtual visits Anshel Sag, analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said the Quest could make it easier to get into virtual reality gaming at a reasonable price. "I think this brings console quality gaming and experiences to a price point that previously wasn't possible," Sag said. "It makes it easier to get into virtual reality without spending a lot of money." Despite technology advances in recent years, virtual reality gear remains the stuff of early-adopters like video game lovers and hasn't gone mainstream with consumers. Facebook's vision of virtual reality goes far beyond games to a time when members of the leading online social network can virtually visit one another with the help of avatars. "There is simply no substitute for being there," vice president of augmented and virtual reality Andrew Bosworth told the gathering. "Tools we are building in AR and VR have the opportunity to answer the question of what it would be like to be transported."

Facebook unveils upgraded wireless Oculus headset in VR push

Shares of Facebook Inc fell more than 2 per cent in early trading on Tuesday after the two founders of photo-sharing app Instagram left the social networking giant under unexplained circumstances.

Analysts said the departure of Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger may have been the result of friction with Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg over how Facebook`s fastest-growing revenue generator is run.

"Our sense is the duo may have wanted to run Instagram more independently than their parent company wanted," said Scott Kessler, an analyst at research firm CFRA.

"We think (the) departures are a notable negative for Facebook."

The sudden loss of the pair follows the departures of WhatsApp co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton and a reshuffling of Facebook`s executive ranks earlier this year.

A Bloomberg report said Systrom and Krieger had been frustrated by a rise in the day-to-day involvement of Zuckerberg, who has become more reliant on Instagram in planning for Facebook`s future.

Facebook`s shares were down 2.4 per cent at $161.51 in early trading, knocking more than $11 billion off the stock`s market value.

"To the extent that their departures represent Zuckerberg exercising more power and being less accountable, such a development would underscore the need for an independent board chair," said Jonas Kron, senior vice president at Trillium Asset Management.

The institutional investor, which holds more than 52,000 shares in Facebook, urged Facebook in July to appoint an independent board chair to oversee management. 
Systrom wrote in a blog post on Monday that he and Krieger planned to take time off and explore "our curiosity and creativity again".

Zuckerberg described the two as "extraordinary product leaders" and said he wished them all the best and was looking forward to seeing what they build next.

Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion. Instagram had been hailed in Silicon Valley as a flashy acquisition done right, with the team kept relatively small and Systrom having the freedom to add features such as peer-to-peer messaging, video uploads and advertising.

Instagram has over 1 billion active monthly users, a sharp rise from the 30 million users when Facebook bought the app.

Facebook`s shares are currently down about 6 per cent this year, following six years of stellar gains.

Concerns over the fallout of the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal and signals that a rise in costs would hurt Facebook`s margins for years, fueled the biggest one-day wipeout in US stock market history in July.

Shares of Facebook Inc fell more than 2 per cent in early trading on Tuesday after the two founders of photo-sharing app Instagram left the social networking giant under unexplained circumstances.

Shares of Facebook Inc fell more than 2 per cent in early trading on Tuesday after the two founders of photo-sharing app Instagram left the social networking giant under unexplained circumstances. Analysts said the departure of Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger may have been the result of friction with Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg over how Facebook`s fastest-growing revenue generator is run. "Our sense is the duo may have wanted to run Instagram more independently than their parent company wanted," said Scott Kessler, an analyst at research firm CFRA. "We think (the) departures are a notable negative for Facebook." The sudden loss of the pair follows the departures of WhatsApp co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton and a reshuffling of Facebook`s executive ranks earlier this year. A Bloomberg report said Systrom and Krieger had been frustrated by a rise in the day-to-day involvement of Zuckerberg, who has become more reliant on Instagram in planning for Facebook`s future. Facebook`s shares were down 2.4 per cent at $161.51 in early trading, knocking more than $11 billion off the stock`s market value. "To the extent that their departures represent Zuckerberg exercising more power and being less accountable, such a development would underscore the need for an independent board chair," said Jonas Kron, senior vice president at Trillium Asset Management. The institutional investor, which holds more than 52,000 shares in Facebook, urged Facebook in July to appoint an independent board chair to oversee management. Systrom wrote in a blog post on Monday that he and Krieger planned to take time off and explore "our curiosity and creativity again". Zuckerberg described the two as "extraordinary product leaders" and said he wished them all the best and was looking forward to seeing what they build next. Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion. Instagram had been hailed in Silicon Valley as a flashy acquisition done right, with the team kept relatively small and Systrom having the freedom to add features such as peer-to-peer messaging, video uploads and advertising. Instagram has over 1 billion active monthly users, a sharp rise from the 30 million users when Facebook bought the app. Facebook`s shares are currently down about 6 per cent this year, following six years of stellar gains. Concerns over the fallout of the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal and signals that a rise in costs would hurt Facebook`s margins for years, fueled the biggest one-day wipeout in US stock market history in July.

Facebook shares slip after Instagram founders quit

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