Facebook to overhaul ad targeting to prevent discrimination

January 28, 2019

Memos: Facebook allowed ‘friendly fraud’ to profit from kids

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook allowed children to rack up huge bills on digital games while the company rejected recommendations for addressing what it dubbed “friendly fraud,” according to newly released court documents. The internal Facebook memos and other records were unsealed late Thursday to comply with a judge’s order in a federal court case... Read More

October 3, 2018

Lawsuit accuses Facebook of enabling human traffickers

HOUSTON (AP) — A human trafficking survivor from Texas sued Facebook this week, alleging the social media platform provides human traffickers an unrestricted way to “stalk, exploit, recruit, groom … and extort children into the sex trade.” The lawsuit was filed Monday in Houston against Facebook, the shuttered classifieds site Backpage.com and the owners of... Read More

September 5, 2018

Twitter, Facebook set to defend polices ahead of midterms

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facebook and Twitter executives plan to defend their companies in two congressional hearings Wednesday, arguing they are aggressively trying to root out foreign actors who want to do the United States harm just weeks before the midterm elections. Twitter’s CEO will also face angry Republicans who claim the companies have shown evidence... Read More

Facebook, Twitter

August 21, 2018

US regulators target Facebook on discriminatory housing ads

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal regulators are alleging that Facebook’s advertising tools allow landlords and real estate brokers to engage in housing discrimination. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said in an administrative complaint this week that Facebook violated the Fair Housing Act because its targeting systems allow advertisers to exclude certain audiences,... Read More

July 3, 2018

Federal Facebook probe now includes FBI, SEC

WASHINGTON — A federal probe into Facebook’s sharing of user data with Cambridge Analytica now involves the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department, the Washington Post reported. Representatives from these agencies have joined the Federal Trade Commission in the inquiry, the newspaper reported, citing five unnamed people familiar with the matter.... Read More

June 5, 2018

Washington state sues Google, Facebook over campaign ad data

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Monday sued Google and Facebook, saying the companies failed to maintain information about political advertising as required by state law. Washington law requires the companies to maintain information about buyers of political ads, the cost, how they pay for it, and the candidate or ballot measure... Read More

Facebook, Google

May 30, 2018

Man who befriended undercover cop on Facebook loses appeal

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Delaware’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a felon convicted on gun charges after accepting a Facebook “friend” request from an undercover police officer. A court panel on Tuesday said a detective’s viewing of 40-year-old Terrance Everett’s Facebook page did not violate constitutional prohibitions against illegal searches. Everett was sentenced... Read More

Criminal Justice News, Law Enforcement, News, Technology

April 12, 2018

Zuckerberg says regulation inevitable. Is Congress up to it?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged Wednesday that regulation of social media companies is “inevitable” and disclosed that his own personal information has been compromised by malicious outsiders. But after two days of congressional testimony, what seemed clear was how little Congress seems to know about Facebook, much less what to do about... Read More

April 11, 2018

Hardly ‘friends’: Zuckerberg fends off senators on privacy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Under fire for the worst privacy debacle in his company’s history, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg batted away often-aggressive questioning Tuesday from lawmakers who accused him of failing to protect the personal information of millions of Americans from Russians intent on upsetting the U.S. election. During some five hours of Senate questioning, Zuckerberg... Read More

Criminal Justice News, National Security, News, Technology

April 11, 2018

The Latest: Reddit says it banned 944 suspicious accounts

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Facebook’s privacy scandal and Mark Zuckerberg’s congressional testimony (all times local): 8:20 p.m. Discussion forum company Reddit issued its transparency report for 2017 during Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Senate appearance, saying it had found and banned 944 suspicious accounts associated with Russia’s Internet Research Agency. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman... Read More

Criminal Justice News, National Security, News, Technology

April 10, 2018

“I am sorry”: Zuckerberg faces congressional inquisition

WASHINGTON (AP) — After privately assuring senators that his company will do better, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is undergoing a two-day congressional inquisition that will be very public — and possibly pivotal for the massive social networking company he created. WATCH THE LIVE STREAM HERE. Zuckerberg visited with senators in closed-door meetings Monday, previewing the... Read More

Criminal Justice News, National Security, News, Technology